NUMBER OF PLAYERS Ideal for 4 or 5; may be played by 3 to 8Fan Tan is often played for money. It’s a game that offers low-key entertainment with a hint of gambling. Try a wager along the lines of 10 or 20 cents per chip.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS Ideal for 4 or 5; may be played by 3 to 8
HOW TO DEAL Deal out a fifty-two-card deck to all players; don’t worry if some players have an extra card. Rankings are standard, with aces always low.
All players start with an equal number of chips or markers (20 to 25 chips per player is a good start) and ante into the pot either one chip (if they have one less card than the majority of players) or two chips (if they have one extra card).
SCORING The goal is to be the first player to run out of cards. When this happens, the other players count their remaining cards and put one chip per card into the pot. The winner takes all chips in the pot.
HOW TO PLAY The player to the left of the dealer starts and must play a 7 or pass. If nobody can play a 7, the hand is dead, all players throw one chip into the pot as a penalty, the deal rotates left, and new cards are dealt (followed by yet another ante).
If any player can open with a 7 (or multiple 7s—play ‘em if you got ‘em), place the card(s) face up on the table. The other players in turn may play another 7 or play cards higher and/or lower in rank (and matching in suit) of the face-up 7. If 7 of hearts is played, for example, the next player may throw 8 of hearts (form a pile to the left of 7 of hearts) and/or 6 of hearts (form a pile to the right of the 7 of hearts). Players continue building up or down in suit until all thirteen hearts are played. The same process is followed for the other 7s in the deck.
IRREGULARITIES & DISPUTES If players pass when they could have played a card, and this is later discovered, the offender must put three chips into the pot as a penalty. If the offending player could have played a 7 but did not, he or she must put three chips into the pot and give five chips to each player holding the 6 and 8 in the suit corresponding to the unplayed 7.