Thirty-one

Objective of the game:

Thirty-one is a card game that uses a standard deck of 52 playing cards. Aces are high, counting 11 points; face cards counting 10; and all other cards count face value. Each player gets a hand of three cards. The rest of the deck sits in the middle of the table as stock for the game, and the top card of the stock is turned over to begin the discard. The objective of Thirty-one is to be the last player with lives left. You can win a round of thirty-one by obtaining a hand with a point value closer to 31 or higher than the hands of one's opponents.


Basic rules of the game:

1. All players are trying to collect a hand value of 31 (or the closest to it) in the same suit. Play continues clockwise around the table until any player knocks or obtains a blitz.

2. When it is a player's turn, and that player believes their hand is high enough to beat at least one of the opponents, they knock on the table in lieu of drawing and discarding.

3. All other players, going clockwise from the player who knocked, have one more turn to draw from the stock and discard, or they have the option of keeping all three cards in their hands, known as standing.

4. The round ends when the player to the right of the player who knocked has had a final turn.

5. If no one knocks by the time a player exhausts the stock, the round ends in a draw.

6. The player whose hand scored the lowest is declared the loser, and loses one life.

7. When all of your lives have been lost, you will be removed from the game.

8. The game variation called On the bus includes the numbers two and six and has different methods to switch cards.