Zheng Shangyou

Rules

The game uses one or two standard 54-card decks. Cards rank from 3 (lowest) through 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2, black joker, to red joker (highest). A suit order may be used: diamond lowest, then clubs, hearts, spades. Players may play singles, pairs, two or more consecutive pairs, three-of-a-kind, two or more consecutive three-of-a-kind, three-of-a-kind with a single card (if allowed), full house (three-of-a-kind plus a pair), straights of five or more consecutive cards, and bombs.

Straights connect from A2345 (highest) through 23456, 10JQKA, down to 34567 (lowest). The number of cards in a straight must match the current trick. A straight flush may be set up as a distinctive combination. Bombs consist of four or more (or in some variations three or more) cards of matching rank; they can beat any non-bomb trick, and a larger bomb beats a smaller one.

In a single-deck game, three-of-a-kind may optionally be set up as a bomb before play begins. The leading card to a trick determines the type of play; different combinations do not beat each other except bombs.

Scoring

Scoring varies by location and is rarely kept. In the most common version, each player with cards remaining scores -1 per card, or -2 per card if they have 10 or more remaining, and -3 per card if they played no cards at all. The winner scores +1 for every -1 the opponents received. For a 3-player game, a player with 17 cards remaining is deducted triple points, and a player with more than 11 but fewer than 17 cards remaining is deducted double points.

Variations

The game can be played with 4 players after removing the jokers to split a 52-card deck evenly. A straight may be ranked higher than another by the suit of its highest card rather than by full rank. In the Revolution variation, a four of a kind makes low cards high and high cards low; this is not playable with the Bomb variation.

For two-person play, six decks are dealt face-down and players are assigned alternating decks, each representing three people. After picking up a deck, something must be played or that deck gets last place. The winner is determined by adding each player's places; the smallest total score wins.