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The name of the game is Deuces, also known as Choi Dai Dee in Cantonese. I remember playing this game day in and day out in high school, the games were intense because the people I played with were actually pretty good. It was a fun way to kill time in between classes as well as uhm, gamble fo’ dollas cuz we were ballas’… yo. Just kidding, it was mostly for fun. And pride. And glory. SPARTAAAAA!!!!!

The objective of the game is to play singles (one card), pairs (two cards of the same ranking i.e 33, 44, 55, KK, AA, 22), three of a kinds (333, 444, QQQ, AAA), and five card hands (the same as in poker) to rid your hand of all cards. There are no such things as two pair in deuces.

This is a turn based game where players take turns putting singles and combos down.

This game can be played with 2-4 players.

Take a standard 52-card deck and shuffle.

• Card ranking (from highest to lowest) :
• 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3

• Suit ranking (from highest to lowest) :
• Spades, Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds

How to play:

For 4 players:

Deal out the cards in clockwise fashion, that’s the order in which the turns go. There should be 13 cards for each player.

The person with the 3 of diamonds starts first, because that’s the lowest card in the game. He/she can play the 3 as a single, pair, 3 of a kind, or five card hand.

The next person (in clockwise fashion) plays a higher ranking single or combo. (For example, if Player 1 started with a 3 of diamonds as single and passes the turn to Player 2, then Player 2 would have to play a single).

Let’s say that Player 2 plays the 4 of hearts. Then it’s Player 3’s turn to play something (it has to be a single and of higher rank, otherwise he needs to pass).

Players can choose to pass if they cannot beat the single or combo or if they want to pass as a part of their strategy. If everyone passes to the person (let’s call him John) who played the last single or combo, John gets to play a single or combo of his choice (he can put a single, pair, 3 of a kind, or a five card combo).

If John plays a 5 card combo, then it’s up to the next clockwise person to choose to beat it or pass. For example, if John plays a 34567c (the c is club, this is important because the last suit of the combination in a straight matters for hand ranking) straight, then the next clockwise person (let’s call him Steve) can play a 5 card hand to beat it like 34567h (hearts, which is a higher rank than clubs.

The game is over when a player has no more cards in their hand.

Here’s an example game. It won’t be exactly accurate, but it’s good enough to show how the flow of the game goes. The players involved are John, Steve, Mary and Lily.

Key:

• Spades = s
• Hearts = h
• Clubs = c
• Diamonds = d
• 7h = 7 of Hearts
• As = Ace of Spades

Mary has the 3 of diamonds, so she’ll start. She plays 3d, 3h (a pair). Now it’s Steve’s turn, and he plays 5d, 5h (he has to play a pair that beats Mary’s threes or he has to pass, or he can choose to pass if he feels like it).

Now Lily plays 5c 5s (you take account the highest card when looking at rank in pairs, so a Spade would be a higher rank than Steve’s heart high pair). John passes (because he chooses not to beat it, or he doesn’t have a pair).

Mary now has to beat Lily’s pair of fives or pass. She passes. So does Steve. Now it’s Lily’s turn again, and she plays 7h, 7d, 7s (note that you can only beat a three of a kind with another three of a kind, and you cannot beat it with a five card hand).

Now it’s John’s turn again, and he plays 9h, 9s, 9d. Mary passes. Steve also passes. Lily passes as well. Now it’s John’s turn again, and he plays 34567c, a straight. Mary plays a 89TJQh straight to beat John’s, because her Queen is higher than John’s 7c. Steve plays AAA44, a full house (Aces full of Fours). Mary passes. John passes. Lily passes. So it’s Steve’s turn again, and he plays 3h, 5h, 8h, Jh, Kh (a heart flush, we look at highest suit when deciding which flush is higher).

Mary plays a 4h, 7h, 9h, Qh, Ah (a heart high flush again, but she has the Ace high, which beats Steve’s King high flush — we look at the highest card when there are two of the same flushes).

It’s John’s turn, and he plays 5s, 7s, 9s, 10s, Js (a spade high flush, which is a higher ranking suit than hearts).

Let’s assume Steve no longer has any cards in his hand, so he wins.

In 2 or 3 player play, each player is dealt 17 cards with the last card dealt face up. The person with the lowest card (usually the 3 of diamonds) takes the face up card.

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