How to Play

The game lasts just 7 rounds. Over the course of the game each player will make 7 different melds. Each meld requires a different number of cards and has different rules for scoring points.

1-3 player games use 1 deck, 4-8 player games use 2 decks, and 9-10 player games use 3 decks.

The 7 melds take their names from a traditional children's rhyme:

• 5 cards - Rich Man
• 3 cards - Poor Man
• 2 cards - Beggar Man
• 1 card - Thief
• 6 cards - Doctor
• 4 cards - Lawyer
• 7 cards - Indian Chief

Each player is dealt a hand of 8 cards. Players secretly decide which of the 7 melds they will play from their hand, and which of their cards they will play. Everyone's meld is revealed simultaneously and scoring is recorded. Then each player draws back up to 8 cards, and a new round commences.

Over the course of the 7 rounds, a player makes each meld once and once only, but they can be made in any order. The game is over at the end of the seventh round, i.e., once everyone has made all 7 melds.

The 7 Melds

Note: For all "face values" in the game, face cards count 10. Aces can be used as either high (value 11) or low (value 1).

Here are the 7 different melds in order of number of cards required:

1. Thief. Meld any single card and score the face value for that card.

The player who played the Thief fills back to 8 cards by taking a Joker from the wild pile.

Jokers are wild cards which can be played as any card desired. Spent Jokers are returned to the wild pile.

2. Beggar Man. Meld 2 cards and hope for sympathy. This symbolizes two outstretched supplicating hands.

For each card someone else melds on the same round that matches the rank of either melded card, score 2 points.

If one of the cards played is a Joker, it can be declared as any card desired after seeing the other players' melds.

3. Poor Man. Melding 3 cards, here is your chance to profit by the sweat of your brow. The spade is the symbol of your toil. Meld any 3 cards, but score the face values only of the spades you play.

4. Lawyer. The Law is exact. Meld 4 cards, and if their face values add up to exactly 25, score 25 points. Otherwise score nothing.

5. Rich Man. Even a Rich Man has to pay taxes! Meld any 5 cards, add their face values together and score the total as a negative number.

6. Doctor. The 6 cards melded as the Doctor must meet very stringent requirements, or they will score nothing. All 3 of these conditions must be met:

(a) No two cards can be of the same rank. (Because a Doctor needs wide and varied knowledge!)

(b) At least one of the 6 cards must be a heart. (Because a Doctor needs to have a heart!)

(c) One of the 6 cards must be an ace. (Because a Doctor should be an ace!)

If these three conditions are met, then the player picks one suit and scores 10 points for each card in that suit among their 6 cards. (Because a Doctor needs to be good at their specialty!)

7. Indian Chief. The Indian Chief is a compound meld, being comprised of two discrete parts: 3-card Tribal Council and 4-card tribe members.

(a) For the Tribal Council, score 7 points each for a Jack, a Queen, and a King. Only one of each rank scores.

(b) To score the remaining 4 cards:

• 32 points for 4 of a kind
• 28 points for 4-card straight
• 24 points for 3 of a kind
• 20 points for 2 pairs
• 12 points for 1 pair

Remember: The 7 melds can be played in any order. After the 7 rounds are played and scored, the winner is the player with the most points.

Refilling to 8 cards

The players leave their melds face-up until the cards for the new round have been dealt from the remainder of the deck. Then the remainder of the deck is shuffled together with the face-up cards to form the supply for the next hand.

Solo rules

In solo mode, cards melded do not return to the deck.

Beggar Man scores from each card melded in all previous rounds instead of each card other players meld on the same round.

Triple mode

Each player has 3 scoring columns per scoring category. The second column scores double, and the third column scores triple.

In solo triple mode, use 2 decks.