Most Popular Indian Card Games

Still remember how we had fights in our group of friends when it was to be decided as whose pack of cards had the best design. And the big warm tears which rolled out of innocent eyes when any of their cards would get folded by mistake by any of the players. We were all fascinated by the various designs of the Ace, Jack, Queen and King in our packs and simply loved the way the white, crisp cards slipped from our hands while shuffling them (Peesna is what we call in our local language).And I have to mention here the great works of the budding architects who made various models of houses from pack of cards. But the unkind wind destroyed it in no time or some prankster siblings waved it off and had hearty laughs. The whole house would be turned upside down to search the missing card and how the faces would swell if anybody asks to lend the pack even for 1 hr.
We simply enjoyed playing with my parents as we always defeated them and hence forced them to play with us till the time they dozed off. Some of the popular games played are:

Satti pe Satti (7 on 7)
This can be played by any number of players. In this if for instance there are 4 players then whoever owns the 7 of hearts (Laal Paan) is supposed to start the game. The player next to him should play either 6 or 8 of heart if he/se possess. If a player does not have any matching cards then he can say pass but if he has 7 of diamonds, spade, clubs then one cannot say pass and needs to play it. The idea is to clear out your cards as soon as possible and block other’s cards. In the end, points of each member are calculated. Whosoever has minimum points will be considered as winner.If the number of players is more then use two decks of card.

Panch teen do (5-3-2) or Do teen panch (2-3-5)
This can be played only by 3 people. This is a very easy game played by kids. In this 7 to King and Ace of hearts and spade and 8 to King and Ace of diamonds and clubs is used. Then we decide who would make 5 sets, 3 sets and 2 sets. Then we give 5 cards to each and the person making 5 sets decides the trump. Then the rest of the cards are distributed. The player who has to make 5 sets plays the first card and the rest two players has to play the same type of card played by the 1st player. Whoever’s card is the highest wins that set. Player who has won the last set continues the game by playing card of his choice. If a player does not have the type of card which is played by the player then he can use trump and win that set. If here the next player also plays a trump card which is higher than the earlier trump card then he wins the set.

If the player for e.g. who has to make 5 sets could make only 4 then in the next round he needs to give a set which he wins in that round to the player who had made an extra set in the last round. Or he can allow that player to take 1 card randomly from his cards and take back the card which he gives.

Sath – Aath (7-8)
This is similar to Panch teen do just the difference being that 7-8 is played between 2 players. Rules remain the same. One player needs to make 7 sets and the other needs to make 8 sets.

Judgement
This can be played by any number of players. Even this is similar to Panch teen do. But here the players have to quote the number of sets they will make. But the sum of the sets quoted by the players should not be equal to the number of cards in the player’s hand. It can be either greater or less then the number of cards in a player’s hand. In order to decide who would distribute the card, give 1 card to all the 4 players and the player who gets the highest card amongst the player’s distributes the card. The player sitting next to the player who has distributed the card has to quote first. Trump can be either decided randomly say in the first game it will be hearts, in the second spade and likewise or it could be declared by the player who quotes the highest set. After completion of 1 round the points of each player is calculated. For the next round randomly any 4 cards are removed so now each player gets 12 cards each. This is done till each player gets only 1 card.

e.g. in the 1st round 1st player quotes that he can make 7 sets , 2nd player says he can make 5 sets , 3rd says he can make 1 set so the 4th player has to compulsorily say minimum 1 set or more but he cant say 0. Similarly if in the last round if first 3 players say 0 sets then the 4th player compulsorily has to say 0 as if he says 1 then it will be equal to the number of card in a player’s hand.

Court KOT (Also called as MENDHI KOT): This can be played only by 4 players. This is played in pairs. In this 7 to King and Ace of hearts and spade and 8 to King and Ace of diamonds and clubs is used. First 4 cards are distributed. If any player is confident that he would make all 4 sets from the cards in his hand then he can say court and decide the trump. Then he plays his cards. In this case his partner needs to open his cards and then the game is played between 3 players. If he is unable to make 4 sets then he gets -16 points. Court means 16 points.

If nobody says court with the 4 cards in hand then players needs to quote the number of sets they would make. They need to say this looking at the 4 cards in their hand. They can discuss with their partner and collectively they need to quote. If collectively they decide to make 16 sets then they can say court.The sets quoted could be 4, 8, 12, and 16. Accordingly the points are decided.

Rummy
Preferably this should be played only by 4 people. 10 cards are distributed to each player and we need to make 3 sets of cards e.g. 1st set would contain three jacks, 2nd set would contain 3 aces and the 3rd set would contain four consecutive cards of the same group say 3,4,5,6 of diamonds. To begin with we pick up a card from the deck kept in the middle and if that card is useful then we throw some other card in the deck. The next player may pick the card thrown by the previous player or may pick a fresh card from the deck. If the number of players is more then use two decks of card

Challenge/Buff: This can be played by any number of players. All the cards are equally distributed. Then the 1st player would throw say 3 cards and claim it to be 3 queens. It may be 3 queens or he may bluff the players by throwing some other cards in the name of queen. If any player suspects that player he might challenge him to open the cards. If it turns out to be truly 3 queens then the person who had challenged that player needs to pick all the cards and if not then the player who had bluffed needs to take all the cards in the center. Likewise the player who is left with no cards is the winner.

Donkey This can be played by any number of players. Here one card is hidden and then all the cards are equally distributed to all the players. The player who starts the game needs to pick one card from the adjacent player's set. If he gets a pair of cards say 2 kings then he can open those cards and throw in the centre. The adjacent player would then pick a card from his adjacent player and likewise this would continue. In the end the player who is left with a card is DONKEY.

By : Swati Sharma