How to Play Thirty-One: Rules & Free Online Game

Object of the game

Everyone holds three cards, but only cards of the same suit add up – the more points in Hearts, Diamonds, Spades or Clubs, the better. No suit can total more than 31, which gives the game its name.

At the end of every round, the lowest hand loses a life. Run out of lives and you’re “swimming”; lose once more and you’re out. The last player standing wins.

Cards and dealing

This version uses a 32-card deck: 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace in each suit. With a standard 52-card deck, just take out the 2s through 6s. Everyone starts with three lives.

Each player is dealt three cards face down, three more are turned face up in the middle, and the rest form a face-down stock. The player to the dealer’s left goes first and play moves clockwise. After each round the deal passes to the left and all 32 cards are reshuffled.

Card values: how to score a hand

Your hand is worth the total of its best suit. The Ace of Hearts, 9 of Hearts and King of Spades make 20 (11 + 9) – the King doesn’t count because it’s a Spade. Three different suits and not three of a kind? Then only your highest card counts.

31 is the best a suit can do – an Ace plus two 10-point cards, such as the Ace, Queen and 10 of Diamonds. So three of a kind (30.5) beats everything except 31 and three Aces. The values at a glance:

• Ace: 11 points
• King, Queen, Jack and 10: 10 points each
• 9, 8 and 7: face value
• Three of a kind, e.g. three Queens or three 7s: 30.5 points
• Three Aces (“fire”): 33 points

How to play Thirty-One: your turn

On your turn you do exactly one of four things, then it’s the next player’s turn:

• Swap one card: put a card from your hand in the middle and take one of the face-up cards.
• Swap all: trade your whole hand for all three middle cards.
• Pass: change nothing.
• Knock: don’t swap, and signal the end of the round. You can knock as long as nobody has knocked yet this round – even on your very first turn.

Fresh middle cards and the end of a round

If every player passes in a row, the middle cards go out of play and three new ones from the stock are turned face up. A swap or a knock breaks the run of passes, and after a knock the middle is never replaced.

A round ends in one of four ways, and then everyone shows their cards:

• Knock: every other player gets exactly one more turn, then the hands are scored. The knocker doesn’t play again.
• 31: whoever reaches 31 with a swap ends the round at once – even on a last turn after a knock. The same goes for a 31 dealt straight from the deck.
• Fire: three Aces also end the round on the spot.
• Empty stock: if everyone passes and fewer than three cards are left in the stock, the round is scored.

Scoring, lives and swimming

The lowest hand loses one life; if several players tie for lowest, each of them loses one. Knocking gives no protection – knock too early and you may be the one who pays.

The exception is fire: three Aces cost every other player a life, whatever they hold. Anyone already swimming is out.

Everyone starts with three lives. When your third life is gone you’re swimming: you keep playing, but your next loss puts you out. The last player left wins. If the final players all go out in the same round, the game is a tie.

Example round with three players

You’re playing with Lena and Tom; you go first, then Lena, then Tom. You hold the Ace of Hearts, 8 of Hearts and King of Spades – 19 in Hearts. In the middle are the King of Hearts, 7 of Clubs and 10 of Diamonds.

You swap your King of Spades for the King of Hearts: 11 + 10 + 8 = 29. Lena passes. Tom is collecting Spades, so he takes your King of Spades and puts down his Queen of Hearts.

Now you swap the 8 of Hearts for the Queen of Hearts. Ace, King and Queen of Hearts make 31, and the round ends at once. Tom has 30 in Spades (Ace, King, 9), Lena only 19 (10 and 9 of Hearts, plus the 8 of Diamonds), so Lena loses a life.

Had you knocked with 29 on your second turn instead, Lena and Tom would each have had one last turn before the scoring.

Variants and house rules

Thirty-One comes in many versions. Here’s how common ones compare with the rules at Tavern Jack:

• American Thirty-One (Scat): usually played with 52 cards; you draw from the stock or the discard pile, then discard one. Here you swap with three face-up cards and play with 32.
• In many versions, hitting 31 costs everyone else a life. Here only the lowest hand loses.
• Some groups take two lives from a knocker who ends up lowest. Here the knocker loses one, like anyone else.
• Some tables don’t allow knocking during the first go-around. Here you can knock on your very first turn, as long as nobody has knocked yet.
• Two hands for the dealer: in many German homes the dealer takes two hands, keeps one and lays the other face up as the middle. Here everyone gets three cards and three more go straight to the middle.