Slobberhannes

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Playing a deal
5. Penalties
6. Winning the game
7. Tips for beginners
8. Variants

Overview

Slobberhannes is one of the simplest trick-avoidance games. A trick is one card from each player; the highest card of the suit led wins them all. In Slobberhannes you don't want to win three things: the first trick, the last trick and the trick with the Queen of Clubs (Q♣) in it. Each costs a point. Whoever first loses ten points loses the game. It is an old relative of Hearts and Polignac; these rules follow R. F. Foster's Complete Hoyle.

• Players: 4 is best; 5 to 7 can play too (3 under Variants).
• You need: a 32-card deck – take the 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 6s out of a standard deck – and ten chips or counters per player (or a score sheet).

The cards

Use the A K Q J 10 9 8 7 of each suit. They rank in that order, the Ace highest. There are no trumps.

With more than four players, also take out the 7♣ and 7♠, leaving 30 cards.

Setup

1. Dealer: choose the first dealer at random. After each deal, the turn to deal passes to the left.
2. Chips: everyone starts with ten chips.
3. Deal: the dealer shuffles and deals out the whole deck, clockwise, two or three cards at a time:

If the deal goes wrong, the same dealer deals again.

Playing a deal

1. The player on the dealer's left leads (plays the first card to) the first trick – any card.
2. The others play one card each, clockwise. You must follow suit – play a card of the suit led – if you can. If you can't, you may play any card.
3. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick. Cards of other suits never win.
4. The winner of a trick leads to the next one.

Penalties

Each of these costs one chip, paid into the middle straight away:

• winning the first trick,
• winning the last trick,
• winning the trick that contains the Q♣.

If one player wins all three, they pay an extra chip – four in all. The penalties simply add up: if the Q♣ falls in the first trick, its winner pays two chips. A player who fails to follow suit although they could (a revoke) also pays one chip. All other tricks are worth nothing.

Example: Anna leads the 8♦, Ben plays the 7♦, Carla the A♦ and Dan the 10♦. Carla's Ace is highest – she has won the first trick and pays a chip. Later Dan leads the K♣. Anna has no clubs left and gladly throws away the Q♣. Ben and Carla follow with low clubs, so Dan wins the trick – and pays a chip for the Queen.

Winning the game

The first player to lose all ten chips loses the game; everyone else wins. With a score sheet instead of chips, write down the penalty points: the first to reach 10 loses. If you play for a stake, the loser then pays each other player one chip for every point that player still has left.

Tips for beginners

• Lead a low card to the first trick, or play low to it – someone else will usually have a higher one.
• The A♣ and K♣ are dangerous: if the Q♣ falls on them, you take it. Get rid of them early, unless you have enough low clubs to stay safe.
• Holding the Q♣ yourself is fine if you also have several low clubs: wait until someone leads a suit you don't have, then throw the Queen away.
• Towards the end, count cards and keep a low card for the last trick.

Variants

• Three players: take out the 7♣ and 7♠ and deal 10 cards each.