Nerts

Nertz

File:NertzDiagram.jpg
Players	Ideally 2–8
Skills	Quick reaction, awareness of cards being played simultaneously, counting.
Age range	8+
Cards	52 per deck, each player or team uses a standard playing card deck. Each team's deck must be a different design or color than the rest of the decks being used.

Nertz is a fast, real-time, multiplayer card game best described as a combination of the card games Speed(or Spit) and Solitaire.

Nertz is known to others as Nerts, Nirts, Nerf, Gluck, Maxcards, Peanuts, Popeye, Pounce, Solitaire Frenzy, Scrub, Stop, Squeal, Squeak, Squid, Squinch, Swish, Racing Demon, Race Horse Rummy, Lucky Thirty, Grouch, Hell, Hallelujah, Mertz, Moofles, Knertz and Nerds.

A standard playing card deck per team or player is all that is necessary to play this game. Specialized decks of cards are not required. There are, however, retail game sets that include specialized decks available to those interested. Nertz-inspired games like the Nertz, Llc decks at Nertz.com, Ligretto, Dutch Blitz, Wackee Six, and Perpetual Commotion are all in close relation to one another.

Brief Game Description

Nertz can be played in teams of two, individually, or amongst combinations of both individuals and teams. Each player or team uses their own deck of cards in a solitaire–style competition that requires speed and skill. The object of each hand is to try to be the first team/player to call out “Nertz” by getting rid of their (typically) thirteen-card Nertz pile. A game of Nertz is usually played to a designated score like 100 or 150 points. (However, some players designate a number of rounds to play to instead of a set score. Others just tally the number of hand victories without ever keeping a hand score and in doing so, the hand victory count determines a winner. Scoring is up to the individual preferences of the players.)

For the players that do keep hand scores, the way to receive points during a hand is to play cards in to the common area. Each card a team plays into the common area is worth one point. At the same time a big factor in receiving a higher score is the amount of cards in a player’s Nertz pile. When a hand ends, each card that a team/player has remaining in their Nertz pile is worth -2 points. Therefore, it is possible for a team/player to receive a negative score. This does happen often. Thus, the more Nertz cards a player can get rid of, the better his score will be. (Depending on the variation of Nertz being played, certain cards can be given an added value when played into the common area or Lake.)

Teams that call “Nertz” (typically) receive a 10-point bonus for that hand. (Depending on the region, the amount of this bonus given may vary or be nonexistent.)

Please Note:

The game of Nertz has many elements to account for, so naturally not everyone plays by the same rules. Extenuating circumstances, in depth rules, terminology, and variations can be found using the links below for those that may be interested.

If you have additional rules or variations that you would like to include please be sure that you read the rest of the Nertz-related links and articles before placing them in this one. Do not add Nertz rules that are only used by your family or a small group of Nertz players. Adding everyone’s own unique rules to this page only creates a confusing mess to those attempting to learn the basics of Nertz. Again, feel free to use the links below to post your unique rules.

Also, this is not a place for retail advertisements so please only include pictures and links germane to this specific article. This article is for the original free version of Nertz, and is not for profiting game makers.

Set Up

Every team or player will need a deck of playing cards that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the decks that will be used at the table. This is because the decks will be getting mixed together in the common area or Lake and will need to be easily separated after each hand.

After sufficiently shuffling the decks of cards that each player/team will be using, each player/team will then deal four cards facing up(others deal 5), side by side, to form the Personal Piles or River. Then beside that a 13-card Nertz pile is dealt facing down, with the exception of the thirteenth a final top card that is to be facing up and available for play when the game starts. (Shuffling and dealing procedure in Nertz is an area of importance for most players. So many rules have been made to ensure balance and order during these processes. However, everyone does not go about the set up process in the same way, so if you would like to know of other options on how to go about this process in an orderly manner just use the Nertz Terminology link below to learn more about “Round Robin Shuffling”, “Dealing”, and the “Order of Cards”.)

The team’s remaining 35-card pile is now used as the Stock Pile or Stream Pile. After all teams have finished setting their hands, play is ready to begin.

Game Play

Each player must have his or her own (clearly differentiated) standard deck of fifty-two playing cards, without jokers. Any number of players can (theoretically) play, though most games have two to eight players. The game requires a large center area, such as a table. There are two types of playing areas: the central area and personal areas for each player or team. The personal area can only be played on by the individual; the center area anyone can play on.

Starting out, players count out thirteen cards face down, and turn the topmost card up. This is referred to as the Bone Pile (aka Nertz Pile or Pounce Pile depending on preference). Then each player puts four cards face up next to the Bone Pile. These cards are referred to as starting cards, because they begin the four separate, playable card stacks. In Nertz, there can never be more than four starter cards per each individual’s personal area.

Play begins with one player calling "Go." For the first hand, it is customary for the player with the best five card starting poker hand showing to say "go." After the first hand, the last place player, as a consolation, is said to be in the "Driver's Seat" and is permitted to say "Go."

Players then move the cards in numeric sequence, according to alternating color. For example, a player has these five cards to begin with: King Red atop the Bone Pile, Queen Black, Jack Red, 5 Black, 6 Red. The player can immediately play the jack on the queen and the five on the six. The player can then move the King off the Bone Pile and move one additional card off the Bone Pile to fill the space vacated by the five. Now the player can move the Queen and Jack onto the King, creating one additional space to be filled from the Bone Pile. The top card on the Bone Pile should also be turned face up.

Players with aces available to play put these aces out in the center playing area. Anyone can play on card piles in the center area. Aces always begin the center piles. From there, depending on whether you are playing Standard Nertz or a variation, either a 2 or a king of the same suit goes on. In Standard Nertz, if an ace of hearts is played, a 2 of hearts can be played thereon, and then a 3 of hearts, and so on. In the center area, all cards must follow what has been previously played both in suit and in numeric sequence. In Pounce when a pile is finished off with its king the player who lays the king yells "Stop!" and the pile is removed from play. Once the pile is out of the way "Go!" is yelled and play resumes. In a variant, instead of "Stop" the player who lays the king announces "I am now invoking Lyn's Rule!" or just "Lyn's Rule," for short, to alert players that play will be disrupted while a pile is removed. Nonetheless, under the Lyn's Rule variant, the other players may continue play while the completed pile is removed from the center playing area.

Like Max-cards, each player flips over a predetermined set of cards from their remaining deck (generally one card or three cards) in search of playable cards. This is known as the turn deck. If the amount flipped is 3, then that means the player can only play the topmost of three cards within the personal playing area or the central playing area. If the third topmost card cannot be played, the next three cards are flipped, with the topmost again being the only playable card, and so on until the deck is gone through. At the very end of the deck, the bottommost card can be played regardless of whether it is the third card or not. Then the deck is turned over and the flipping begins again.

While playing on one’s own five card row (which no one else can play on) can aid eliminating the bone pile, in Nertz no points are gained in this manner. To gain points, you must play on the center piles. This naturally results in a very fast-paced game, as players naturally try to play on the center piles as much as possible. Whatever player lays his/her card down first on a sequence is awarded the play. When making a play, a person may only lift one card at a time and place it on the ongoing sequence. If there are two valid plays that the person has, the person must lay the two cards down one at a time. Only one hand may be used to play to the common area, i.e. the player may not have one card in one hand waiting to play it while playing another with the other hand.

The point of the game is to get rid of the Bone Pile as quickly as you can. One must either get rid of the Bone Pile or all players must run out of moves for a gaming round to end. In a variant, if all players run out of moves, each player simultaneously moves the top card of such player's turn pile to the bottome of such player's turn pile and play continues. Who ever eliminates the Bone Pile yells “Nertz!,” "Pounce!," etc. depending on personal preference, and all game play must cease immediately. If a player is in the middle of making a play in the center area when Nertz is called, the player only gets points provided the card has left the player’s hand before the call. If the player still holds the card and Nertz is called, the play is void and the player gets no points. Naturally, this only applies to plays made in the center game area. Immediately after a player eliminates his Bone Pile he should call "Nertz!" as play doesn't end until it is called.

If Nertz is called in error (which has a large scoring ramification; for more info see below), the player who falsely called Nertz takes back the original card from its Bone Pile, as well as taking three more cards from its deck. These cards are taken from the top of its turn deck, regardless whether it has flipped numerous cards over. The three additional cards added to the Bone Pile are not taken from cards already turned over. If the turn deck only has one or two non-turned cards, the remaining cards are flipped over and the top one or two cards fill the remaining quota.

Some critics of the game Nertz contend that it is incredibly easy to cheat if the person against whom you are playing is paying too much attention to their own cards.

Scoring

Once Nertz is called and verified, the cards in the center area are returned to their respective decks. This is why it is important to play with highly distinguishable decks, so the points are awarded accurately and each deck’s playing integrity is maintained. Each player is awarded a predetermined number of points for each card they have played in the central area (often one point per card). Each player is then penalized a (possibly different) number of points for each card left in their bone pile (often two points per card). So, using the one/two point system, if a player has fifteen cards played in the central area, and ten cards left in their Bone Pile, they are awarded fifteen points, but penalized twenty points, for a total of negative five points. In some Nertz games, Aces are given the point value of twenty, while all other cards are worth ten. In this version of the game, Aces are double the predetermined value assigned other cards. Some scoring variations include awarding a preset point value to the person who calls Nertz.

If Nertz is called incorrectly, all other players are awarded ten points, and the total amount of players times ten is taken away from the player who called it incorrectly. For example, if four people are playing, and one calls Nertz incorrectly, that player is charged 30 points, 10 points being awarded to each of the other players. In the variation where Aces are worth 20 and one of the three cards added to the player’s Bone Pile is an Ace, the points awarded to the other players is upped to 20. In this instance, the three players are each up 20 points, and the incorrect player is automatically penalized –60. Who ever calls Nertz correctly once it has been called incorrectly gets an additional 25 points. If the player who incorrectly called Nertz actually gets rid of his Bone Pile legitimately, he suffers no penalties.

Players decide on an ending total (generally 500), so whoever reaches that total first wins the game. It is highly possible to never call Nertz in an entire game and still win.

Terminology

1. Stock or Turn Deck: the cards the players turn over looking to play in their personal play area or the common play area. The cards already turned over is the Waste Pile.

2. Starter Card: Aces in the common play area; anything can be a starter card in the personal play area. A Starter Card in the personal play area must be followed sequentially downward and alternate by colour. Only five starter cards may be present in the personal play area at any time. Aces in the common play area must follow suit. The sequence motion is determined by what variation you are playing.

3. Personal Play Area or Work Piles: the five starter decks next to a player's bone pile that only they can play on.

4. Common Play Area: the area where aces are the starter cards and anyone can play. It is only in the common play area that points can be scored.

5. Bone Pile or Nertz Pile: The pile of 13 cards that determine score. If all 13 cards are gotten rid of, Nertz is signalled and that round of play ends.

Variations

There are countless variations of Nertz. Too many to list here so if you don't see your particular brand of Nertz here check the links below.

Variations can differ by: 1. Name 2. The terminology used 3. How many River columns it's played with 4. How many cards are put in the Nertz pile 5. Whether the Nertz pile is dealt facing up or down 6. How many Stream cards are flipped at a time 7. Giving certain cards the power to change the numerical direction in which the Lake piles are played 8. The value of a called "Nertz", Nertz cards, and Lake cards 9. Whether or not the hand score is kept track of or if the "games won" count determines a winner 10. Whether players are allowed to play with both hands at a time or just one hand 11. Choosing to play Singles, Doubles(or both), Mandatory Mixed Gender Doubles, or Rotating Partner Games 12. The way partners are chosen and how the winners are determined in rotating partner games 13. Whether you are allowed to play from both ends of your piles 14. Choosing to handicap certain a team or player 15. How penalties are enforced for breaking the rules 16. How the Shuffling, Dealing, Set Up procedure is conducted 17. How to indicate when a Lake pile is full

See also

• Ligretto, a similar game produced in Germany
• Dutch Blitz, a similar game produced by the Pennsylvania Dutch

External links

• Nerts at BoardGameGeek
• The National Nertz Association - An organization devoted to Nertz players.
• Pagat's Common Rules for Nertz - Pagat.com contains detailed rules for hundreds of card games.
• Variations for Nertz at Free Forums - Here you can view many Nertz variations as well as add your own variations.
• Nertz Terminology Page - A collection Nertz terms and in-depth rules.
• Solitaire Terminology - Referencing many Nertz terms here in this article.
• Party Game Central Rules
• Home of Nerts High Speed Card Game