Popular Card Games for this Diwali

Symbolising the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance; Diwali is one of the most anticipated Indian holidays. Not only does it signify a time to destroy all our dark desires and thoughts but it is a time of strength as well as zeal to carry on with our goodwill for the remaining part of the year. This festival is observed by more than a billion people across different faiths and lasts for five specific days where it is accompanied by a lot of prayers, feats, fireworks and a new year.

 

 It commemorates the victorious return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after having saved his wife Sita from the evil clutches of the demon king – Ravana. Extending beyond culture and religion, Diwali encompasses a bit of everything for everyone. Right from making beautiful rangoli designs, decorating the house with lights and dias, preparing special dishes and sweets, organizing Lakshmi Puja, and buying new clothes/utensils/home items; it is also a time to gift loved ones special gifts, burst crackers, have family and/or friend get-togethers. It is a very special time of the year and it is more than heartwarming to have such wonderful gatherings in today’s fast-paced times!           

 

This year, Diwali will commence on 10^th November and go on till 14^th November. Beginning with Dhanteras, Chhoti Diwali, Diwali, Govardhan Puja and ending with Bhaiya Dhooj. With a lot more mindfulness going on around the world about the pollution created by fireworks, playing card games and poker is slowly becoming the more popular option of the season. Card Games such as Rummy, Flush, Poker, Ludo Win, Teen Patti, Saath Aath and many other card games are popular choices for friends as well as family members. After all what more could you want but some food and a bit of sneaky fun to usher in good luck.   Diwali is also considered auspicious for money-related activities. So as the popular saying goes, if someone doesn’t play cards on Diwali night, he/she will bear a donkey in his/her next life!

 

At the office fun events such as decorating the office, traditional wear contests, gift exchange programs, Diwali buffets, applying Henna (Mehndi), having a photo booth to click memorable pictures, having talent shows, playing musical chairs, having a dance festival, playing board games or card games or even have a tug of war, sharing sweets, etc. are some of the ways to Diwali at the office. All of these activities not only foster teamwork but also embrace Indian culture. Some of the most popular card games that are played during Diwali are Rummy, Flush, Poker, Teen-Patti, Saath-Aath and Do-teen-Paanch. 

 

1.    Rummy: 

     

     Dating back to 1909, Rummy has certainly been around for a long time! Similar to standard Rummy, Indian Rummy can be played with a maximum of 6 players.

The main objective of the game is to create a pure sequence of cards (eg – JQK of the same suit or set (eg AAA)

 

Using a standard 52 playing card deck (Two decks of cards with a total of two jokers) is to get the highest number of points. In this game, the ‘King’ is known to be the highest and the Ace is known to be the lowest.  

 

While one pile of cards is a closed deck – where each player pulls a card from; the other cared is an open deck that is formed by the cards that are discarded by the players. Players have to group cards in valid sequences and sets. These are known as ‘Rummy Sets’ and ‘Sequences)

5.6 and 7 of the same suits is also considered an example of a sequence.

 

The cards rank from lowest to highest in the following sequence: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen and King. Ace, Jack, Queen and King. Each has 10 points. The remaining cards have a value equal to their face value. For example, a 5 card will be worth 5 points and so on! 

 

It has a very immersive nature which makes it so popular in India.

 

2.    Flush: 

     Also known as Flash and Teen Patti, this game has taken inspiration from the English game- Three Card Brag; which is one of the most popular card games in South Asia. 

     

           The main point of the game is to have more cards of the same suit (a flush) than the dealer, regardless of the suit. 

 

In order to declare flush you need to have five cards of the same suit – none of them have to be in sequential order! There are different types of flush which can be declared such as straight flush, royal flush, nut flush and normal flush. 

A normal flush consists of 5 cards of the same suit, a straight flush consists of 5 consecutive cards of the same suit, and a royal flush is when you get 5 consecutive Aces – the highest possible flush

 

After placing an initial bet in the ‘boot’ or the prize pot, the dealer deals three cards to all the players at one time (face down). He/she then has a choice of playing as seen or blind. The different types of flush are Flush – any 5 cards of the same suit, Straight flush- 5 consecutive cards of the same suit and Royal flush - an ace-high straight flush, the highest possible straight flush. Some examples are four-card flush in spades, five-card flush in hearts or three-card flush in clubs.       

 

3.    Poker: 

    

     Playing poker offline is extremely popular. Using a standard 52 deck of cards, the dealer deals three cards to each player. In order to win you need to have the best hand amongst all the players. 

 

The different types of poker suits include clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades.

 

A maximum of 10 players can play in this game but if there is more than one deck used the game can also go up to 14 players. However, the ideal number of players is 6/7 or 8. 

 

This is a game based on purely betting and the goal of any player is to win the pot- which consists of all the bets that the players have made in one deal. 

 

When the game begins, each player has to simultaneously lift their card placing it on their forehead so that every player can see it. Acting in turn, (clockwise rotation)  Cards are ranked (from high to low): Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. While luck has an overruling role in Poker, it is also a game of skill. There is a single round of betting and then a showdown.

 

In poker, the order of cards is very important. It is the hierarchy of the cards which determines whether a person will win or lose. 

 

4.    Teen Patti:  

    There are over 50 variations of teen patti and each variation has its own set of rules. Also known as three cards, Teen Patti is a gambling card game. The game is played clockwise (from the dealer). The dealer places three cards face down to himself and then deals three cards to each payer facedown. 

 

The player sitting on the left side of the dealer starts first. Either he can choose to play blind (without seeing the cards) or seen. Keeping all the cards facedown, the person who draws the highest card begins first. An ante ( a stake put up by a player) is collected from each player and this forms the initial pool that the players fight over.

 

 After that, the dealer gives out three cards to each player facedown. The first player can either play fold (give up your cards and forfeit the game.), call the ante or raise to double it. This continues with each player folding, calling or raising as a blind or seen player. The players (when there are two) can demand a showdown (show their cards)  The one with the highest rank will win the entire pot while the other loses.  

 

 

5.    Saath Aath: 

This is in Hindi which means seven-eight. In this game, there are only two players and is the two-player version of 2:3:8.  A 30-card pack is used and the 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s, 6’s and 7’s are removed. The following cards remain A, K, Q, J, 10.9.8.  Each player has to win as many of the 15 tricks as possible: the dealer has a target of 7 and the non-dealer has a target of 8. 

 

A total of 30 cards are to be played between the two participants, one suit is chosen as the trump suit. In this game, one is the dealer and the other is the cutter. 

 

This leaves each player with 15 cards, a hand of 5 cards and five stacks consisting of a faceup card on top of the face-down card.  

 

Each round of 7, 8 cards consists of 15 hands in which the dealer has to score more than seven hands and the cutter over eight hands Despite this, the top trump is the 7 of hearts and the second highest is the 7 of spades. 

  

The dealer shuffles and offers the cards to the non-dealer to cut and deals a hand of five cards to each player. The cutter is responsible for cutting the decks into proportions.

 

Then the players pick up and look at their cards and the nondealer chooses and announces the trump suit. The dealer then has to a row of five cards face down in front of each player and then a card on top of each of the face down cards. The player with the most hands wins the game.

 

6.     2:3: 5 (Teen Do Paanch): 

    This game is a trick-taking game that is played only between three players with only 30 cards. 

 

Similar to 7-8, this game revolves around the three players having to win a specific number of tricks, (2 or 3 or 5). At the beginning of the game, the 3, 2, and 5 cards from the unused cards of the deck are placed face down. 

 

Each player picks a card randomly and the player who gets 2 becomes the dealer and has to win 2 tricks, the player with 3 has to win 3 tricks and the player who chooses 5 has to win 5 tricks. 

 

The dealer starts by dealing 5 cards to each player at the table, excluding themselves. The trump suit is based on the first 5 cards. (A trump suit is a way of winning a trick in the game and is either spades, hearts, diamonds or clubs and is decided by the bidding (also called 'auction'). The player who selects the trump is the leading player and must complete 5 tricks, while the player on the left has to complete 3 tricks. The one on the right has to complete 2 tricks. 

 

The cards are then shuffled again and the player to the right of the dealer cuts the deck. The dealer then deals 5 cards to each player and then after the trump suit is selected another 3 cards are dealt to each player; which is then followed by dealing 2 cards to each player. 

 

A total of 10 cards need to be in each player's hand. The player to the right of the dealer leads the first trick: he can lead with any card and the other players simply follow suit. They can either choose to play the trump suit or any other card of the same suit.