Huckleybuck

Huckleybuck, also known as Hucklebuck or Sputnik, is a trick-taking card game for three to seven players that uses a variable trump where players have the opportunity to drop out after seeing their hands, according to the Journal of the "International Playing Card Society".[1] In game classification parlance, this puts it in the Rams group of card games.[lower-alpha 1][2] The origins are not entirely certain. Based on Bourré of Louisiana, its earliest known history is rooted in the Midwestern United States around the early 1900s. 1994 saw the creation of the International Huckley Buck Association.[3]

Gameplay

Summary
Five cards each are dealt, and the players speak in clockwise order: the defining distinctive of Huckleybuck is that each player gets to state whether they want to stay in. Then remaining players state how many cards they would like to exchange.[4][1]
Object of the game
The object is to score points. 11 or 15 points wins the game. Points are accrued by winning at least the number of tricks bid in each hand, and are lost by failing to take at least that many.[1][4]
Number of players
Three to seven players, best is four to six, each playing for himself.[1]
The deck
Standard 52-card deck. Jokers are not used.[1]
Rank of suit
Trump varies with each hand and is declared at the beginning of each hand. The suit of the card led in a given hand takes precedence next. Any other suit is an off-suit.[4]
The Deal
The winner of the last game deals for the first round. In subsequent rounds, the deal rotates from player to player to the left. Cards are distributed one at a time to the left (clockwise), beginning with the opponent at the left of the dealer. Each player receives five cards.[1]
Redraw
After everyone has declared whether they are in or out, remaining players state how many cards (from 0 to 5) they would like to exchange for new cards. This starts with the first active player to the dealer's left and dealer draws last. If there are not enough cards, the folded hands are shuffled and drawn from.[4]
Leading the first round
Unlike Pitch, the lead-off card does not need to be trump. Any card can be led.
The Play
The object of the game is to win tricks. Each trick consists of a card led by one player plus a card played by each other player in turn. The first player may lead any card. A player must follow suit to the card led if able. If unable to follow to a non-trump lead, he must trump, if able. As long as the suit is followed, or trump properly played if the suit cannot be followed, the player must attempt to take the trick, if able. If a player is unable to follow suit or trump, that player can play any other card. Play continues until all five rounds of tricks have been completed.[1][4]
Failing to make bid
A player who gets zero tricks or otherwise fails to make their bid in a round has been "set", and loses points from their score.[4]
Scoring
When all five tricks of a round have been played, the result is scored. Each player gets one point per trick taken for the round. Any zero trick hand, also known as a "hook", is noted on the score card with an asterisk. Whenever a player reaches the target number of points, he wins a game. In the case of two or more players reaching the target, the first player to reach the target is the winner.
Hooks
Players get penalized with "hooks" for failing to reach their bid, for failing to follow suit if not corrected, for a misdeal by the dealer, and for the wrong number of replacement cards being given in the draw stage.

Official Rules

Bidding
There is no bidding in the official game rules. Every player has an implied bid of 1 if they don't drop out of that hand.
Trump
The top card of the undealt remainder of the pack is turned face up and placed in front of the dealer. The suit of this upcard is the trump suit for the rest of the round.
The Announcement
For games with more than four players, some players may drop out of a round after the trump suit has been determined. For games with five players, only one may drop; for six players, two may drop; for seven players, three may drop. The dealer begins with the player to his left. Each player in turn must announce whether or not he is "in" or "out". Each player that remains in has an implied bid of 1.
The Redraw
The draw begins when either the maximum number of players have dropped or the dealer has made his announcement. When the dealer draws, he has the option of keeping the top card that indicated the trump suit. If he elects this option on his draw, he must discard at least one card, and must draw one less than the number that he discards. Also, the dealer must so indicate to the table in a clear manner the number of cards that he is taking.
Leading the first round
The player at dealer's left makes the first or opening lead and thereafter the winner of each trick leads the next trick.
Scoring
The target is 11 points.

Variation Rules

This variation mixes in some features of Auction Pitch.
Bidding
Play starts with bidding as in Pitch. Two is the minimum bid. If no one else bids the dealer is stuck for two.
Trump
The winner of the bid declares the trump suit for that hand.
Announcement
After the trump suit has been determined, beginning with the player to the dealers left, each player in turn must announce whether or not he is "in" or "out". Each player that remains in has an implied bid of 1. If all players drop out beside the bidder, that player automatically receives all five points for the hand.
Draw
There is no face-up trump card, so all players are treated equally.
Leading the first round
The player who won the bid makes the first or opening lead and thereafter the winner of each trick leads the next.
Scoring
The target is 15 points. In the case of two or more players reaching the target, the bidder is the winner. Otherwise, the first player to reach the target is the winner.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "In his article Die 100 Kartenspiele des Landes Salzburg in the 2004 edition of the journal Talon, Remigius Geiser includes an substantial section on the group of games which I have rather arbitrarily called the 'Rams group', after a famous 19th century French game, but might equally well have been named after the even more famous 17th century English game Lanterloo. These are round games with a small number of cards dealt to each player. Players gain points or money by winning tricks, but anyone who takes no tricks at all suffers a penalty. Those who judge their cards too weak to be sure of winning a trick can avoid this penalty by dropping out of the play." -- McLeod, John[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 McLeod, John. "Playing the Game: Schnellen, Hucklebuck & Donut", The Playing Card, Journal of the "International Playing Card Society", volume 33, issue 4, pages 288-292, April-June 2005.
  2. ↑ "Card Games: Rams Group". Pagat.com. 2013-12-23. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  3. ↑ Kraft, Daniel (2015-03-21). "Int'l HuckleyBuck Association". Huckleybuck.com. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 http://www.huckleybuck.com/p/game-rules.html "Rules of Huckley Buck"
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