Translated from the Polish word for the game, "tysiac", 1000 is a rather complicated, but very interesting card game. Here's an attempt to explain my favorite game to the rest of the world. A sample round will be included at the end.

Object: To be the first player to reach one thousand points.

Players: Three to four. (If playing with four, please see the alternate style below)

Scoring:

When tallying up the final scores, players round down to the nearest 5 or 10.

Rules: Stay with me here...there are a lot.

The game is played with a poker deck. That is, only nines and up, including aces. The Dealer, who changes each round, deals each player seven cards, with a fourth pile consisting of three cards. The player to the Dealer's right "sits on the necessary" (direct translation). Let's just say she is the Leader. The Leader is required to bet 100 points on the round and take the fourth pile, or Treasure, unless another player places a higher bet. (Bets can only be placed in certain increments, usually five or ten points, and must be placed before the Treasure is revealed). If another player takes the Treasure, she now becomes the Leader. In any case, once the Treasure is picked up and revealed, the Leader then gives two cards of her choosing to the other players, so all players now have eight cards. At this point, the Leader may raise her bet, but may not lower it. This is important because the Leader may only gain or lose as many points as she has bet. For instance, if the Leader bets 120 and only gets 100 in the round, she loses 120 points. If she gets 140 points, she still only gets 120. But don't worry. Only the Leader has a fixed gain/loss. The other two players can still get points just by winning cards. With me so far? Good. Now the round begins.

The Leader places her first card on the table, face up, at the same time announcing her final bet. Moving counter-clockwise, each player must put down a card of the same suit. If a player does not have the same suit, then any card may be put down. The player with the highest scoring card of the original suit wins the cards and places the next card. Thus, only if you have the original suit can you win the cards.

Just one more thing, and then we'll move on to the sample round. If a player has control of the round, meaning she gets to place the card to which the others have to match suit, and that player has a King and a Queen of matching suit, that player can create a Marriage, a very powerful thing in 1000. To place a Marriage, the player places the Queen on the table and states the point value of the Marriage.

Once the Marriage is placed, the player will likely lose control of the round, but can gain it with this new advantage. Any card of the suit of the last Marriage has über powers. The suit of the Marriage automatically overrides any other suit. Thus, a nine of hearts can beat an ace of spades, but only if the heart-holder has no spades, of course. Since control of the round is needed to place a Marriage, Marriages can be broken by forcing the player to put down the King or Queen of the Marriage. Since Marriages provide an instant splurge of points, they are an excellent way for the Leader to meet her final wager.

The Sample Round:

The Dealer, John, deals the cards. Jane, sitting to his right, is the de facto Leader. Jane has the ace and ten of spades, and the King and Queen of hearts, meaning she knows she has a guaranteed 120 points (remember, we round down). Jake has the Queen of diamonds and the Jack of hearts, plus most of the other diamonds, so he decides to take a chance that the King of diamonds is in the Treasure and wagers 110. Jane raises the wager to 120. Jake is not willing to risk it all, so he backs off, and Jane is the Leader. She reveals the Treasure and takes it (Jake breathes a sigh of relief when the King doesn't show).

Not wanting to provide them with any points, Jane gives John the nine of diamonds, and Jake the nine of spades. She then places her final bet, 120, and the round begins with the ten of spades. She wins that set, and the next with the ace of spades, giving her a minimum of twenty points. Having no more aces, she places the Queen of hearts down, announcing the 100-point Marriage. John wins that set with the ace of hearts, but Jane has already won her 120 points. Nevertheless, the round continues.

John places the ten of hearts, forcing Jane to place her King of hearts. She can no longer gain control of the round, meaning she cannot prevent John or Jake from gaining points, but at least she met her wager. John then places the ace of clubs, and Jake takes control by placing the nine of hearts. Knowing that John still has the Jack of hearts (John should have placed it, but he forgot about the nine and was a fool), Jake only places a Jack, in the hopes that he can regain control somehow and use his arsenal of diamonds. However, John retains control for the rest of the round.

Now we total the points. Jane has a little more than 130 with her Marriage, the ace and ten, and whatever cards went with that, but she still can only get 120. Jake has at least 10, because he stole John's ace. John has around 40 or so. They reshuffle the cards for Round 2, and now Jane is the Dealer, and Jake is the Leader.

What happens if the Leader doesn't have any Marriages? Well, its tough. If no one raises the bet, the Leader is still required to wager 100. Keep in mind, though, that if the Leader can win all of the cards, that's 120 points right there. How can this be done? Only if the Leader is lucky enough to get all, or nearly all of the cards of a suit. But if the Leader loses control even once, she's likely to fall short and lose the 100 points.

Alternate Style:

If playing with four people, one person always sits out a round, so that only three people are in a round at a time. This can also be done with five or six people, though it gets a bit ridiculous and drags out the game.


/msg me if there's some aspect of this game that needs clarification. Enjoy!

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