Three Player Card Games: 26 Card Games for 3

Each player is dealt nine cards and the remaining thirteen stay face down as the stock. There is an auction with three contracts, from lowest to highest: entrada (the winner names trumps and exchanges cards with the stock), vuelta (trumps are set by the top card of the stock, which is turned over) and solo (the winner names trumps but cannot exchange). Whoever wins the auction is the hombre; the other two play together against them for that hand.

The card ranking is the hardest part to learn. The three highest trumps are always the ace of swords, the mala (the two of trumps if trumps are swords or clubs, the seven if they are cups or coins) and the ace of clubs; together they are called the estuche. On top of that, in cups and coins the number cards run in reverse, so the two beats the seven. If the hombre takes five tricks, or four with the others split three and two, the game is made. If they tie with an opponent it is a puesta and they pay into the pool; if an opponent beats them, it is codillo and they also pay that opponent.

Ombre left descendants across half of Europe and is still alive as l'hombre in Denmark and as rocambor in Peru and Bolivia.

With 40 cards and three players there is one card left over, which is turned face up (the pinte) and decides the trump suit. Before the first trick, depending on the table, whoever holds the seven or the two of trumps may swap it for that card. The rules are those of partnership tute: you must follow suit, play higher if you can, and trump if you cannot follow. You declare a king and knight of the same suit for 20, or 40 in trumps. Collecting all four kings or all four knights is tute and wins the hand.

Scoring varies: some tables add up each player's points and others only count who loses each hand, up to an agreed number of losses. All the basics are in our tute rules.

The four twos are taken out, leaving 36 cards, twelve per player. The player to the dealer's right bids first: either pass or call a number of at least 60, and each following player must go up in fives or drop out. The winner of the auction names the trump suit and has to reach the points promised with tricks and declarations; the other two join forces to stop them. If they succeed they score the bid; if not, they lose it.

It is a good step between tute for three and tresillo, because it brings in bidding and one-against-two play with the usual deck and card values.

With three players each gets thirteen cards and the spare goes in the centre. In the first hand coins are trumps and whoever has the two of coins swaps it for the centre card; in later hands the centre card is turned face up and its suit is trumps. At the end the scores are compared: if all three have taken tricks, the player with the middle score loses; if only two have taken tricks, the lower of the two loses. Each loss is recorded, and whoever reaches the agreed number is out.

One two is removed (twos score nothing, so the total stays at 120) and 39 cards remain. Each player gets three cards, a card is turned up to set trumps, and play is the same as for two: there is no need to follow suit, the trick goes to the highest trump or the highest card of the suit led, and the winner draws first. Ace 11, three 10, king 4, knight 3 and jack 2. With three players and no partnerships, the highest score wins. Italian briscola for three is played in exactly the same way. Full rules in brisca rules.

Each player gets three cards and four are placed face up. That leaves 36 cards, exactly enough for four deals of three cards each. The jack counts 8, the knight 9 and the king 10. With a card from your hand you take the table cards that make fifteen with it, and clearing the table is an escoba (a sweep). After each full deal every player counts their pile: most cards, most coins, the seven of coins, the sevens and the sweeps. Play to 21. Full details in escoba de 15 rules.

Seven cards are dealt and you draw from the stock or the discard pile to form sets of three or four of a kind and runs of three or more in the same suit. You go out when your loose cards are worth little, and everyone adds up what they have not melded. Anyone who goes over 100 (or 70) is out, and play continues until only one player is left. Rules in chinchón rules.

Each player gets ten cards and two stay face down: the skat. The bidding (Reizen) is not done in points but in the value of the game you think you can win, starting at 18 and going on to 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 30... Whoever wins the bid may pick up the skat, discard two cards and announce their game: a trump suit, grand (only the jacks are trumps) or null (a promise to take no tricks at all).

The four jacks are always the highest trumps, in the order clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds. Cards are worth ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3 and jack 2, 120 in total, and the declarer only needs 61 to win (the opponents need 60). With four at the table, the dealer sits out each hand. A full explanation, including how to work out the value of each game, is in our Skat rules.

Each player is dealt ten cards and two go to the talon. You bid a number of tricks (six to ten) and a trump suit, ranked from lowest to highest as spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts and no trumps. The winner of the auction takes the talon and discards two. The other two then decide whether to defend (in the game's own jargon, whether to "whist") or drop out, and every trick a defender takes also scores. The scoring is what takes longest to learn. With four players, the dealer sits out.

Each player gets seven cards and three go to the talon. Bidding starts at 100 and goes up in fives; the winner takes the talon and passes one card to each opponent, so everyone plays with eight. The ranking is ace, ten, king, queen, jack and nine, worth 11, 10, 4, 3, 2 and 0.

At first there are no trumps. A player holding the king and queen of the same suit can declare them when leading one of them: hearts are worth 100, diamonds 80, clubs 60 and spades 40, and that suit becomes trumps. The first to reach 1,000 wins. On reaching 880 you "get on the barrel", a final phase with special conditions to close out the game.

Each player gets 24 cards, dealt in fours, and six are set aside in the chien. The contracts, from lowest to highest, are petite (or prise), garde, garde sans le chien and garde contre le chien; the higher the contract, the more the taker risks, playing alone against the other two.

What the taker needs depends on the bouts in their tricks: the 1 of trumps (the petit), the 21 and the Excuse. With all three, 36 of the deck's 91 points are enough; with two, 41; with one, 51; and with none, 56. With three players a poignée (showing a large number of trumps) is declared with 13, 15 or 18 trumps. The reference rules are those of the French Tarot Federation.

Since 32 cards do not divide by three, the usual approach is to remove low cards so the deal comes out even, or to deal so that a few cards are left face down. The belote ranking and values stay the same (the jack of trumps is worth 20 and the nine 14), as does the bidding to choose trumps. Before you start, agree which cards come out and how scoring works. Everything else is in our belote rules.

Each player gets twelve cards and four stay face down in the monte. The ranking in each suit is three, two, ace, king, knight, jack, seven, six, five and four. Aces are worth one point; threes, twos and court cards a third of a point each, and the last trick earns an extra point, so there are 11 points in each hand and the lone player needs at least 6.

Each player speaks once. In the lowest contract, chiamo, the player names a card they do not hold (usually a three) and whoever has it must hand it over. In the higher contracts, solo and solissimo, the player gives up calling a card and part of the help from the monte, and in return collects more. Taking every trick multiplies the payment.

In briscola one two is removed and each player gets three cards; everyone plays alone and the values stay the same (ace 11, three 10, king 4, knight 3, jack 2). In scopa each player gets three cards and four go on the table, everyone scores their own points and the game is to 11. The difference from Spanish escoba is that you capture a card of equal value or a group that adds up to the same, rather than making fifteen.

Removing the two of diamonds leaves 51 cards, seventeen each. Another option is to deal seventeen each and leave the spare card face down for whoever wins the first trick with points in it. Before play each player passes three cards to an opponent, changing direction each hand (left, right, and one hand with no passing). The holder of the two of clubs leads and you must follow suit.

Each heart counts one point against you and the queen of spades thirteen. Taking every penalty card is "shooting the moon": depending on what was agreed, you either subtract 26 or add 26 to each opponent. The game ends when someone reaches 100 and the lowest score wins. Full rules in our hearts card game rules.

Each player is dealt sixteen cards and four are set aside. The dealer names trumps, discards four cards and takes the four set aside. The dealer must take eight tricks; the player on their left, five; and the player on their right, three. A player who takes more than their target is "up" and one who takes fewer is "down". In the next hand, each player who was up hands cards they do not want to a player who was down, who gives back a higher card of the same suit. The deal rotates, so everyone plays all three roles. It is also known as 3-5-8, and there are versions with other targets such as 9-5-2.

The deck is the 32 cards from seven to ace plus one joker: ten for each player and three for the kitty. You bid a number of tricks, from six to ten, and a suit; from lowest to highest, spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts and no trumps. Each combination has a fixed value on a table. The winner of the auction takes the kitty, discards three and plays against the other two, who team up for that hand although each keeps their own score.

The joker is the highest trump; next come the jack of trumps and the other jack of the same colour. You win by reaching 500 while making a contract, and you lose by dropping to minus 500.

Each player is dealt seventeen cards and three stay face down. Players bid 1, 2 or 3; the highest bidder becomes the landlord, takes the three cards and plays with twenty. Suits do not matter. The ranking is colour joker, black joker, two, ace, king and so on down to three.

The leader can play a single card, a pair, three of a kind (on its own or with a single or a pair attached), a straight of at least five cards or several consecutive pairs, and the others must beat it with a play of the same type or pass. Bombs (four of a kind) and the rocket (both jokers) beat any other play and double the stakes for that hand.

Each player gets five cards and one goes to the crib. Each player discards one card to the crib, so everyone ends up with four and the crib has four too. The player to the dealer's left cuts for the starter card and leads first. During the play to 31, when two players can no longer play, the third carries on as far as they can and scores the point for last card. The crib belongs to the dealer. You need a three-track board and the game is to 121.

Each player is dealt thirteen cards, draws two per turn and discards one. The minimum count for your first meld depends on each player's running score, as in normal canasta. Some tables play a variant where the first player to take the discard pile plays alone and the other two become temporary partners who meld together. Full rules in our canasta rules.

The deck has two copies of each card from nine to ace, 48 in all, ranked ace, ten, king, queen, jack and nine. Each player gets fifteen cards and three go face down. The winner of the auction turns up the widow, names trumps, shows their melds (for example the pinochle: queen of spades and jack of diamonds), discards three and plays against the other two. You can build the deck from two standard decks by taking the cards from nine to ace.

Each player is dealt six cards and a trump card is turned up; eighteen remain in the stock. One player attacks the player on their left with a card, who must beat it with a higher card of the same suit or with a trump. The others can add cards of the same rank as those already on the table. If the defender cannot beat them, they pick up all the cards. After each attack hands are refilled to six. Nobody wins: whoever is left holding cards when everyone else is out is the durak, the fool.