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Learn How to Play the Casino Card Game in Under 10 Minutes
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Have you always wanted to learn how to play casino? Learn the rules of the casino card game and tips to get started playing in under 10 minutes.
Casino is one of the oldest and most popular classic card games in gambling. Popularized in America in the late 19th century, this entertaining game now sports many variations, such as Royal Casino and Krypkasino, and will sometimes even appear under the alternate spelling of “cassino.” Casino is not complicated to learn and is regarded as a basic “fishing” game in which the player attempts to score points by capturing specific cards.
Perhaps you have observed casino being played online or at a brick-and-mortar establishment and wished you knew the ropes. This article will show you the essential rules of casino in understandable terms. Read on and start playing casino in as little as 10 minutes.
Basic Casino Rules
In short, casino is all about capturing cards. Players win (or “capture”) cards when they can match a card in the middle of the table to a card in their own hands, a feat that can be accomplished in one of three ways. Unlike blackjack, the main objective of casino is to be the first player to get to 21 or more points. These subsections break down the casino card game rules in the simplest of terms:
Players and Cards
Generally played with a standard 52-card deck, casino is best and most commonly enjoyed with between two and four players. Casino is one of the few card games that deals out a 52-card deck evenly between four players. Games based on four players have the option to play in partnerships of two against two.
Dealing
The dealer is selected from the gathered assembly of players. This is accomplished via each player selecting a random card from a freshly shuffled deck. Whoever draws the lowest card becomes the dealer. If there is a tie for the lowest card drawn, the tying players must repeatedly draw until the tie is broken. The dealer deals two cards to the middle and two to each player (including him or herself). This is done twice so every player has four cards.
The four cards in the middle face upward and whatever remains of the deck will be set aside as the stock. Each time all players have worked through the four cards in their hands, the dealer will continue to deal out four more cards until the deck is spent. It is the dealer’s responsibility to call “last” when dealing the final set of cards, and then the deal passes to the left if another game is engaged.
Pairing
This is the first and easiest way to win cards. Pairing is simply matching a card in the middle of the table with an exact match of a card in your hand. Face cards can only be paired with other face cards of equivalent rank.
Calling
The second way for a player to capture cards is by calling them. To “call” a card, a player leaves a matched pair of cards in the middle if they have another card of the same kind in their hand.
For example, if a player is holding two 7s and there is also a 7 in the middle of the table, that player can place one of their 7s onto the middle 7 and announce that they are calling 7. If another player has a 7 in his or her hand, they may take the opportunity to pick up the called 7. If they don’t, the original player uses the 7 they are still holding to pick up the paired 7s on the table.
Building
The third way for players to capture cards is via building. To “build” a match, a player can combine any card they are holding with any card in the middle of the table if the combination resulting from that would match another card they are holding in their hand.
For instance, let’s say a player is holding both a 4 and a 6 in their hand and there is a 2 in the middle of the table. This player can play the 4 in their hand on the 2 on the table to build the 6.
Other players have the option to take the built 6 or add more cards to the middle of the table. If no other player can do those things, the original player may pair up the 6 in the hand with the built 6 on the table and capture those cards the next time his or her turn rolls around. Remember that cards placed into a build become a single unit and can only be captured as such, never as a single card.
Builds can be single or multiple. Single builds occur when two or more cards have capture values that equal the capture value of the build. Examples include a 6-build made up of a 4 and a 2, as described above, or a 10-build composed of an ace, a 6, and a 3. A multiple build occurs when two or more cards or sets of cards equates to the capture value of the build. Examples include a 7-build made up of a 5 and a 2 plus a 4 and a 3, or a 7-build composed of an ace and a 6.
In the game of casino, each player must lay a card in the middle of the table whether they are getting a capture or not. If nothing in a player’s hand can be matched to what currently shows in the middle of the table, players may leave the card of their choice face up alongside the other cards in the middle.
Card Values and Scoring
In the casino card game, some cards take on values that you might not expect. For instance, aces are worth just 1 point each and face cards don’t carry any numeric value. The 10 of diamonds is referred to as the “Big Casino” and the 2 of spades is called the “Little Casino.” Capturing either of these cards comes with special point values explained in the list below.
Any time a player is unable to match any cards in a given round, that player must place one of their cards into the middle. Any player who runs out of cards must wait until everyone else has run out of cards, and then the dealer can issue four more cards to all players at one time.
The following list breaks down the point values associated with proper scoring in the game of casino:
- 3 points go to the player who has won the most cards.
- 2 points go to the player who has won the 10 of diamonds (Big Casino).
- 1 point goes to the player who has won the 2 of spades (Little Casino).
- 1 point goes to the player who has won the most spades.
- 1 point goes to each player who has won an ace.
- All other picked up cards are counted and tallied at their numeric value.
If a tie occurs for the most cards or most spades won, no player may claim those points. Whichever player is the first to reach a total of 21 points or higher over however many rounds have been played wins the game. If two players reach 21 in the same round, whichever player has the higher number of total points wins. If there is a tie between two players for the highest number of points won, another round must be played to establish a winner.
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