French-suited deck of 52 cards.

Number of Players: 5 (or other numbers with tweaking…see variations)

The general purpose of the game is to make pairs and mournivals (fours of a kind), by matching with cards that are face up on the table.

(Note that a "pair royal" means three of a kind.)

Before beginning, agree upon a stake. Usually everyone stakes 2, except the dealer, who stakes 3; the dealer collects the stakes in a pot. This is the money that the winners will collect from at the end.

Deal eight cards to each player, one card at a time.

Spread the remaining 12 cards on the table, face up.

If there are any mournivals in these 12 cards (unlikely but possible), the dealer takes them all immediately, and places them by him.

Starting with Eldest hand, take turns pairing up with the cards on the table. Find a card in your hand that matches one or three on the table. Take the one(s) on the table, mate them with the one in your hand, and place them face-up by you. Note that this mating is by pairs -- you must put down either two or four at a time, not three. If there is a pair royal on the table, and you have the fourth, be sure to take all three on the table.

There are a few special rules for laying down cards, which collectively boil down to, "If you have a pair in your hand,

and you can prove that it is impossible to ever mate those cards (since their mates will never be on the table), you

can lay them down." Specifically:

If you have a mournival in your hand, you may immediately place it by you (since it can't match with anything

on the table).

If you have a pair in your hand, and someone else makes the other pair of that rank from the table, you may

immediately place your pair by you. (Since it can no longer be scored from the table.)

If you have a pair royal in your hand, you may immediately lay a pair of it down. (Since only one card of it can

ever be paired from the table.)

When a player can not make any mates with the table, they must "lie down"; that is, they must place all of the cards in their hand in the middle of the table for others to mate with.

At this point, obviously, you can no longer make any more mates in this round, but you are not done; the cards you have laid by you will count when scoring.

When the second to last player lays down, and there is only one player is left, the hand is over. The one who is left is not allowed to make any more mates. However, the one who is left immediately wins five stakes out of the pot.

All remaining cards, both in players' hands and in the middle of the table, go to the dealer.

Scoring is based on how many cards you gained or lost in play. If you have eight cards by you, you have broken even, and neither gain nor lose. Otherwise, gain or lose one stake for each two cards.

All stakes are paid to and from the pot that the dealer maintains; place any losses in the pot, and take winnings from it. If you do everything correctly is should work our evenly.

This game should be played quickly and if you catch someone's mistake you can benefit from it.

Some common mistakes are:

The dealer overlooks a mournival on the table, the person who notices it first can take it. (Give the dealer a chance to notice it, though.)

A pair royal is on the table, and a player takes only one of it, the player who notices can take the other pair.

If you have a pair royal in your hand, and only lay down a pair of it by you, someone who notices that when your cards are laid down can take that remaining pair.