Kitty's Card Games

Kings Corners

Me and Angel, we've been hooked on this one for months. Easy to play, only takes luck and concentration, and it's even good for kids, not that I advocate playing cards with children, pally, but sometimes ya get tired of Go Fish and Old Maid. Usually two to four players, can be more, can be solitaire if you're stuck in Dullsville, pally. Why, I remember one time, passing through Charlottesville... never ya mind that. Here's the scene with this one: a deck of cards, minus the jokers So the dealer shuffles and gives everyone seven cards. Me and Angel, sometimes to make it spicy we start with ten. Your call, pally. Then the dealer puts the rest of the deck face down in the middle of the table and deals four cards facing up, one going out from each side of the deck, so they look like this: + The player takes a card at the beginning of the turn, and--well, ya know how to play regular solitaire, pally? Like Bama Dillert in Some Came Running? Red on black, high cards down to low cards? There ya have the basics of Kings Corners. Red and black cards alternate, and ya can put your cards on the four piles radiating out from the center, red sevens on black eights and so forth. If ya got a king, the kings go in the corners (hence the title) so it looks like this: X Ya can put the king in the corner at any point on your turn. After ya take a card, ya go through your cards, see what ya can put down, ya can move other piles around (starting from the base of the pile; ya can't move just one or two cards, ya gotta take all of 'em) and then ya tell the next guy when it's his turn. The winner's the one who gets rid of all his or her cards first. It ain't that hard, Charley. Oh, and by the way, aces are lower than deuces, not higher than kings, in Kings Corners.

Crow

Ya play this cookie same as Kings Corners, pally, only 'steada red on black, ya gotta keep the cards separated by suit. Think ya can handle that, pally? Other than that, it's all the same. It ain't that hard, Charley. For the record, this'n here's Kitty's first invented game. All the rest, here on in, yours truly thought up...so take your warning and run with it, Charley...

Gonzo

Ya play this one much the same way as I remember playing dominoes, not that I really remember dominoes that well...only with cards. Here's the scene: a deck of cards, minus the jokers The dealer gives each player nine cards, exactly nine cards, and deals two cards face up in the middle of the table, about a foot apart, space permitting. The rest of the pile ya put face down in the middle, the draw pile. Ya look at your cards. At the beginning of your turn ya take a card, and ya can put down as many cards as ya want, so long as ya can connect them to the card next to them by being of the same value, of any suit; or the next card, either higher or lower, of the same suit. Ya can put them off the already present cards in any direction, like dominoes. Ya need a bit of space for this one, pally. The winner's the first one to put all his or her cards down. It ain't that hard, Charley. And Kitty came up with this one right around the same time as Crow...both named for pop culture icons, but the next one's something else altogether...

Steubenville

See if ya can guess what this one's named for, pally. Let me know what ya think. This one's a bit harder, doesn't have the extensive trial by Macon Mob that the others have, but Charley Hobgoblin likes it better than Crow, if that helps ya. It's a little harder to understand, pally, but here's the scene: a deck of cards, minus the jokers, and a pair of dice The dealer gives each player seven cards and sets the rest face down in the middle of the table as the draw pile. The players look at their cards. On each turn, the player takes a card from the draw pile and rolls both dice, and tries to put face up in the middle of the table any and all cards he or she has that match the roll of the dice. For instance: Charley rolls a seven. He has two sevens. He can put both of them down. If he can put down cards matching the roll of the dice, he rolls again, but he doesn't have to draw another card. First player to get rid of all his or her cards wins. All cards two through ten match the same roll on the dice, a two is a two, and so forth. Jacks also count as ten, kings and queens as eleven, and aces as twelve. It ain't that hard, Charley. More games to come as Kitty invents them. Wanna let her know what ya think of them? Drop her a line. Want outta the casino? Try slipping out the Back Door.