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Golf is a card game where players try to earn the lowest number of points (as in golf, the sport) over the course of nine deals (or "holes" to further use golfing teminology). It is a game for four or more players using a double-deck of 108 cards.
The multi-player game of golf has little in common with its solitaire cousin.
Four or more players use two standard 52-card decks plus 2 or 4 Jokers . Each player is dealt 6 cards face down from the deck, the remainder is placed face down to form the stock and the top card is turned up to start the discard pile beside it. Players arrange their 6 cards in 2 rows of 3 in front of them and turn 2 of these cards face up. This arrangement is maintained throughout the game and players always have 6 cards in front of them.
The object is for players to reduce the value of the cards in front of them by either swapping them for lesser value cards or by pairing them up with cards of equal rank.
Beginning at dealer's left, players take turns drawing single cards from either the stock or discard piles. The drawn card may either be swapped for one of that player's 6 cards, or discarded. If the card is swapped for one of the face down cards, the card swapped in remains face up. The round ends when all of a player's cards are face-up. Remaining players then have one turn to draw a card to improve their hands and then scores are totaled and recorded on a running score sheet.
During play it is legal for a player to pick up a card from the discard pile and return it to the discard pile without playing it to allow another player to retrieve the card.
Pairs are formed by cards of equal rank in the same column and override the normal point values of those cards. Pairs score as follows:
Game is nine or eighteen "holes" (deals), and the player with the lowest total score is designated winner.
The variants in multiplayer golf are endless. Some common ones include:
For two to four players. Rules are the same as in double-pack golf. Sometimes jokers are not used.
Can be played single or double pack. Each player receives 4 cards face down in a 2x2 grid and looks at 2 before play begins. Thereafter, players do not look at their face down cards. Play proceeds as in 6-card golf, but a player may knock (instead of drawing) at any time – even before all of the players cards have been swapped for face-up cards – and then all other players have one chance to improve their hands before scores are tallied. Pairs are counted vertically, with diagonal pairs being an optional rule. Each card from 2 to 10 represents their own points (i.e any 3 card is worth three points and any 10 card is worth ten points and so on). Aces are 1 point. Jacks are eleven. Queens are twelve and Kings thirteen points. The goal is to get the lowest amount of points.
Two packs, with each player laying out a 3x3 grid and facing 3 cards at the outset. Pairs do not count, but 3-of-a-kind in a row, column or diagonal scores zero, and a 2x2 block of 4 equal cards scores -25.
There are many variants for point values of cards, including:
Some play that a player who knocks (turns over all cards first) but doesn't end with the lowest score is penalized:
If the knocker's score is lowest, some play with a bonus: