User:Brian/Big Two

This page is just for fun. It documents the somewhat standardized rules once used by the gifties of Woburn C.I. Class of 2010 (and some of their friends) to play Big Two.

1 Preliminaries.

1.1 Deck. Big Two and President are played with a standard deck of fifty-two cards. These fifty-two cards are divided into thirteen ranks and four suits.

1.1.1 Order of ranks. The ranks are given in ascending order as 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2.

1.1.2 Order of suits. The suits are given in ascending order as D (diamonds), C (clubs), H (hearts), S (spades).

1.1.3 Order of individual cards. One card is said to be higher than another if:

• the former is of higher rank than the latter, or
• the two are of equal rank, and the former is of higher suit than the latter.

1.2 Players. In Big Two, all players are considered equivalent as far as these Rules are concerned. In President, all players are equivalent in the first round, but in each subsequent round each player is assigned a role which affects gameplay only during the mandatory trading phase. Each player's role in a given round is determined only by their finishing position in the previous round.

1.2.1 Two-player roles. In a two-player game of President, the winner of the previous round is denoted the president in the current round, whereas the loser is denoted the bum (less commonly ass).

1.2.2 Three-player roles. Three-player games of President follow the model of two-player games. The second-place finisher is denoted neutral.

1.2.3 Four-player roles. In a four-player game of President, the winner of the previous round is denoted president, the second-place finisher vice president, the third-place finisher vice bum (less commonly vice ass), and the last place finisher bum.

1.2.4 Five or more players. When the number of players exceeds four, the president and vice president are determined as they would in a four-player game; the bum is the last-place finisher of the previous round; the vice bum is the second-to-last-place finisher of the previous round, and all other players are neutral.

2 Dealing. A round of Big Two begins with the distribution of an equal number of cards to each player. Cards shall be dealt face-down from a shuffled deck.

2.1 Unequal division. If the number of players divides fifty-two (the number of cards), then each player shall receive an exactly equal number of cards. If the number of players does not divide fifty-two, then it is impossible for each player to receive the same number of cards; instead, the cards must be distributed so that no two players' hands initially differ in size by more than one card.

2.2 Dealer's respect. No cards shall be deliberately dealt face-up for any reason. Players are free to examine their own cards as soon as they receive them.

2.3 Accidental flipping. If a player receives a card face-up during dealing, the player shall simply flip the card face-down immediately. However, if the game being played is President, the player is entitled to demand a re-deal with no change in ranks.

3 Trading. Immediately after dealing, and before gameplay begins, players may exchange their cards with other players.

3.1 Local conservation of cards. The mandatory trading phase, if any, must leave the number of cards in each player's hand unchanged; and so must the free trading phase, if any.

3.2 Mandatory trading. The mandatory trading phase takes place immediately after the dealing phase of the second and all subsequent rounds in President. It does not take place in Big Two.

3.2.1 Card flow.

3.2.1.1 Two or three players. In a game of two or three players, the president is entitled to steal either one or two cards from the bum, as agreed upon before the beginning of the first round.

3.2.1.2 Four or more players. In a game of four or more players, the president is entitled to steal two cards from the bum, and the vice president is entitled to steal one card from the vice bum.

3.2.1.3 Neutral players. Neutral players do not take part in mandatory trading.

3.2.2 Stealing. In this section, it is assumed that the president steals two cards from the bum, but the rules hereby declared apply mutatis mutandis to the vice bum stealing one card from the bum, or the president stealing only one card from the bum, as the case may be.

3.2.2.1 Highest cards. The bum may elect to surrender their two highest cards to the president. In this case the president must accept them.

3.2.2.2 Questioning. If the bum does not choose to automatically surrender their two highest cards, then the president may ask the bum questions in order to determine which cards to steal.

3.2.2.2.1 Honesty rule. The bum may not lie when being asked questions by the president during mandatory trading.

3.2.2.2.2 Privacy rule. Notwithstanding the honesty rule, the bum may (but is not required to) refuse to answer a question which would compromise their privacy beyond what is necessary for mandatory trading. This section is vague and not precisely defined; see the Examples (section 3.2.2.2.4).

3.2.2.2.3 Negative information rule. The privacy rule does not apply to negative information; that is, the bum may not refuse to answer a question simply because that question would reveal any number of cards that the bum was not dealt.

3.2.2.2.4 Examples. The following queries are "allowed", in the sense that the bum is required to answer them truthfully because they do not violate the privacy rule:

• "Do you have the nine of spades?" On an affirmative answer, the president is required to accept the nine of spades from the bum, in order to comply with the privacy rule.
• "What is your lowest card?" In this case the president is required to accept the bum's lowest card, in order to comply with the privacy rule.
• "What is your highest spade?" In this case the president is required to accept the bum's highest spade, in order to comply with the privacy rule, unless the bum has no spades.
• "What is your highest pair?" In this case the president is required to accept the bum's highest pair, in order to comply with the privacy rule, unless the bum has no pairs.
• "Do you have any clubs?" If the answer is "yes", then the president is required to accept some club from the bum, in order to comply with the privacy rule. The president may do this by asking the bum to surrender any club, or by immediately asking questions that pertain only to clubs in the bum's hand until a decision can be made.
• "Do you have at least two hearts?" If the answer is "yes", then the president is required to accept two hearts from the bum, in order to comply with the privacy rule. The president may do this by asking the bum to surrender any two hearts, or by immediately asking questions that pertain only to the hearts in the bum's hand until a decision can be made.

The following questions are not allowed; while the president may ask them, the bum is not required to answer them, because of the privacy rule.

• "What are your three highest cards?"
• "Do you have any clubs?" immediately after an affirmative answer has been given to "Do you have any hearts?" In this case the president must not inquire about any cards that are not hearts until a heart has been accepted.
• "What is your lowest card?" followed by "What are your two highest cards?" The first question is allowed, but if the bum were to answer both questions, then the president would be left with knowledge of three cards in the bum's hand.
• "Do you have any triples?"
• "What is your lowest card?" immediately after an affirmative answer to "Do you have a pair of Aces?": the president is required to accept the two Aces, and cease further questioning.

3.2.3 Equalization. In this section, it is assumed that the president has stolen two cards from the bum, but the rules hereby declared apply mutatis mutandis to the vice bum having stolen one card from the bum, or the president having stolen only one card from the bum, as the case may be. In order to comply with the conservation of cards, the president must give two cards to the bum.

3.2.3.1 Lowest cards. The bum may demand the president's two lowest cards. Otherwise, the president shall exercise complete control over the decision of which two cards to give to the bum.

3.2.3.2 Questioning. The bum may ask the president any number of questions, and the president may choose to answer them truthfully, untruthfully, or not at all. The bum may ask the president for any card or any two cards, and the president may either grant or refuse each request.

3.3 Free trade. The players shall agree before the beginning of the game whether or not to allow free trade. If free trade is allowed, it shall immediately follow mandatory trading, if any; otherwise it shall immediately follow dealing. In free trade, any player may ask any other player any question about the latter's hand, which may be answered truthfully, untruthfully, or not at all; and any trades whatsoever may be negotiated and carried out. The free trade phase cannot end unless the local conservation of cards is satisfied.

4 Main phase.

4.1 Objective. The objective is to go out by playing out all cards in one's hand. The first player to go out is the winner; the second player to go out finishes in second place; and so on.

4.2 Irreversibility. Under no circumstances may a player be compelled to pick up cards that have been legally played.

4.3 Turn order. Each round consists of one or more tricks. The first trick is begun by the player who holds the three of diamonds, the lowest card in the deck. Each subsequent trick is begun by the player who won the previous trick, unless said player went out; in this case, the first player following that player in clockwise order begins the trick. Once a trick has begun, play proceeds clockwise. A player can make at most one play during each turn.

4.4 Legal plays. A legal play consists of either a single card, two cards of the same rank (a pair), three cards of the same rank (a triple), four cards of the same rank (a quad), or a poker hand, which may be a straight, a flush, a full house, four of a kind with an additional card (known as the kicker), or a straight flush.

4.4.1 Clarification on straights. A straight consists of five cards of consecutive rank, without wrapping around, and two-high straights are not allowed. Therefore, the following are allowed: 3-4-5-6-7, 4-5-6-7-8, 5-6-7-8-9, 6-7-8-9-10, 7-8-9-10-J, 8-9-10-J-Q, 9-10-J-Q-K, 10-J-Q-K-A.

4.5 Initial play. The player who starts a trick may make any legal play whatsoever, unless it is the first trick of the game, in which case the player must play the three of diamonds, either by itself or as part of a legal play of two or more cards.

4.6 Beating a play. After the first play of a trick has been made, each subsequent play must be higher than the most recent play made during that trick, and must consist of the same number of cards as the initial play of the trick. In particular, a single two does not beat a pair of lower rank.

4.6.1 Ordering of singles. Singles are ordered according to section 1.1.3. The two of spades is the highest single.

4.6.2 Ordering of pairs. A pair is considered higher than another pair if:

• the former is of higher rank, or
• the two are of equal rank, and the former contains a spade.

4.6.3 Ordering of triples and quads. Triples and quads are ordered by rank.

4.6.4 Ordering of poker hands. Every straight flush is higher than every four of a kind; every four of a kind is higher than every full house; every full house is higher than every non-straight flush; and every flush is higher than every non-flushed straight.

4.6.4.1 Ordering of straights. Straights are ranked by their respective highest cards.

4.6.4.2 Ordering of flushes. A non-straight flush is considered to be higher than another if:

• the former is of a higher suit than the latter;
• the two have the same suit, and the former's highest card is higher than the latter's highest card.

4.6.4.3 Ordering of full houses. Full houses are ranked by their triples.

4.6.4.4 Ordering of four-of-a-kinds. Four-of-a-kinds are ranked by their quads.

4.6.4.5 Ordering of straight flushes. Straight flushes are ranked by their respective highest cards. The straight flush that ends on the Ace of spades is the highest legal five-card hand.

4.7 Passing. A player may choose to pass on any turn, unless that player is to begin the trick; a player must pass if unable to beat the most recent play. Passing does not preclude playing during a subsequent turn of the same trick.

4.8 Winning a trick. A player wins a trick when when all other players pass their turns consecutively. (The trick then ends immediately, and this player is then entitled to begin the next trick.) However, a trick also ends immediately if any player goes out.

4.9 Table talk. At any point during the game, players may make any statement whatsoever (true or false) regarding their own hands; they may ask other players any questions whatsoever about their hands; and they may collude with other players. However, players are strictly forbidden from attempting to look at other players' hands or from revealing their own hands directly to other players (that is, by showing cards, rather than by declaring contents of their hands verbally). Players may not reveal information obtained from unintentionally seeing other players' hands, but may state deductions, guesses, or false information about other players' hands in all other cases.

4.10 The discard pile. No player is permitted to examine cards that have been played during previous tricks.

5 Variations.

5.1 Incomplete dealing with two players. In a two-player game, one might not want to deal out the entire deck initially, because twenty-six may be an inconvenient number of cards to hold, and because dealing out the entire deck ensures that each player knows exactly which cards the other player has been dealt. In this case, the player dealt the lowest card (not necessarily the three of diamonds, which might not be dealt out initially) begins, and must use that card immediately; and whenever a player passes, that player must draw a card from the remainder of the deck. The players are not permitted to examine the remainder of the deck otherwise.

5.2 Floating fifty-second card. In a three-player game, one sometimes deals seventeen cards to each player and leaves the final card (which may be either face-up or face-down) to be claimed by the player who has been dealt the three of diamonds. In the case that the final card is the three of diamonds, it goes to the holder of the three of clubs.

5.3 Jokers. Jokers, when in play, may be used either as wildcards or as cards that rank higher than two; so that a single joker can beat a single two, and a pair of jokers can beat a pair of twos. Usually, one joker is higher than the other, and therefore can be used to beat it (the higher joker usually has a larger illustration than the lower joker, or is the only one of the two that is coloured).

5.3.1 Ranking of pairs and triples. When jokers are in play, ranking pairs and triples becomes more complicated. The common sense rule is used: pairs are still ranked first by rank (so that a three and a joker is still lower than a pair of fours), and then by the highest card within the pair (so that a pair that contains a joker is higher than a pair that does not, and a pair that contains the high joker is higher than the pair that contains the low joker). Triples are ranked similarly.

5.3.2 Ranking of straights. Straights are ranked as before, but with jokers allowed as the high card, the common-sense rules apply; so a seven-high straight in which the seven is replaced with a joker is higher than natural seven-high straight, but lower than any eight-high straight; and a seven-high straight that contains the high joker as high card is higher than a seven-high straight that contains the low joker as high card. Substituting any position other than the high card of a straight with a joker has no effect on its poker hand ranking.

5.3.3 Five of a kind. The presence of jokers admits the possibility of five-of-a-kind hands. These are higher than straight flushes, and ordered by rank.