Fan Tan - Card Game Rules

Fan Tan, which Hoyle's Rules of Games indicates may have been named after a Chinese gambling game, is also known as Stops or Sevens.

Players

3 to 8 players. Probably best with 4 or 5 players.

Deck

Standard 52-card deck. King is high; Ace is low.

Goal

To be the first player to get rid of all his cards.

Setup

Shuffle the deck and choose a dealer, who deals the entire deck out. Some players may receive one card more than others. This will even out over several hands.

Gameplay

A key rule in Fan Tan is that each player must play if they can. Breaking or even simply forgetting this rule can ruin the game.

The 7s are always playable.

The player to the left of the dealer plays first and play continues in a clockwise direction. If he has a 7, he must play it; otherwise, he must pass. When a 7 is played, it’s laid in the middle of the table because it forms a foundation for other cards to be played on.

Once a 7 is played, the 6 and 8 of the same suit are playable. Place the 6 to one side of the 7 and the 8 to the other. Future plays are made on these cards, always in sequential order. On the 6s, the sequence is 5-4-3-2-A. On the 8s, the sequence is 9-10-J-Q-K.

Winning

The first player to play all of his cards wins the hand.

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