How to Play the Card Game Jubilee

Jubilee is a counting type card game which originated in the Czech Republic. The game is designed for two to seven players and uses a 61 card deck which can be made from two standard decks, as follows:

One full Hearts suit, two full suits of Spades, two nine-card suits of Clubs (consisting of the cards Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), and four Jokers. All other cards from the decks are unused for this game and should be set aside.

Card types in the card game Jubilee

Once the special deck required for this game has been constructed using the two standard decks, seating positions and the first dealer should be determined (unless this has been previously decided). A common method to do this is for all participants to draw a card from a shuffled deck. The players then select a seat at the table in the order of ranking of the cards they have drawn, from highest to lowest. The player who draws the highest card of all becomes the first dealer.

As this is a counting game, each card in the deck has a specific value which will be added or subtracted from the current running count when that card is played. Card of black suits (Clubs and Spades) add a positive amount to the ongoing count and cards of a red suit (Hearts) subtract the indicated amount from the ongoing count. The following chart shows the value to be added to or subtracted from the count for each card in the deck:

Card	Count Value
Ace	Black (+15), Red (-15)
Jack, Queen, King	Black (+10), Red (-10)
2 to 10	Add or Subtract Face value marked on Card
Joker	0

First 18 plays in a sample game of Jubilee

Trivia: One theory on how this game got it's name is from the Jewish Biblical Year of Jubilee which was observed after 49 years (on the 50th year), in which debts were to be forgiven, release from human bondage and the land provided rest.

Once the first dealer is determined, he should thoroughly shuffle the deck and offer it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, the dealer then deals eight face-down cards to each player, one-by-one and in a clockwise direction, starting with the player to his immediate left. The dealer then places the remainder of the deck face-down in the center of the table to form the stock pile. After each hand the deal rotates around the table in a clockwise direction from player to player.

After the initial cards are dealt, the players may then pick up and examine their eight cards. The player to the dealer's immediate left has the first play.

Trivia: The final running count, at the end of each game should always calculate to exactly 189.

On his turn, each player selects any card from his hand and places it face up on the top of a play pile which will be situated next to the draw pile. When placing his card, a player must also clearly state the current ongoing count, after his card is played. After playing a card, the player then draws one card from the stock pile to replenish his hand to eight total cards. The ongoing count is never allowed to be less then zero. Thus, if a player has no legal play which would prevent the count from being a negative count, he must show his hand and then pass his current turn. Play continues in a clockwise direction around the table from player to player. Once the stock pile becomes exhausted, a player no longer draws a card at the end of his turn, but play continues using the cards in hand. The game continues in this manner until every player has played the last card in his hand.

If a player manages to bring the count to any exact multiple of 25 (i.e. 25, 50, 75, 125, etc), they score 10 points, called a Jubilee. If a player manages to play a card which brings the total to an exact multiple of 100, they score 20 points instead. If a player plays a card that causes the count to change such that any multiple of 25 (including a count of 100) is passed, either increased or decreased past the number, he must subtract 5 points from his current score.

After the deck is exhausted and all players have played the last card in hand, the final scores are tallied. The player with the highest accumulated score is declared the winner of the game.