Katie Using Words

If there is one card game that has been played across the rural pubs of Ireland for generations, it is 25. Late at night you can still spot local men crowded around tables with pints, slinging cards quickly and collecting their winnings. It isn’t as common as it should be though–it’s a dying part of Irish culture that is worth getting to know.

The problem is, while the pubgoers make it look easy, it turns out this isn’t the easiest card game to learn. The card rankings are different than other trick-taking games and a few quirks that create a bit of a learning curve. Plus–as I discovered during recent internet foraging–many rules guides for the game are quite hairy to understand. That’s why I’m here. Let’s figure out this quaint traditional Irish game together and keep the games rolling.

PLAYERS:

This is a trick-taking game for 2-10 players.
Ideally your play group will be 4-9 players.
Each player will play for themselves, not as partners or teams.
(Some variants allow teams, but more traditionally there is only one winner.)

What You Need:

1 standard deck of 52 playing cards (remove the jokers)

OBJECTIVE:

Be the first player to take five tricks.
Officially, each trick is worth five points–hence, 25 points wins.

Dealing the Cards:

• Randomly choose a starting Dealer. The role of Dealer rotates clockwise each round.
  
• The Dealer should deal 5 cards to each player clockwise in batches of 3 then 2.
  
• The Dealer places the remaining cards in a single pile facedown in the center of the table. They then turn up the top card of the deck. This is the trumps suit.
  
  
  • The turned-up card is not safe! It may be “robbed” in one of two ways:
    
    1. Whomever holds the Ace of trumps may wait until their turn, announce they are robbing, and exchange any card in their hand (facedown) for the turned-up card. This gives the player a chance to dump a garbage card, but then the whole table will know who has the Ace of trumps.
    
    Variants: Some say robbing is mandatory. Let’s ignore them.
    
    2. If the Dealer turns up an Ace (aka the Ace of trumps), the Dealer must “rob” it by taking the card into their hand and discarding (facedown) any card from their hand.
    
    Robbing does not change the trump suit.
    
    
• The player to the Dealer’s left begins the play by placing a “leading card”.
  (If there are 5+ players, the leading card must be trump.)

A Player’s Turn:

Choose a single card to play from your hand face-up in the center of the table.

Which Card Should You Play?:

• If the Leading Card is trumps, you must play trumps. Here is a ranking of the top six trumps cards. (The A♥ is always considered trumps.)

1. 5 trumps
2. J trumps
3. A♥
4. Ace trumps
5. King trumps
6. Queen trumps
7. [remaining trumps cards in numerical order]

See the chart below for a full ranking.

However, there are 3 special cards–The Top 3 trumps cards (5 trumps, J trumps, A♥)–that you cannot be forced to play. These are the magical three–memorise them. They are the most powerful cards in the game. And the only way you can be forced to play them is if someone has played a higher Top 3 trumps card. So, for example, no one is ever compelled to play 5 trumps.

If you have no trumps cards, you may play any card (dump your garbage!).

• If the Leading Card is non-trumps, you must either follow suit or play a trumps card–either is acceptable. See the chart below for how these are ranked.

If you don’t have a card from the leading suit, you may play any card (dump your garbage or hit them with a trumps card!).

Play Continues

• Play proceeds clockwise until each player has laid a card.
• At that point the laid cards are assessed and person who laid the highest ranked card wins the trick and earns 5 points (use your preferred method to keep track).
• The round winner will be the next person to lay the Leading Card. Played cards are set aside.

RANKING THE CARDS

This is the tricky part (get it? Tricky?). Cards are ranked a little differently in this game. Beginning players may be wise to keep a cheat sheet handy for reference.

Here are the rules:

• The highest trumps card played wins the trick.
• If there are no trumps, the highest card of the suit led is the winner of the trick.

Here is a reminder of how the cards are ranked. Notice that ranking cards in numerical order always depends on the suit/colour. Hearts and Diamonds prefer higher numbered cards, while Spades and Clubs prefer lower numbered cards.

It seems a little daunting, but it’s easy to get accustomed after a few hands, so don’t give up.

WINNING

Be the first player to collect 5 tricks (25 points) and you claim victory!

The best reward of all though, in my humble opinion, is that you’re keeping this centuries old Irish gaming tradition alive. Plus hopefully you just won some dough. Ádh mór.