304, pronounced three-nought-four, is a trick-taking card game popular in Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, in the Indian sub continent. The game is played by two teams of two using a subset (7 through Ace of all suits) of the 52 standard playing cards.
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304 is a strategic game, as opposed to one that is based on luck, and everything can be exactly calculated.
The cards are dealt by the dealer to all four players in a counter-clockwise manner (as opposed to games like Euchre, which circle the table clockwise), each getting four cards in the first round. Then the player to the right of the dealer looks at his cards and picks out a trump and places it face down on the table. He then shouts out a score for his team to score, which he trusts he can win with the cards he has. Then a member of the opposing team can pick their own trump, and must pick a score higher than that was named before for his team to score. When a score is agreed the rest of the cards are distributed and the game is started.
The game is played similar to the standard rules followed, where the players answer the suit played. But if they don't have the particular suit, then they can try to guess the trump by passing a face down card to the player who has closed a trump card. If she guesses it right then she gets the hand or else the game goes on.
Points are scored according to the points shown in the table. After all the hands are completed, if the team has scored the required score they win.
| Card | Points | Alternative Scoring |
|---|---|---|
| J | 30 | 3.0 |
| 9 | 20 | 2.0 |
| A | 11 | 1.1 |
| 10 | 10 | 1.0 |
| K | 3 | 0.3 |
| Q | 2 | 0.2 |
| 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 0 | 0 |
So, depending on which version of the game you are playing the total number of points in the whole set of cards is either 304 or 30.4, hence accounting for the name of the game.
In this version, the concept of marriages is introduced, which consists of a K and a Q of the same suit. Last tricks also count towards the making or breaking of the bid.
The cards: All cards 7 through A of all the suits are used in the game, and the hierarchy is unique to the game. It runs as J, 9, A, 10, K, Q, 8, 7. The points are same as those in the alternative version as given in the table above.
The deal: The dealing begins with four cards being distributed to each of the four players. Then each player looks at his cards and then determines if he wishes to call a Half-Court. A half-court is deemed to be made if the bidder collects all four tricks. He is permitted to call for a partner, typically a high card of a suit he is weak in. In a half-coat the caller plays first on all four tricks and the other players follow. If he and his partner make all four tricks, they are deemed to have won.
However a half-coat is a relatively rare occurrence and is discussed in further detail later on. If no one wishes to call for a half-coat, then the dealer deals out the remaining cards.
The bid: Once all the cards have been dealt, the bidding begins. Starting from the player to the left of the bidder, bidding continues in a clockwise manner. A player may bid anything from 160 through 304, the maximum points that can be made in a game. A minimum bid of 160 is required, because you must bet at a multiple of 10 and over half the points to lay trump. If a player, depending on his cards feels he can make all 304 points, he calls for a Full-Coat, which is discussed later.
In his turn to bid a player may either raise the current bid or pass. Once he passes he cannot bid further in the game. A player wins the bid when all others have passed. then he is the bidder and chooses a trump, depending on his cards. He also calls for a partner by naming a particular card and the holder of the card becomes his partner.
The trump: The trump is literally the bidder's trump card, trump cards in this case. A trick which is cut by a trump is won by the player of the biggest trump. for example assume spades are played , P1 drops a J, P2 an 8 and P3 a 9. If P4 does not have spades, and he wishes to win the trick ( considering that it is worth 50 points, it is a heavy trick and it is advisable to cut unless it is his partner's jack)
While similar in most respects to the version described above, the variation to this game accommodates six or eight players instead of the normal four. In case of six players, "3" is inducted as the card with the maximum points - 50, while J, 9, A, etc. retain the same values. The game then becomes 504, instead of 304. Similarly, if 8 players are in a game, "2" is also inducted into the game with a value of 100. Hence, the game becomes 904. In all cases, the number of teams remains at two and players from opposite teams sit next to each other to form a circle.
Also, in the standard four player version of the game, if a team has taken the first five tricks, at the time of leading the sixth trick, the player can say that he will "double", thereby challenging the opponents by saying that his team will take all 8 tricks. Should the team succeed in taking all 8 tricks, the successful team gets an extra point and should they fail, they lose an extra point. This option can be resorted to only if the player from the team that has taken the first five tricks is going to lead the sixth trick.
In the Sri Lankan version, four or six or even eight players can participate in two teams; and full-court, also called high-court (two-fifty), and half-court (partner close--like going alone in Euchre, but only with the first round of 4 cards) are allowed.
After the first round of play, the cards cannot be shuffled in-mid-between; that is, they ought to be shuffled in a cyclic manner but not pulling out cards from inside. In the first round of play, everybody has the chance to watch the play of cards as the game proceeds. For example, suppose the player who throws the very first card is throwing 10 of Spades (S10). Then it is said that what is being called is Spades, and everybody should answer by putting in turn any card of the Spades group, unless he or she does not have Spades. It is impossible to cheat, and the reason for this will be discussed later.
The Sri Lankan version is further complicated because since a player can plan out the "moves", as in a game of chess, the player knows at some point in the game what the outcome of the game would be irrespective of whoever throws whatever cards. Then, when all the 32 cards are going to be won by a single team, in that circumstance also one of the players of the team comes to know, faster than the other, that his team is going to win all the 32 cards. A player should exactly identify this position, and as soon as it is reached, the player should call "Caps" and put his or her remaining cards on the table in the perfect order, meaning that whoever plays whatever cards, the player would throw the cards in the same order, indicated by the placement of the cards on the table by the player, and the player's team will collect all the cards.
In the six-players version, only six players participate with opposite team members sitting alternately, thus having three players in each of the two teams. Only the cards 9 through Ace from each suit are used, and when dealing, three cards are dealt per player before the bid and one card per player after the Bid, so that each player gets four cards. Since only six players participate, the bid is usually 200 upwards out of 304.
Sometimes no player would want to bid, as his hand is not good. In this case, the first player to receive cards, that is, the player who is immediately next to the dealer, is obliged to bid at the lowest bid allowed, which is usually 200.
This version also allows four players to play, in which case 4 cards are dealt before the bid, and 4 cards are dealt after the bid, per player. It can be extended to include eight players also, in which case 3 cards are dealt before and 1 card after the bid, per player.
532, pronounced five-three-two, is a trick-taking card game for three players popular in Sri Lanka.
The game is played with a subset of the 52 standard playing cards, ranking A K Q J 10 9 8 7. This is the order of the cards value. being Ace high and 7 low. The other cards, called "point cards" are generally used to keep track of points. Suit must be followed.
The dealer shuffles the cards and the player to his left cuts the deck by giving a single shuffle to the cards. This is done to prevent any cheats by the dealer while shuffling. The dealer then deals five cards to each player in counter-clockwise motion, stacking the rest of the pack face down to the table.
The first player will look at his cards and call a suit as trump. The dealer then deals 5 more to each in batches of 3s and 2s. The dealer will have two cards in his hand, called "sand cards", and these will be dealt face up to the middle of the table. Usually, the trump caller will exchange these cards for two cards which he does not need.
The trump caller must collect 5 tricks, The dealer must collect 2 and the other player 3, there being 10 tricks in each round. The player who takes more tricks than his must tricks, receives points (money) for each extra earned tricks from the player who didn't took his tricks.
The trump caller must lay down the first card to the table and the next player a card of the same suit of the last player. The player who completes the sequence will collect the trick.
Sand cards, also called Full Caught, play a special role in the game. The other two players than the trumph caller can challenge to take all ten tricks if they play with a new trump. They can also use the sand cards by disposing two cards which they do not need. The points for the full caught is systemed as if the player who asked the full caught wins, he will receive the points from the others for their "must take" tricks, or if he loses, he will give them the same amount.
Each players will be given 20 points in the beginning and the game lasts until a player loses all of his points. If a player loses all his points, the player with the highest points will be declared winner.
The bid: Once all the cards have been dealt, the bidding begins. Starting from the player to the left of the bidder, bidding continues in a clockwise manner. A player may bid anything from 150 through 304, the maximum points that can be made in a game. If a player, depending on his cards feels he can make all 304 points, he calls for a Full-Coat, which is discussed later. In his turn to bid a player may either raise the current bid or pass. Once he passes he cannot bid further in the game. A player wins the bid when all others have passed. then he is the bidder and chooses a trump, depending on his cards. He also calls for a partner by naming a particular card and the holder of the card becomes his partner.
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