GO FISH



NUMBER OF PLAYERS: TWO to 5.

THE DEAL: If only 2 play, deal 7 cards to each; if 4 or 5 play, deal 5 cards to each. The rest of the pack is put face down on the table, forming the stock.

OBJECT: TO form more "books" than any other player. A book is 4 of a kind, such as 4 Kings, 4 Queens, etc.

THE PLAY: The player at the dealer's left begins by saying to some other player, "(Jane), give me your 9's." He must mention the name of the player he is speaking to, and he must mention the exact rank that he wants (Aces, Kings, Queens, etc.), and he must have at least 1 card of the rank that he is asking for.

The player who is addressed must hand over all the cards he has in the named rank, but if he has none, he says, "Go fish!"

When told to "go fish," a player must draw the top card of the stock.

The turn to ask then passes to the player at his left.

If a player succeeds in getting some cards when he asks for them, he keeps his turn and may ask again. He may ask the same player or some different player, and he may ask for any rank in his new question.

If a player who has been told to "go fish" picks a card of the rank he has asked for, he shows this card immediately without putting it into his hand, and his turn continues. (In some very strict games, a player's turn continues in such a situation only if the card he fishes for completes a book for him.)

Upon getting the fourth card of a book, the player shows all 4, places them on the table in front of him, and continues his turn.

If a player is left without cards, he may draw from the stock at his turn and ask for cards of the same rank as the card that he has drawn. After the stock has been used up, a player who has no cards is out of the game.

The game ends when all 13 books have been assembled. The player with most books wins.

AUTHORS

This game is very much like Go Fish, but can be played very seriously and with great skill.

All 52 cards are dealt out, even though they may not come out even. At his turn, a player asks for a single card by naming both its rank and its suit. For example, a player may say, "Bill, give me the Jack of Spades." A player's turn continues if he gets the card asked for, but the turn passes to the left as soon as he asks for a card that the player doesn't hold.

SKILLFUL PLAYING: When a player asks for cards and gets them but does not put down a completed book, you can tell that he has either 2 or 3 of that rank.

For example, suppose John asks for Queens and gets 1 Queen from the player that he has addressed. John does not put down a book of Queens, but asks some new question and is told to "go fish." You now know that John held at least 1 Queen to give him the right to ask for Queens. He has received a Queen, which gives him a total of either 2 or 3 Queens.

Little by little, you can build up information about the cards the other players must hold. If you know that another player has Queens, but you have no Queens yourself, the information does you no good. If you have a Queen yourself, however, you are then allowed to ask for Queens, and if you ask the right person because of the information you have, you may get an entire book and put it down in front of you.

Have hours of fun with both of these exciting games!