HANG TEN

OBJECTIVE OF HANG TEN: Create the lowest value card layout.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4-6 players

NUMBER OF CARDS: Four 52 standard decks

RANK OF CARDS: point values discussed below

TYPE OF GAME: Golf

AUDIENCE: All Ages

INTRODUCTION TO HANG TEN

Hang Ten is a modern variation on 10 card Golf where, rather than discarding everything into a single pile, players have their own discard piles. Players can also draw the top card from an opponent’s discard pile

The goal of Hang Ten is to make a layout with the lowest possible score, ideally a negative score. Cards have the following values: sòng bạc

• 7s: 0 points
• Aces: 1 point
• Face cards: 10 points
• Other number cards: face value

However, there are exceptions to these rules:

• A column of pairs (for example two Queens) scores 0 points.
• A block of four cards that are equal in rank score -10 points.

THE DEAL

A dealer is chosen randomly. The shuffle the decks and deal each player 10 cards. Players cannot look at these cards. Players arrange them face-down in front of them in 2 rows of 5 cards, making a 5×2 layout. The dealer then puts the cards that remain face-down in a pile and flips the top card over and places it beside the deck. Players turn two cards over in their layout. Any two cards may be chosen, granted they are not next to each other vertically or in the same row.

THE PLAY

The first player to begin is the player to the left of the dealer. They must draw a face-down card from the deck of the face-up card in the center. After looking at the drawn card, they may use that card to replace one of their own cards in their layout. They can replace both face-down and face-up cards. The cards that are replaced are placed in their personal discard pile above their layout. Once this has been completed, that person’s turn is over, and the player to their left takes their turn.

This continues to move to the left. Players start their turn by drawing, then by replacing, and discarding. Players can take a card from their opponent’s discard, granted it is the top card. If a player takes the card that is face-up in the center, it is not replaced until the next deal.

Players try to make the lowest value layout as possible using the card values given above.

ENDGAME & SCORING

Play shall continue until one player has all 10 cards in their layout face-up. After this happens, each player gets one last turn and play ceases. Players reveal the remaining cards in their layout and calculate their total.

Once this is done, cards are shuffled and re-dealt, and the deal moves to the left. A full game has 10 deals and the player with the lowest cumulative score after 10 deals wins the game!