King's Court

Kings Court

338 × 600 The four King cards.
Alternative name(s)	Kings Table, Four Horsemen
Type	Trick-taking
Players	4
Skill(s) required	Card counting, Tactics
Cards	52
Deck	French
Play	Clockwise
Card rank (highest to lowest)	7 (A Q) J 10 9 8 6 5 4 3 2
Random chance	Moderate
Related games
Rummy, Conquian, Mahjong, Desmoche

King’s Court is a solo/”cut-throat”, trick-and-meld style card game played by four players and with a 52 card deck. The object of the game is to score points (generally 500) which are accrued by forming melds (typically runs) of the same suit.

General Overview

Object of the game

The object of the game is to score points (generally 500), or to have a player obtain -200 points, in which case the player with the most positive points wins. This is done by accruing melds (typically runs) of the same suit.

Number of players

The game is played with four players.

The deck

Standard 52-card deck with no Joker cards.

Rank of cards

From highest to lowest: 7 (A Q) J 10 9 8 6 5 4 3 2

Here the A and Q have the same rank since either one of them may initiate a meld from either ends of a King's Court (a run of cards of A 2 3... and Q J 10...). The 7's have the greatest value because they may form melds in both directions; ascending and descending order (...6 7 8... ).

Gameplay

The deal

The first dealer is chosen by a draw for the high card, and thereafter the deal passes to the dealer’s left after each round. The dealer first removes the four King cards from the deck and shuffles them, and afterwards, lays the four cards face-down for the other players to choose randomly. Each King card a player bears is kept from every other player’s view at all times (only the bearer ought to know his King’s suit). The dealer then shuffles the rest of the deck, and the player to the right is given the opportunity to “cut” the cards to prevent the dealer from stacking the deck. The entire deck is then dealt face-down one card at a time in clockwise order (with four players, each player should receive 12 cards, or 13 counting the King.) The players then pick up their cards and arrange them as desired (the most common arrangement is by suit, then rank, although a close second is having the cards in order from the least valued to the highest with identical values combined into sets.)

Misdeal

A misdeal is a deal in which all players have not received the same number of cards. A misdeal may be discovered immediately by counting the cards after they are dealt, or it may be discovered during play of a hand. If a hand is misdealt at the start of play, the hand is considered void and the deal passes to the next player. However, if a player is found to have a hand containing more cards than needed after the play of the first hand, then he is to be penalized and will have his King card "flopped" (flipped over with the loss of 30 points at the end of the round.) If a player finds himself during play to have fewer cards than what was allotted, then the player with the extra cards is to be found and penalized, and the deficient player is to select the amount of cards needed to have a complete hand by selecting the penalized player’s card(s) randomly to add to his own.

Ending a round

After a player has won a trick, if a player chooses to end the round, he may knock, or say “I withdraw.” A player may not court cards and knock in the same turn; the player may only choose to do one or the other. Players discuss at the beginning of gameplay and agree upon the minimum amount of points that must be accrued before a player can legally withdraw from a round. This minimum is known as going board. A board may be a minimum sum of zero points, or so many positive points, like 20. A round automatically ends upon a player obtaining a King's Court.

Tricks

South leads with a pair of 5’s, West sloughs a 7 and a 3, North attempts to trump with a pair of Jacks, and East takes the trick with a pair of Aces.

Each trick is started with a card, or cards, laid down by the last winning player of a trick, unless that player has courted cards, in which case the immediate player to the left begins the next trick. Or, at the very start of a round, the player to the dealer’s immediate left. A hand is played with the cards that are in-hand. A legal hand by a player can be played with anywhere between one to five cards. The legal hands are listed here:

The hands are the same as those seen in conventional poker games, such as Texas Hold’em. Playing a legal hand at the start of a trick by the leading player will cause the others to dispense the same number of cards whether they form a legal hand or not. Another player may win the trick if he has a higher-ranking hand of the same type played by the leading player of the trick. So, if the leading player plays a pair of Jacks, another player may not win the hand by playing a 3OAK. However, if another player has a pair of Queens or Aces, he would win the trick.

The winner of the trick is the first to pick up the amount of cards played in the trick (called the pool) to make up a full hand again (13 cards total including any courted or sandbagged cards and the King card). The player may choose any cards desired from the pool. The rest of the pool from the last trick is passed to each player clockwise until every player has their allotted 13 cards, and the next trick ensues by the winner of the previous trick with a hand, or the player to his left if a court was laid down. If any player wins three tricks in a row, on the third trick the applicable player must either knock to end his turn or his King card flops. A flopped King is a deduction of 15 points from the player’s score at the end of the round, and a flopped King is indicative with the player’s King card being flipped face-up. A player may have to choose to flop because the cards that are in-hand equal a negative number, and players may not want go out with a negative score due to the potential sever penalty (see Penalties below).

Each trick played consist of a hand played by each player leading with the player at the left of the dealer at the start of a round, or the winner of the last trick. The leading trick may be played with a legal hand arranged with one to a maximum of five cards. A legal leading hand may consist of a single card, a pair, a three-of-a-kind, a four-of-a-kind, or a straight flush. Every other player must relinquish the same amount of cards the leading player played in the given hand, whether or not those hands are legal. However, if another player plays the same type of hand (e.g. leading player (SOUTH) plays a 4OAK of 5’s and the player West plays a 4OAK of Jacks) and is of a value higher than that of what the leading player has played, then that player is deemed the winner of the trick.

The winner of any given trick may pick out of the pool (the collection of cards played in a trick) first and choose the desired cards that will make a more advantageous hand. The cards that are taken must add to his hand and make a sum of 13 cards (one King, any courted cards, and the cards in-hand.) Having chosen the wrong amount of cards can result in a penalty. The rest of the pool is passed clockwise for every player to add to his hand the amount of cards to equal 13. Afterwards, the next trick is then started by the winner of the last trick and the game continues in this fashion – trick and take cards.

In the foreground a player’s face-down King (left) and courted cards are seen (right), however the four overlapping cards may be a 4OAK that’s been sandbagged (the Aces, Queens or 7’s.)

After a trick is won, the winning player has the option of laying down cards face-down that form a meld and either begins with an Ace, Queen card or seven card, and are of the same suit (preferably the same suit as the King the player bears.) The player may also lay down a four-of-a-kind meld that is either of the Aces, Queens or sevens which is known as “sandbagging.” A player may only lay down, also known as courting, cards of one suit if a run is being melded, and the run may only run in a single direction once started (unless its a seven initiator card).

Duel

At any point during the play of a trick, two or more players may initiate a duel. A duel is initiated when players have the same valued card, or legal hand, in a trick. A duel is lead by the first player to have first laid the card, or hand, that is equivalent to an opponent's. A duel is always played with single cards, and the highest valued card wins. Multiple single cards by the dueling players may be laid in the pool until one player is finally proclaimed the winner. The winner is the first to take up the pool and add to his hand the number of cards played. The overall trick winner is next to select desired cards from the pool, and is then passed around clockwise until all players have a sum of thirteen cards total.

Melds

In-hand melds

Players begin a round with a total of twelve cards in their hand. The King card each player obtained is laid face-down on the table. Only melds that are of the same suit as the player's King card are worth points at the end of a round. A meld in-hand must be at least a sequence of three cards (e.g. Q J 10 or 5 6 7) of the player’s given suit, but the meld can extend for however long the sequence runs (e.g. J 10 9 8 7 6.) At the end of a round, a player’s hand with a meld, or multiple thereof, is worth 5 positive points each card. However, cards that are of a different suit than the player's given King card, even if they form a meld, are worth negative 5 points each.

Courted melds

Melds may also be laid face-down in front of the player. Courted cards of 2-6 and 8-J are worth 10 points each. A courted A, Q, and 7 are worth 15 points each. A player may only lay down a meld if it meets these requirements:

• The player must have won the last trick.
• The meld must either start with a Queen card (initiates the top meld sequence in descending order; e.g. Q J 10...), an Ace card (initiates the bottom meld sequence; e.g. A 2 3...), or a 7 card (the "middle" card that can form a meld in either ascending or descending order; e.g. ...6 7 8 ...). The Ace, Queen, and seven are also known as initiator cards that must be used to form courted melds.

Once a meld is laid face-down, it is said to be courted, and these cards may not be used for play the rest of the round. Once a meld is courted, starting with either the Queen, Ace or 7 card, the meld must continue sequentially in that one direction (there can only be one continuous meld.), unless it is a 7 which may extend in either direction. For example: If a player wins a trick and has a meld of A 2 3 in his hand, all of which match his King's card suit, he may court these cards by laying them down. However, if the same player wins another trick and happens to have a meld of Q J 10 same suit as the respective King card, the player cannot court these cards unless the player has continued the previous sequence of A 2 3 with all cards in between (...4 5 6 7 8 9), and then he may lay down the Q J 10 for completion. Another example that has courted cards starting with a 7 is as follows: the 7's cards in a deck may also start a meld to be courted, and may run a continuous sequence of same suited cards as the player's King card in either direction (e.g. 5 6 7… or 7 8 9… or even …5 6 7 8 9.

King's Court

A player may have all his cards courted (A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q & K matching given King's suit), and he is said to have a King’s Court, which upon obtaining, the player ends a round by flipping all his cards face-up. A King’s Court earns the player an extra 15 points from the King card. A King’s Court point total is 150 for the round (2-6 and 8-J worth 90 points. The Q, A, 7, and K worth 60 points. So, 90 + 60 = 150).

Sandbagging

Along with courting cards a player may also sandbag cards that are a four-of-a-kind of either the Aces, Queens and sevens cards. At the end of the round if any of the sets of cards are sandbagged, the sandbagger accrues 60 points for each set. Sandbagging the initiator cards (A Q 7) would make it significantly harder for every player to form a meld, in-hand or courted.

Robbing

Any player may also attempt to court cards that are not of his given King’s suit - known as robbing. The same rules apply to courting robbed cards as it does to the player’s own cards when courted, however, once a particular suit is robbed then that’s the only suit that may be courted the rest of a round. The robbed cards do not add to the robber’s points, but is used as a way to get rid of cards in-hand that would otherwise deduct from the player's points at the end of a round. Robbing another player'a cards has the added benefit of reducing the opponent's chance of forming melds and not gaining points at the end of a round.

Bidding

At the start of a round, if sufficiently far behind in points from the leading player, a player may choose to place a bid. Any player has the option of making a bid before the next round if he or she is far enough behind in points from the leading player, and the only foreseeable way for the player(s) to have a chance of winning is by placing a bid. The types of bids that are available is the “blind, “nil”, “king’s nil”, “blind nil”, and “king’s blind nil.” Each individual type of bid requires that the player be far enough behind the leading player to legally have the option of placing the intended bid. A legal bid may be seen as giving the player a total score of 500 (more or less) if the bid’s completion is successful, but not to where the bid surpasses the leader’s next possible round’s score; the leader still has a chance to win if the other player(s) bids are successful. See the list below for each bid’s details.

A blind is where a player may bid to not see which King card he bears the entire round, and possibly gain more points for the correct cards he chooses to meld, or possibly lose points in the process for choosing wrongly. If ever his king flops, the player bidding blind may not see his card for other players may look upon his card once having lifted the card from the blind bidder’s view, and afterwards, is set face-down again. At any time the blind bidder does see his card, but not upon his doing, the bid is still efficacious. However, if the blind bidder is found guilty having looked upon his card, then the bid goes null, and play is as normal (no bid.)

A nil is where a player has to have no other cards in his hand other than the same suit as his King by the end of the round.

A King’s nil is where the player making the bid has to have a King’s Court with no other suited cards in-hand.

A blind nil is where the player making the bid has to have only cards of his King’s card suit in-hand not knowing of the King he holds.

A King’s blind nil is the hardest bid to achieve successfully, and hence the rewards if accomplished (800 points). The player making the bid has to have a King’s Court without any additional suits in-hand while never knowing the suit of his King card.

Scoring

Terminology

• Hand - A series of tricks in which all cards dealt to each player are played.
• Slough (Sluff) - to play a card that is not a trump card but of different suit than the first suit played, therefore discarding that card. Sloughing is normally used to get rid of a card that may otherwise take a trick the player does not wish to take. It can also be used to void other suits allowing play of trump cards in tricks where that suit is led..
• Trick - Also known as a book. A unit of play in which each player lays one or more cards from their hand, and is "taken" or won usually by the player who laid down the highest value card.
• "Courted" cards - same-suited cards that are laid face-down that are melds of at least three cards and start with an A, Q or 7. May also refer to cards that "sandbagged".
• Sandbagging - the "courting" of a four-of-a-kind of either the Aces, Queens or sevens cards.
• Sandbagger - the player that is doing the sandbagging.
• "In-hand" cards - the cards that are in the player's hand(s) and used to lay down tricks and "court" cards.
• Initiator cards - these are "courted" cards that start a meld (the Aces, Queens and & 7's cards).
• Robbing - a player "courting" cards that are not of his given King’s suit, but of another player's given King suit.
• Robber - a player that courts an opponent's cards and not his own suited cards.
• Round - the succession of tricks from the initial deal of cards until someone calls "withdraw" or a player has obtained a "King's Court".
• Pool - the collection of all cards in a single trick from all players.
• Flop
• Duel - happens during a trick when two, or more, players lay a same-valued card, or hand, in which no players win; a tie. A player must win by laying down their highest cards one at a time, in clockwise order, until a player wins by having a higher card.
• Trumped - the player is said to be "trumped" when he loses to in a "Duel".

Related card games

There are a large number of games derived from Rummy. Although in North America the word "Rummy" is often used as a stand-in for the specific game "Gin Rummy", the term is applicable to a large family of games, including Canasta and Mahjong and rummikub. Some play with jokers using them as wild cards. They can be used in sets or runs but can not be replaced when 'melded'. Nor can you lay off a card to replace it by you or your opponent.

See also

• Rummy

External links