9-5-2 (Sergeant Major)

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Basic terms
3. Setup
4. Exchanging cards
5. Trumps and the kitty
6. Playing the tricks
7. Scoring
8. Winning the game
9. Tips for beginners
10. Variants

Overview

9-5-2 is a trick-taking game for exactly three players. Each deal, every player has a target: the dealer must take 9 tricks, the player to the dealer's left 5 and the player to the dealer's right 2. Taking more than your target earns points and lets you swap your worst cards for your opponents' best in the next deal; falling short costs points. The first to reach the agreed score – usually 10 – wins. This is the Canadian form of the British game Sergeant Major (8-5-3), which is described under Variants.

• Players: exactly 3, each playing for themselves.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, and paper and pencil for scoring.

Basic terms

• Trick: each player in turn plays one card face up to the middle. Whoever played the best card wins the trick and keeps it face down in front of them.
• Lead: play the first card of a trick. The winner of a trick leads to the next one.
• Follow suit: play a card of the same suit as the card that was led.
• Trumps: the cards of the trump suit chosen by the dealer. Any trump beats any card of another suit.
• Kitty: four spare cards that only the dealer may use.

Cards rank from high to low: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2, in every suit.

Setup

1. Pick a first dealer, for example by drawing cards. Deal and play go clockwise; after each deal the next player to the left deals, so everyone's target changes each deal.
2. The dealer shuffles, has the cards cut and deals them one at a time, 16 cards to each player.
3. The last 4 cards go face down in the middle as the kitty.

The three targets add up to 16 – exactly the number of tricks in a deal.

Exchanging cards

On the first deal there is no exchange – go straight to choosing trumps. From the second deal on, the players first exchange cards according to the previous deal:

• Whoever took more tricks than their target was up by that many tricks (overtricks); whoever took fewer was down (undertricks).
• A player who was up gives one unwanted card per overtrick, face down, to a player who was down.
• For each card received, the player who was down must give back, face down, the highest card they hold in that suit. If the card they just received is the highest, they give that one back.

In detail:

• One player up, two down: the player who was up gives each of the others as many cards as that player's undertricks, all at the same time.
• Two players up, one down: each gives the player who was down as many cards as their own overtricks. The one with the higher target in the coming deal exchanges first.
• A player who made their target exactly neither gives nor receives.

Example: In the last deal Anna needed 9 and took 11 (up 2), Ben needed 5 and took 3 (down 2), Carla needed 2 and took 2. Now Anna gives Ben two cards she doesn't want – say the 3♣ and 4♦. Ben must give back his highest club and his highest diamond, for example the A♣ and Q♦.

Trumps and the kitty

After any exchange, the dealer names the trump suit (clubs, diamonds, hearts or spades – "no trumps" isn't allowed). Then the dealer picks up the kitty and discards any 4 cards face down. Now everyone has 16 cards.

Playing the tricks

The player to the dealer's left leads to the first trick. After that, the winner of each trick leads.

• You must follow suit if you can. If you can't, play any card – a trump or any other card.
• The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins.

Play all 16 tricks.

Scoring

Each player compares their tricks with their target:

• Every trick over the target scores +1.
• Every trick under the target scores −1.
• Exactly the target scores 0.

Keep a running total for each player. The three scores of a deal always add up to 0, and totals can go below zero.

Example: Dan (dealer, target 9) takes 7 tricks, Anna (target 5) takes 6, Ben (target 2) takes 3. Dan scores −2, Anna +1, Ben +1.

Winning the game

• The game ends as soon as a player's total reaches the agreed target – usually 10 (a longer game: 20) – and that player wins. If two players get there in the same deal, the higher total wins (on a tie, play another deal).
• A player who takes 12 or more tricks in one deal wins the game at once.

Tips for beginners

• As dealer, pick your longest suit as trumps – you need 9 of 16 tricks, and the kitty can only help after you've chosen.
• Discard to create a void. If you throw away all cards of a short suit, you can trump it later.
• Gang up on the dealer. The dealer needs 9 of the 16 tricks; every trick you take from them can put you up and them down.
• Remember the exchange. Being up means you can pass on your worst cards next deal; being down means losing your Aces.

Variants

All optional – agree before you play.

• Sergeant Major (8-5-3): the British original. The targets are 8 for the dealer, 5 for the left and 3 for the right. The dealer names trumps, then discards 4 cards first and only then takes the kitty. It is played for counters: each player who was down pays one counter per undertrick, and each player who was up receives one per overtrick. The game ends when someone takes 12 or more tricks in one deal.
• Reversed targets: the player to the dealer's left needs 2 and the player to the right 5. In this version the dealer takes the kitty and discards before the exchange, then players who were up pass their cards, then the dealer names trumps, and only then do the players who were down give back their highest cards. The game ends when someone reaches +15 or −15; the highest total wins.
• Fixed length: play an agreed number of deals, e.g. a multiple of three so everyone deals equally often.