Sergeant Major

Three players, three targets: the dealer needs 8 tricks, the others 5 and 3. Beat yours and trade your worst cards for their best next deal. 3 players.

Who To Play With

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How to play Sergeant Major

  1. 1Three players, a full deck, aces high. Each player gets 16 cards and the last four go face down as the widow.
  2. 2Every deal, each player has a target: the dealer needs 8 tricks, the player after the dealer 5, and the third player 3. The job of dealer moves along one seat every deal.
  3. 3The dealer picks up the widow, puts any four cards back face down, and then names trump.
  4. 4The player after the dealer leads first. Follow the suit that was led if you can; if you can’t, play anything. The highest trump wins the trick, or else the highest card of the suit led. The winner leads next.
  5. 5After the deal, every trick over your target is a point and every trick short of it costs one.
  6. 6From the second deal on, before the dealer takes the widow, whoever went over their target gets to pass one card for each extra trick to whoever fell short. The player who receives it must give back their highest card of that suit, which may be the same card.
  7. 7The game lasts 6 deals, so everyone deals twice. The highest total wins.

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