Paskahousu

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Card order
3. Setup
4. Who starts
5. Playing a turn
6. Special cards
7. Clearing the pile
8. End of the game
9. Winning the game
10. Tips for beginners
11. Variants

Overview

Paskahousu is a popular Finnish beating game. Players take turns playing cards face up onto a pile in the middle, and each play must be equal to or higher than the card on top – if you can't or won't play, you pick up the whole pile. A 10 or an Ace can clear the pile, and the 2 is the highest card of all. While the stock lasts, everyone refills their hand to five cards; after that, the race is on to get rid of your cards. The last player still holding cards loses and is the paskahousu.

It is a close relative of Palace, and like Durak it is played to find a loser rather than a winner.

• Players: 2–6, best with 3–5.
• You need: a standard 52-card deck without jokers.

Card order

Suits don't matter – only the rank counts. From highest to lowest:

2 (highest) – A – K – Q – J – 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 (lowest)

The 2, the 10 and the Ace are special cards with their own rules (see below). Jacks, Queens and Kings are the face cards.

Setup

1. Dealer: choose a dealer. Dealing and play go clockwise.
2. Deal: the dealer deals each player two cards, then two more, then one more – five cards each, face down.
3. Stock: the rest of the deck goes face down in the middle as the stock (draw pile). The cards you play go face up next to it: the play pile.

Who starts

The player with the most 3s in their hand starts, and begins by playing all those 3s onto the table. If two or more players have the same number of 3s, the first of them clockwise from the dealer's left starts. If nobody has a 3, the player with the most 4s starts, and so on.

Playing a turn

On your turn you do one of three things:

1. Play one card, or several cards of the same rank, onto the play pile. They must be equal to or higher than the top card and follow the rules for special cards below. If the play pile is empty, you may play any card or set of equal cards.
2. Pick up the whole play pile and add it to your hand. You may always do this, even if you could play. The next player then starts a new pile on the empty table.
3. Try your luck (only while the stock lasts): turn over the top card of the stock. If it may legally be played, it is played. If not, you take it and the whole play pile into your hand, and it's the next player's turn.

Refill: after playing, if you have fewer than five cards and the stock isn't empty, draw from the stock until you have five again. Only once the stock is gone can you hold fewer than five.

Example: The top card is a 6♣. Anna plays two 8s. Ben holds 3♦ 4♠ 5♥ 5♣ 7♥ – nothing equal to or higher than an 8. Instead of picking up, he turns over the top card of the stock: the 9♦. It beats the 8s, so it is played, and Ben keeps his five cards.

Special cards

• Face cards may only be played if the top card is higher than 6: never on a 3, 4, 5 or 6.
• 10: a 10 played on a lower card (3–9) clears the pile. It can't be played on a face card, an Ace or a 2.
• Ace: an Ace can only be played on a face card, and then it clears the pile. Nothing goes on an Ace except another Ace.
• 2: the highest card. It may be played on anything except an Ace or a 10, and nothing may be played on a 2 except another 2.

Clearing the pile

In three cases the pile falls: all its cards are set aside face down, out of the game, and the player who cleared it plays again at once, onto the empty table:

• one or more 10s are played on a lower card (3–9);
• one or more Aces are played on a face card;
• the top four cards of the pile are the same rank – whether one player laid them all or several players together.

A 10 or an Ace played onto the empty table does not clear itself. It stays there, and only more 10s (or Aces) may be played on it – until someone picks the pile up. Then the next player starts again on an empty table.

Example: The top card is an 8♠. Carla plays the 10♥ – the pile falls. She plays again and starts a new pile with her 4♣. Dan plays a 4♦, Anna two 4s: now four 4s lie on top, and the pile falls again. Anna plays again.

Example: The top card is a K♣. Ben can play an Ace (clears the pile) or a 2. He plays the 2♥. Now only a 2 may follow. The stock is empty and Carla has no 2, so she picks up the pile.

End of the game

Once the stock is empty, a player with no cards left is out and safe. (If the player who just went out cleared the pile, the next player to the left plays onto the empty table.) The others play on until only one player still has cards. That player loses and is the paskahousu.

Winning the game

Paskahousu has a loser, not a winner. Play as many games as you like; if you want to keep score, give the paskahousu a mark each time. Fewest marks wins.

Tips for beginners

• Collect strength while the stock lasts. What counts is the hand you hold when the stock runs out. With good cards such as 2s in hand, picking up a pile can be better than giving them away early.
• Try the stock when you can't play – it often saves you from picking up.
• Pick up good piles. A pile full of face cards and only a few low ranks can be worth taking on purpose.
• Clear rather than feed. Don't leave an attractive pile for the next player; clear it with a 10 or an Ace if you can.
• Keep your 2s. Try to hold at least as many 2s as the player before you – otherwise they can use one to force a pile full of low cards on you.

Variants

Paskahousu has countless house rules; no two groups play it quite the same. Agree before you start – all of these are optional.

• Six cards: everyone holds six cards instead of five.
• Fixed start: the player to the dealer's left starts with one or more 3s if they can; if not, the next player may, and so on. If nobody can, the player to the dealer's left starts with any card.
• Higher face cards: face cards only on an 8 or higher – or even only on a 9 or another face card, unless all the 9s are gone.
• Singles only: sets may only be played of cards up to 10; face cards, Aces and 2s go down one at a time. Some groups apply this only to 2s.
• 10s and Aces on the empty table: the next player must pick them up at once. A common extra: the player who played the 10 or Ace then plays again. Others let a 10 or Ace on the empty table clear itself – it is set aside and the same player plays again.
• Empty table restrictions: no 10s or Aces (some groups: no face cards either) may start a new pile.
• Black specials: only black 2s, 10s and Aces are special; red 2s are the lowest cards, red 10s and Aces are ordinary cards.
• Two decks: for six or more players, shuffle two decks together; four equal cards then don't clear the pile.
• Pöytäpaska ("table paska", 2–3 players): besides the hand of five, everyone gets four cards face down and four face up on the table. They are played after the hand, the face-down cards blind – very close to Palace.
• Ruotsalainen ("Swedish"): all cards are dealt out at the start; there is no stock.
• Valepaska ("lying paska"): cards are played face down and announced – truthfully or not. Anyone may check: a liar picks up the pile, but if the claim was true, the checker picks it up. A bluffing game in the style of Cheat.