Draft:Gin Slaughtre

Gin Slaughtre

A meld (trick) of four cards
Origin	United States
Alternative names	gin slaughter, slaughter
Type	Draw and discard
Players	2
Skills	Tactics, strategy
Cards	54 (4 x K Q Ja 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 A, 2 x Jo)
Deck	French
Rank (high→low)	Jo K Q Ja 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 A
Play	Clockwise or Counterclockwise
Playing time	Various
Chance	Middle
Related games
Shithead (card game), Switch (card game)

Gin Slaughtre, (also called gin slaughter or simply slaughter) is a two-player draw and discard card game.The sole aim of gin slaughtre is to discard all of the cards in one's hand; the first player to play their final card, and ergo have no cards left, wins the game. This game is similar to Shithead; belonging to the Shedding family.

Deck

Gin Slaughtre is played using a French deck of 54 cards. The ranking from high to low is Joker, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.

Cards

A standard 52-card pack including jokers with French suit symbols is used. The Jokers, 2s, 5s, Jacks and 9s have special privileges. All other cards rank in their natural order and suits are irrelevant to some extent.

Objective

The objective in gin slaughtre is to be the first player with no cards in their hand deck.

The basic game strategy is to have no cards in your hand by forming melds (called tricks in gin slaughtre). Gin Slaughtre has two types of tricks: Sets of three or four cards sharing the same rank, e.g. 8♥ 8♦ 8♠; and runs or sequences of three or more cards in the same suit, such as 5♥ 6♥ 7♥ or more. Aces are considered low—they can form a set with other aces but only the low end of runs (A♠ 2♠ 3♠ is a legal run but Q♠ K♠ A♠ is not). A player can form any combination of tricks within their hand; all sets, all runs, or some sets and some runs.

Rules

1. The purpose of Gin Slaughtre is to lose all your cards by putting them on the pile. A card that is put on the pile must be equal or higher than the top card of the pile.
2. If you have no card to put on the pile you must take from the deck, and it's the opponent's turn.
3. There are always four or more cards in your hand, if you have less than four you must draw enough cards from the deck to get four again. After the deck is finished no more cards are drawn.
4. There are three upwards facing cards on the table. You cannot play them until your hand is finished.
5. Before you start you can exchange cards from your hand with the upwards facing cards on the table.
6. You can stack cards with the similar numbers and the same trump to make a trick (this will count as one turn). (ex. 5♣ 6♣ 7♣ or 5♥ 5♣ 5♠)
7. If there are four cards with the same rank or trump at the top of the pile then the pile is removed.
8. If you have no card that you can put on top of the pile then you may draw the top card of the deck and skip your turn.
9. You can always choose to take the pile instead of playing a card.

Deal

From a shuffled deck of cards, the dealer gives each player 7 cards: 3 upcards and 4 hand cards. The upcards will be played last and players are not allowed to see or change them until the endgame phase. They will only be played once the hand cards are exhausted.

Rearranging

After the deal and before play begins, players may switch their hand cards with those face up on the table in order to produce a strong set of upcards (ideally high cards, 2s or 5s, 9s) for later in the game.

Play

Eldest hand is the first player dealt a 3 as an upcard. If no player has 3 face up, then the first player to declare a 3 in hand starts. If no-one has a 3, then the game is started by the person dealt a 4, etc. Eldest leads off by playing a card or set of cards face up in the middle of the table to start a common discard. In turn and in clockwise order, players play a card or set that is equal to or higher in rank than the top card of the discard. If unable or unwilling to do so, they must pick up the discard and add it to their hand cards.

Each player must initially have at least 4 cards in hand at all times; a player who has fewer than 4 after playing to the discard, draws cards from the stock, if possible, to make the hand up to 3 again.

Special cards

Several cards have special roles:

• 2s. A two may be played on any card and any card may follow a two.
• 5s (black trump). Forces opponent to pick up a card from the deck.
• 5s (red trump). Forces the opponent to get a 5 or below.
• 9s. A nine may be played on any turn, regardless of the top card on the discard or even if there is no discard card. When a nine is played, the discard is removed from play and set aside for the remainder of the game. The same player then plays any card or set to begin a new discard.
• Jacks. The opponent has to pick up cards from the deck until they get a card that's 5 or below.
• Jokers.forces the opponent to take the discards.
• Quartets. A quartet is a set of four cards of equal rank e.g. 7♥ 7♦ 7♣ 7♠. If a player is able to play a quartet, the discard is set aside as if a nine had been played. In addition, the last player to complete a quartet on the top of the discard by playing its fourth card also removes the discard. Either way, the same player may then play another card or set.

Endgame

A player who has no more cards in hand when the stock is empty must play from their upcards. If unable or unwilling to play an upcard, the player must pick up the discard. Once all of the upcards have been played, that player wins. These are played unseen and if the chosen card is lower than the previous card played, the discard must be picked up and, on subsequent turns, the player must play their hand cards before playing any more upcards.