Content
Content is a very sociable card game in which up
to sixteen players can take part. It can be considered a pool game.
It takes its name from an expression used in the game, "I am content!"
or simply "Content!", spoken in turn by
the players when they are satisfied, or forced to be,
with the cards they hold. Its principle is related to Brelan and
Thirty-One.
Historically,
Joseph Méry,
who first wrote its rules down in 1847 in L'Arbitre des
jeux, traces its origin back to the time of the Revolution,
and tells us that by 1847 it was hardly played anymore.
Content
is related to the game of Brelan de Valets, of which it appears to be an evolution.
The
rules presented here are those of Joseph Méry, with
some decisions I have added on points that were not addressed.
1.
Number of players and deck of cards
Content
is preferably played by five or six players, with
a 52-card deck. It is, however, technically possible to play it with anywhere
from two up to a maximum of sixteen players.
The hierarchical order
of the cards runs from the lowest, the Two, up to the Ace,
which is the highest.
Each
plain card has a point value corresponding to its face value,
except for Aces, which are worth 11 points. Court cards are each worth
10 points.
The Jack of clubs is called the Mistigri and plays
a special role in the game.
2.
Length of the game, pool, stake
Content
is a pool game.
At
the start of the game each player puts three tokens into play, keeping them in front of
him, visible to everyone. Successive hands are played — the
period of play between two deals — until only one
player still has at least one of his tokens left. That player is the sole
winner of the game.
In
keeping with pool games, the winner takes all the tokens in play. For a stake of
three tokens, he will therefore win a number of tokens equal to three times
the number of his opponents. For example, in a game between six players,
the winner will collect fifteen tokens in addition to his own three at the start.
3.
The deal
To
determine who will be the first dealer of the game, each player draws
a card from the deck spread, face down, on the table. The dealer
is the one who draws the lowest card in the hierarchical order:
He shuffles the cards and gives them to the player
on his left to cut, then deals, going to the right, one face-down card to
each player, and places one face-up card in the middle of the table. He does
this three times in a row.
As
a result: Each player has three face-down cards in front of him,
and three face-up cards lie in the middle of the table.
Finally, the dealer keeps the remaining cards to his right, face down;
they make up the stock, which will not be used on this hand.
At the end of the first hand, another begins, for which the new
dealer is the player seated to the right of the previous dealer.
This continues hand after hand until there is a winner
of the game — the last player still in possession of one or more tokens.
4.
The play
The
first to play is the player seated to the right of the dealer.
Each player takes his turn counter-clockwise.
– Only one card may be played on one's
turn, exchanged for one of the cards on display.
– A player may also choose to exchange all three of his
cards for the three on display.
– However, it is forbidden to exchange
exactly two.
– If a player wishes to
exchange none of his cards, he must say "Content!"
and lay his cards face down in front of him. He no longer takes part in the play
until the end of the hand.
The
hand continues in this way until all the players have said "Content!"
Then,
all the players turn over their cards, and whoever has the lowest
combination must put one of their tokens into a pot placed to
the dealer's right along with the stock. The tokens gathered in this pot
make up the pool, which will be taken by the winner of the game.
The
purpose of exchanging cards is to try to hold a combination
higher than at least one of the other players'. Bearing in mind that one
cannot see the other players' cards.
To
play well, it is important to observe and remember the exchanges
made by the other players. The goal is not necessarily to obtain a
Thirty-One, but rather a combination higher than
the others'.
4.1
The combinations
There
are three types of combinations:
– The BRELAN (three of a kind): holding
three cards of the same rank, such as three Aces, three Kings,
etc.
To
compare two brelans, it is the rank that counts. Thus
a brelan of Aces beats all the others.
– The BRELAN MISTIGRI: holding
two cards of the same rank, other than Jacks,
together with the Mistigri, the name given in this game to the Jack of
clubs. There can therefore only be one Brelan Mistigri.
The
Brelan Mistigri ranks below the lowest brelan, that of
Twos.
– The POINT: the number of
points contained in the cards held in a single suit (spades, hearts,
diamonds, clubs). All three cards may be used to make up the
Point, but so may two cards, or just one.
The
highest Point beats any lower one regardless of the number
of cards making it up, but remains, with the exception of the Thirty-One, lower
than any brelan, whether a simple brelan or a Mistigri.
THIRTY-ONE
is the highest Point it is possible to obtain. It
consists of an Ace and two cards of the same suit as the Ace,
each worth ten points (court cards or Tens). It is the top combination of the game.
4.2
Ranking of the combinations
THIRTY-ONE
beats all other combinations, including brelans;
The BRELAN comes next, in hierarchical order (brelan of Aces the
strongest, brelan of Twos the weakest);
The
BRELAN MISTIGRI follows the lowest brelan;
Points
lower than Thirty-One come at the bottom of the ranking,
below the Brelan Mistigri, from the highest, which is thirty,
down to the lowest, which is three (2 Twos of different suits and
1 Three of a third suit, or 2 Threes of different suits
and 1 Two of a third suit).
4.3
THIRTY-ONE: significance
THIRTY-ONE,
which is the highest of all combinations, has the special property
that, when held by a player, it immediately stops the hand
in progress.
If
at least one of the players is dealt a Thirty-One by the dealer, he must
declare it immediately by saying "I am content!"
or simply "Content!", thereby preventing
any further exchange of cards.
When
a Thirty-One comes into a player's hand during an exchange of cards,
that player must declare it immediately by saying "I
am content!" or simply "Content!",
and the hand also stops immediately.
Once
the Thirty-One is declared, the hand ends and
all players turn over their three cards. Whoever has the lowest
combination must put a token into the pot.
If,
holding a Thirty-One received from the dealer or obtained by exchange with
the exposed cards, a player fails to declare himself content before the exchange
of cards by the next player, he must then wait for his next turn to
speak in order to do so.
4.4
THIRTY-ONE: absence; sequence of play
If
during a hand none of the players is able to announce a THIRTY-ONE,
the players, in turn (counter-clockwise),
exchange one or three of their cards if they
wish, but never two. Otherwise, they keep their three cards,
saying "I am content!" or simply "Content!",
and take no further part in the exchanges of cards to come during that hand.
The
hand ends only once all the players have thus declared
themselves content.
The
cards are then turned over and whoever has the lowest of the combinations
thus exposed must put one of their tokens into the pot.
A
player who has no tokens left takes no further part in the game. The number
of players thus gradually decreases.
4.5
THIRTY-ONE: exposed during the deal
If
the three cards exposed by the dealer make up a Thirty-One, two
cases must be considered:
-
if one or more players were dealt a Thirty-One by the dealer, and at
least one of them has declared himself content, then, since the hand stops
immediately, the exposed cards cannot be used.
-
if no one has declared themselves content for having been dealt
a Thirty-One by the dealer, play continues normally and the first to play has the
option of exchanging his three cards for the exposed Thirty-One
and declaring himself content to end the hand.
5.
End of the game
The
game ends when only one player is left holding one
or more tokens.
5.1
End of the game: case where only two (or three) players remain
If
all the remaining players hold only a single token each and they
all obtain the same Point value, in theory they should
all be losers, but the game requires that there be one, and only one, winner.
In this case,
to designate the sole winner of the game, the rule of
precedence prevails. That is, the player
closest to the dealer of the hand on his right wins. The dealer is thus
the most disadvantaged and the first to play the most advantaged.
Optionally,
players may prefer to declare such a hand void and replay it
so that there is a single winner decided by the game itself and not by precedence.
This
option should be agreed upon between the players right at the beginning
of the game.
References
Joseph
Méry, L'Arbitre des jeux, Gabriel de Gonet, Paris, 1847
Information
about this page
Published
on 29 May 2025
Author
: Philippe LALANNE
Le Salon des jeux - Académie des jeux oubliés
