Nine Card Don is a game of the All fours family which is commonly played in many areas of the United Kingdom. The game is sometimes played under the names "Big Don", "Long Don", and "Welsh Don". Nine Card Don is played by four participants playing in two partnerships consisting of two players each. The game uses one standard 52 card deck with the same card rankings as in All Fours and many games from the same family. This ranking is as follows, shown from highest to lowest; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
Determination of the first player to lead the first trick is done by a cut of cards. One member of each team cuts a card from the shuffled deck. If both players cut a card of the same rank, the cards are discard and both players draw again. The player who draws the highest ranked card selects which player will be the first to play (pitch) the first card to the first trick (usually either himself or his partner). The player immediately to the right of this selected lead player will be set as the first dealer. After each hand the role of dealer rotates in a clockwise direction around the table as does the role of the lead player, with the first pitcher always the player immediate to the left of the current dealer. The dealer thoroughly shuffles the deck and offer it to the player at his right for the cut. After the cut, he then begins dealing the cards, one-by-one and face-down, starting with the player at his immediate left. He continues dealing in a clockwise rotation around the table until each player has a total of nine cards. He then sets the remainder of the deck (16 cards) aside and out of play.
After the deal, all the players except the partner of the lead player (pitcher) pick up their cards for examination. That player may only pick up his cards after the first card has been led to the first trick. This is to prevent any type of signaling to the pitcher on his determination of trump suit. Thus, after the pitcher picks up his cards for
examination, he then leads the first card to the first trick. The suit of the card led to this first trick sets the trump suit for the hand. Each other player in a clockwise rotation then plays a card from their hand to the same trick.
The leader to a trick may play any card of choice from his hand to start a trick. Each other player to the trick must play a card of the suit led to the trick if they so have one. If the player has no cards in the suit led, they may play a card from any other suit, including from the trump suit.
After each player has played one card to the trick it is determined who wins the trick. If the trick contains one or more cards from the trump suit, the trick is won by the highest such card. If the
trick contains no cards from the designated trump suit for the hand, the trick is instead won by the highest card in the suit originally led to that trick. Cards won in tricks are set aside, face-down near the player who won the trick, and the winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick.
Immediately upon winning of a trick that contains certain point scoring cards, the partnership who won that trick wins points. The following chart shows this number of points based on the card captured:
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| Card | Point Value |
|---|
| Five of Trump Suit | 10 Points |
| Nine of Trump Suit | 9 Points |
| Five of Non-Trump Suit | 5 Points Each |
| Ace of Trump Suit | 4 Points |
| King of Trump Suit | 3 Points |
| Queen of Trump Suit | 2 Points |
| Jack of Trump Suit | 1 Point |
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Note that these points are scored immediately once the trick is won by the team winning that trick. In addition to the scoring for capturing these specific tricks, at the end of each hand, the team that captured the most Card Points during the hand scores an additional 8 points for "Game". The following are the card points for various cards in the deck which will contribute to a team's Card Point total for determining which team earns the score for "Game":
| Card | Card Point Value |
|---|
| Ten of Any Suit | 10 Points Each |
| Ace of Any Suit | 4 Points Each |
| King of Any Suit | 3 Points Each |
| Queen of Any Suit | 2 Points Each |
Jack of Any Suit | 1 Point Each |
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If both teams earn the same total in Card Points during that hand for cards captured in tricks
(40), neither team scores the 8 points for Game on that hand.
Because scoring occurs quickly and during the actual course of play during the hand, each team's score is often recorded on a Cribbage board. The first team to score 91 points (or advance one and a half times around the board) is declared the
game winner.
Chase the Nine: Chase the Nine, also called Chaser is the exact same game as Nine Card Don, with the only difference being that this game, which
is most popular in the West Midlands area of England, ends with the first
team to reach 121 points (twice around a standard Cribbage board) being
declared the game winner.
Game To Lose: Game to Lose is a unique variant of Chase the Nine, with the unusual goal to avoid scoring points during each hand. Like Chase the Nine, Game To Lose is mostly played in the West Midlands area of England. However, this game is designed for play by three players, each playing independently. The game uses one standard 52 card deck with the usual, expected ranking (from highest to lowest; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
To determine the identity of the first pitcher (as well as the first dealer) each player cuts a card from the shuffled deck. Any players cutting cards of equal rank discard those cards and draw new cards. The player drawing the lowest ranked card is set as the first pitcher, and the player
seated at his immediate right the first dealer. After each hand, the role of first pitcher and first dealer rotates in a clockwise direction around the table.
The dealer then reshuffles the deck and offers it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut the dealer begins dealing the cards, face-down and one-at-a-time, beginning with the player at his immediate left. He deals in a clockwise rotation around the table. Although played by three players, the dealer deals a fourth hand, with that hand receiving it's card in each round of the deal immediately after the player to the dealer's right. The dealer continues dealing until each player (and the dummy hand) each receives a total of 13 cards. After the deal, the cards in the dummy hand are set aside and out of play.
After all the cards have been dealt, the pitcher for the hand plays the first card to lead the first trick of the hand. The suit of the card as led by this player sets the trump suit to be used for the remainder of the hand. After the lead, each other player, in a clockwise direction around the table, plays one card from their hand to the same trick. If a player has a card of the suit originally led to the trick he must play it. If he has no cards in the trump suit he may play any card from his hand to that trick.
After each of the three players has played a card to the trick it is determined who has won the trick. The player of the highest card in the trump suit (if any) to the trick wins the trick. If the trick contains no cards from the trump suit, the player of the highest card in the suit originally led to the trick wins it. The winner of each trick leads the first card to start the next trick. As in Nine Card Don and Chase the Nine, if a player wins a trick containing any of the specific point scoring cards, that player immediately adds the appropriate score to his current ongoing score:
| Card | Point Value |
|---|
| Five of Trump Suit | 10 Points |
| Nine of Trump Suit | 9 Points |
| Five of Non-Trump Suit | 5 Points Each |
| Ace of Trump Suit | 4 Points |
| King of Trump Suit | 3 Points |
| Queen of Trump Suit | 2 Points |
Jack of Trump Suit | 1 Point |
These points are scored immediately by the winner of a trick containing any of these specific scoring cards. If any player's score, during play reaches or exceeds 180, the game immediately ends with that player declared the loser of the game.
After all the tricks have been played and won, each player then reviews the cards they have won during the hand, calculating card points captured during the hand. The following chart shows the card point value for cards in the deck:
| Card | Card Point Value |
|---|
| Ten of Any Suit | 10 Points Each |
| Ace of Any Suit | 4 Points Each |
| King of Any Suit | 3 Points Each |
| Queen of Any Suit | 2 Points Each |
Jack of Any Suit | 1 Point Each |
Whichever team scores the most card points during the hand must add 8 to their current ongoing score (called "for the eight"). If two players tie with the exact same count in card points, both players add 4 points to their ongoing total. If all three players tie for the same number of card points, no one scores for "Game" on that hand.
As in Chase the Nine, scoring is usually kept on a Cribbage board. Since there are three players in this game, and most Cribbage boards usually have two sets of scoring tracks, usually a second Cribbage board is incorporated to retain the score for the third player. The first player to reach or exceed 121 points is the loser of the game.
Blind Don: Blind Don is a two player variant of Nine Card Don. The game uses the same standard 52 card deck as does the other Don variants and uses the same ranking amongst the cards.
Determination of first dealer is usually done with a cut of cards, with both players cutting a card from the shuffled deck. The player cutting the higher card is set as the first pitcher, and his opponent as the first dealer. After each hand, the roles of pitcher and dealer alternate amongst the two players.
The dealer then begins dealing the cards to the players, one-by-one, starting with this opponent. He first deals in such a manner that each player first receives a row of nine face-down cards. He then deals nine more cards to each player, dealing one card face-up on top of each of the original face-down cards. Each player thus has a total of 18 cards dealt to them. Players may not look at the face-down cards they have been dealt.
The opponent of the dealer plays the first card to start the first trick. He may play his choice of any of his currently face-up cards on the table. The suit of the card he plays sets the trump suit to be used for the hand. His opponent then also plays a card to the trick. The leader of a trick may select to play any currently face-up card to start each trick. His opponent then plays a card to the same trick. He must also play one of his face-up cards on the table. If he has a card of the suit originally led to the trick he must play it. If he has no such card, he may play his choice of any of his face-up cards to the trick.
The player of the highest card in the trump suit wins the trick. If the trick contains no cards of the designated trump suit, the highest card of the suit originally led to that trick wins the trick. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick. After the trick has been won, any face-down cards that were exposed by play of the face-up card on top of it by a player are immediately turned over and exposed on the table, ready for play on future tricks.
After every trick has been played and won, players determine if they managed to win any of the four possible points available in play during that hand:
- High - The player dealt the highest trump card in play earns one Game Point.
- Low - The player who wins the lowest ranked trump card in a trick earns one Game Point.
- Jack - The player who manages to win the Jack of the trump suit in a trick during play earns one Game Point.
- Game - The player who captures the highest number of card points from cards captured in tricks during that hand earns five Game Points. The following is the value of each cards for determining which player earned more card points during the hand:
| Card | Card Point Value |
|---|
| Ten | 10 Points Each |
| Ace | 4 Points Each |
| King | 3 Points Each |
| Queen | 2 Points Each |
Jack | 1 Point Each |
If both players score the exact same number of Game Points, neither player scores for the five points for "Game" on that hand.
A total of four deals are played (two dealt by each player) with the player having the highest grand total in cumulative Game Points declared the game winner.
Irish Don: Although Irish Don is the variant of Don which is mostly played in Ireland, it is also found to be played in Britain and several other locations, usually by members of the Irish community. Irish Don is played by four players, playing in two partnerships of two players each. The games uses one standard 52 card deck. The ranking of the cards, as used for Irish Don, in this deck is as follows (from highest to lowest): Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
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| The first card played to the first trick of the hand sets the trump suit to be used for the hand in Irish Don. |
If not predetermined, determination of partners for the game, as well as the identity of the dealer for the first hand can be performed using a variety of methods. One such method is for each player to draw a card from the shuffled deck. Any players drawing cards of equal rank should discard those cards and draw another. The players drawing the two highest cards play as partners against a partnership consisting of the drawers of the two lowest cards. Each player should sit directly across the table from his partner during the game. The player drawing the highest card of all is set as the first dealer, and thereafter the role of the dealer will be the player who was the "Pitcher" on the last hand (see below).
The dealer begins each hand by thoroughly shuffling the deck and offering it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins distributing the cards in a clockwise rotation around the table, starting with the player at his left. Beginning with the player at his immediate left he continues dealing until the entire deck has been fully dealt out. After the cards have been dealt, the Pitcher for that hand then picks up his hand for examination as do the two members of the opposing team. The partner of the Pitcher for the hand should never pick up his hand until after the Pitcher plays his first card to the first trick. On the first hand of each game, whichever player has, in hand, the two of diamonds (
♦), is automatically set as the first Pitcher. On each subsequent hand during that same game, the player to the immediate left of the Pitcher from the last hand is set as the first Pitcher for the next. The dealer for that hand would be the player to the immediate right of this first Pitcher.
The designated Pitcher for the hand then leads the first card to the first
trick (pucks out). He can lead with any card from his hand, however
whichever card he leads sets the trump suit to be used for that hand. This
card, and all other cards of that same suit are considered to be members of
the trump suit for the duration of this hand. Each other player then plays a card as well to that same trick in turn (clockwise direction).
While the leader of a trick can play any card of choice to lead to a trick, each other player must play a card of the suit originally led to the trick if they have any such cards in the hand. If they have no such cards of that suit, they may play a card from any suit, including one from the trump suit, if they prefer. After each player has played one card to the trick it is reviewed to determine the winner of that trick. The player of the highest card in the trump suit to each trick wins that trick. If the trick contains no cards from the trump suit, the highest card in the suit originally led to that trick wins the trick. All cards won in tricks are set aside and out of play, near the player winning the trick. The winner of each trick leads the next card to the next trick, which may be any card of choice still remaining in his hand.
After all the cards have been played out in tricks during the hand, the hand is scored (called counting the fat). Teams earn a number of points based on the capture of certain point-scoring cards during the hand, as per the following chart:
| Card | Scoring Value |
|---|
| 9 of Trump Suit (Big Don) | 18 Points |
| 10 of Trump Suit | 10 Points |
| 9 of Non-Trump Suit | 9 Points Each |
| 5 of Non-Trump Suit | 5 Points Each |
| Ace of Trump Suit | 4 Points |
| King of Trump Suit | 3 Points |
| Queen of Trump Suit | 2 Points |
| Jack of Trump Suit | 1 Point |
There are a total of 80 available points in every hand. If one team manages to win all 80 points in the first hand, since the target score to win the game is 80 points, that team is immediately set as the winner. However, if neither team manages to win these 80 points during the first hand, a second hand is played, with the first team to reach 80 points after play of this second hand declared the winner. Scores are rarely actually recorded on paper for this game, with each team simply recalling the number of points they had on the first hand, and thus adding to this total any points earned on the second hand. If, during play, a team believes they have reached the needed 80 points while the hand is still in progress may stop the game and count the cards won to determine if they were, in fact, able to achieve the victory.
After one team manages to win one game (through one or two hands), a new game can be played with all scores reset to zero.
Phat: Phat (sometimes spelled as "Fat") is another game played similarly to Nine Card Don and it's variants. This game is played in many areas of Britain, particularly in the Hereford region. Phat is played by four players (playing in two partnerships of two players each) using one standard 52 card deck. The cards as used for Phat use the normally expected ranking (from highest to lowest) of: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
If partnerships have not been already predetermined, any random method of determining this can be used, such as a draw of cards from a shuffled deck. Using that method, the players drawing the two highest cards play as partners opposed to the players drawing the two lowest. Each player should sit directly across the table from his partner.
The player drawing the lowest card in such a draw is set as the first Pitcher for the hand, and the player at his immediate right is set as the first dealer. After each hand, the role of the first Pitcher and the dealer rotates around the table in a clockwise direction, from player to player.
The dealer begins by shuffling the deck and offering it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins dealing the cards, one-at-a-time and face down. He starts with the player at his right and continues dealing the cards in a clockwise direction around the table until the entire deck has been dealt out. All players except the partner of the first Pitcher should then pick up their hands. The partner of the first Pitcher is not permitted to pick up his hand until the Pitcher plays the first card to the first trick. On this first lead, the suit of the card led by the Pitcher sets the trump suit to be used for that hand. The card led, and every other card in that same suit are considered trump cards during this hand.
After the lead, each other player in a clockwise direction, plays one card to that same trick. If a player has a card of the same suit as led to a trick, he must play such a card. If he has no cards of the suit led, he may play any card from his hand, including a card from the trump suit.
After each player has played a card to the trick, it is determined who has won that trick. The player of the highest card in the trump suit wins that trick. If no cards from the trump suit have been played to the trick, it is instead won by the highest card of the suit originally led to that trick. Cards won in tricks should be set aside, and out of play, near the player winning the trick. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick, which may be any card remaining in his hand.
If the trick contains any of the special point scoring cards in the deck
(called the Phat), the winner of that trick immediately records the score
for these cards for his team. This scoring is usually pegged on a special
board designed specifically for this game. The following are the cards that earn this immediate score as won in tricks:
| Card | Scoring Value |
|---|
| 9 in the Trump Suit | 18 Points |
| 5 in the Trump Suit | 10 Points |
| 9 of a Non-Trump Suit | 9 Points Each |
| 5 of a Non-Trump Suit | 5 Points Each |
| Ace in the Trump Suit | 4 Points |
| King in the Trump Suit | 3 Points |
| Queen in the Trump Suit | 2 Points |
| Jack in the Trump Suit | 1 Point |
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In addition, at the end of the hand, there is an additional 8 points that is awarded to one team (called the Muck). These 8 points are earned by the team which captures the majority of Card Points during the hand. The following chart shows all cards which contribute to this Card Point Score:
| Card | Card Point Value |
|---|
| 10 in the Trump Suit | 10 Points Each |
| Ace of any Suit | 4 Points Each |
| King of any Suit | 3 Points Each |
| Queen of any Suit | 2 Points Each |
| Jack of any Suit | 1 Point Each |
Whichever team thus manages to earn more of these Card Points during the hand earns the 8 points for the Muck. However, if both teams capture exactly 40 card points, neither team earns these 8 points on that hand, however whichever team wins the
Muck on the next deal is entitled to add 16 points to their ongoing score instead of the usual 8.
As mentioned above, the game is usually scores using pegs and a special board designed for the game, which is similar in design and function to a Cribbage board, however it is larger, having an additional 15 holes in each row. The first team to reach or exceed 181 points (which would equate to twice around on this special board) is declared the overall game winner. Once either team discovers they have pegged enough points during play to have won the game (which can occur at any time), instantly declares this and the game immediately ends with that team set as the winner.
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