Card Games Your Nan Taught You: Rules For Newmarket, Sevens, Whist And Cribbage

Everybody has one relative who taught them a card game whose rules they now only half remember, usually involving a jar of coppers and a great deal of confidence.

Here are the proper rules for the main ones. All you need is a pack of cards and, for Newmarket, some coins.

Newmarket (also called Michigan or Boodle)

• Take the ace of hearts, king of clubs, queen of diamonds and jack of spades from a second pack and lay them face up in the middle. These are the boodle cards.
• Everyone puts a coin on each of the four boodle cards before the deal.
• Deal the whole pack out including one extra 'dead' hand nobody plays.
• The player to the dealer's left starts by playing their lowest card of any suit face up. Whoever holds the next card up in that suit plays it, then the next, and so on.
• When a run stops - the next card is in the dead hand or already played - whoever played last starts a new run with their lowest card of a different suit.
• Play any card matching a boodle card and you take the coins on it.
• First player out of cards wins the round and collects a coin from every other player. Coins left on boodle cards stay for the next deal.

Sevens (Fan Tan or Domino)

• Deal the whole pack out to all players, even if hands are uneven.
• Whoever has the seven of diamonds plays it to start. If nobody's playing a diamond start, any seven begins.
• On your turn you may play a seven of any suit, or a card immediately above or below one already on the table in the same suit - building up to the king and down to the ace.
• If you can't play, you pass. A pass is compulsory if you have no legal card and forbidden if you have one.
• First to get rid of all their cards wins. With stakes, remaining players pay a coin per card left in hand.

Whist

• Four players in two partnerships, sitting opposite. Deal the whole pack, thirteen cards each, turning the last card face up to set trumps.
• Player to the dealer's left leads. You must follow suit if you can. If you can't, play anything, including a trump.
• Highest card of the suit led wins the trick, unless someone has trumped, in which case the highest trump wins.
• Winner of each trick leads the next.
• A partnership scores one point per trick above six. First to five or seven points wins the rubber.
• Knockout whist: a much simpler version where everyone plays alone, hands get one card shorter each round, and whoever wins the most tricks picks trumps next hand.

Cribbage

• Two players, six cards each, discard two to the dealer's crib. A card is cut to become the starter.
• Play phase: alternate playing cards face up, calling the running total, which may not exceed 31. Score 2 for making 15, 2 for a pair, 3 for a run of three, and 1 for the last card or for making exactly 31.
• Show phase: each hand is scored with the starter card - 2 for every combination totalling 15, 2 per pair, 3 or more for runs, 4 or 5 for a flush, 1 for the jack of the starter's suit.
• The dealer then scores their crib the same way.
• First to 121 on the board wins. The board is what makes it cribbage - you can play on paper, but nobody does.

The quick ones

• Beggar My Neighbour: deal the pack out, take turns laying a card. A picture card means the next player must pay - four cards for an ace, three for a king, two a queen, one a jack - unless they turn a picture card themselves, in which case the debt reverses.
• Cheat: get rid of your cards by declaring what you're playing face down. Anyone can call 'cheat', and whoever's wrong picks up the pile.
• Rummy: form sets and runs of three or more, drawing and discarding until someone goes out.
• Snap, Old Maid and Go Fish for the youngest players.
• Racing Demon, which is competitive patience played by everyone at once and is best described as controlled chaos.

Shop cards

How to write it so it lands

• Newmarket needs a jar of coppers. That's half the appeal.
• Teach Sevens first - it's the easiest good game there is.
• Buy a crib board. Nobody has ever regretted it.

Where to shop next

• Traditional British party games explained
• Victorian and vintage parlour games
• Church hall and village fete games
• Wartime and 1950s party games
• Irish, Scottish and Welsh party games
• Seaside and beach games
• Clapping games and skipping rhymes
• Dice games explained
• Pen and paper games
• Playground games we all played
• Board games hub
• Kids' party games by age
• Nostalgic quiz questions
• Free feel good tools
• Shop cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Birthday cards for kids
• Mother's Day gifts
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

How do you play Newmarket?

Lay out the ace of hearts, king of clubs, queen of diamonds and jack of spades as boodle cards and everyone stakes a coin on each. Deal the whole pack plus a dead hand. Players build ascending runs in suit; playing a card matching a boodle card wins the coins on it, and the first player out of cards collects from everyone.

What are the rules of Sevens?

Deal the whole pack. The seven of diamonds starts. On your turn play a seven of any suit, or a card directly above or below one on the table in the same suit. Pass if you can't play. First to empty their hand wins.

How do you play whist?

Four players in two partnerships, thirteen cards each, with the last card dealt turned up for trumps. Follow suit if you can; highest card of the suit led wins unless trumped. A partnership scores one point per trick over six.

How does cribbage scoring work?

During play you score 2 for making 15 or 31, 2 for a pair and 3 for a run. At the show, count 2 for each combination totalling 15, 2 per pair, one per card in a run, 4 or 5 for a flush and 1 for the right jack. First to 121 wins.

What card games can you teach a child quickly?

Snap, Go Fish, Old Maid and Beggar My Neighbour take two minutes to explain. Sevens and Cheat are the next step up, and Rummy is the one they'll still be playing as adults.

Do you sell games?

No - we make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. Every game here needs a pack of cards, some dice, a pencil or nothing at all, and the only products on this page are our own cards.