Two Player Card Games: 25 Card Games for 2 People

Each player is dealt three cards and the next card is turned up: this is the pinta, which sets the trump suit and stays under the stock. The non-dealer leads and the other player answers with any card: there is no obligation to follow suit or to trump. The highest trump wins the trick or, if there is no trump, the highest card of the suit led. The winner of the trick draws first.

The order is ace, three, king, knight, jack, seven, six, five, four and two. Only five cards score: ace 11, three 10, king 4, knight 3 and jack 2, a total of 120 points. You need more than 60 to win; at 60 all the hand is void. After winning a trick, the seven of trumps can be exchanged for the turned-up card (and the two for a low trump, depending on house rules). Full rules in brisca rules.

In standard two-handed tute each player gets six cards (eight in tute habanero) and the trump card is turned up under the stock. While there is a stock, play is free, as in brisca, and both players draw after each trick, winner first. Once the stock is gone, the second player must follow suit, head the trick (beat the card led) if possible and, if void in the suit, trump.

After winning a trick you may meld: king and knight of the same suit score 20, or 40 in trumps. Holding all four kings or all four knights is tute and wins the game. The last trick scores 10 points and the game is played to 101. Tute habanero also has the capote: announcing, once the stock runs out, that you will take every remaining trick. All the details in tute rules.

It is played with a six-card hand and a stock, with a first phase of free play and a second, once the stock is exhausted, in which you must follow suit, head the trick and trump. The big difference from tute lies in the ranking and values: ace 11, three 10, king 4, jack 3 and knight 2, so the jack beats the knight.

Melds are made with king and jack (20, or 40 in trumps) and you may meld more than once. The 10 for the last trick is decisive and the game is played to 101: if nobody reaches it, there is a second round («la vuelta»), dealt by whoever won the last trick, and the points are added together. Anyone who claims 101 without having it loses. More in guiñote rules.

Each player receives three cards and four go face up on the table. For adding up, the jack counts 8, the knight 9 and the king 10; the rest count their number. On your turn you play a card: if together with one or more table cards it makes 15, you take them; if not, it stays on the table. Clearing the table is an escoba («sweep») and scores a point. When the hands run out, three more cards each are dealt, without adding anything to the table.

At the end of each full deal the fixed points are counted: most cards, most coins, the seven of coins and the most sevens, plus the sweeps. The game is played to 21 points, or to 31 for a longer game. It belongs to the same family as Italian scopa, which you will find further down. Full guide: escoba rules.

Seven cards are dealt and one is turned up to start the discard pile. On your turn you draw from the stock or the discard pile and throw a card. Melds are sets of three or four cards of the same rank or runs of three or more in the same suit. When almost everything is melded and your leftover card is worth little (the exact limit is agreed beforehand), you close and each player adds up their unmatched cards.

Points accumulate and anyone who goes over 100 (or 70) is out. Chinchón is the top play: depending on the table, going out with all seven cards melded or with a seven-card run in one suit, which in many homes wins the game outright. Agree on it before you start. Rules in chinchón rules.

Each player gets three cards and whoever takes two of the three tricks wins the round. The ranking is unusual: at the very top are the ace of swords, the ace of clubs, the seven of swords and the seven of coins; then the threes, the twos, the aces, the court cards and the rest.

During the round you can call envido (a bet on your two best cards of the same suit) and truco, which raises the value of the round: truco, retruco and vale cuatro. The opponent accepts («quiero») or declines and concedes the points. The game is played to 30, split into «malas» and «buenas». The whole system of calls is in truco rules.

Each player gets three cards and four go to the table. The king counts 10, the knight (or queen) 9, the jack 8 and the rest their number. If you play a seven and there is a seven on the table, you take it; if there is not, but there is a four and a three, you take both. If there is a matching card and also a combination with the same total, you must take the single card. Clearing the table is a scopa.

At the end, points are scored for: most cards (carte), most coins (denari), the seven of coins (settebello), the best primiera (four cards, one of each suit, with sevens as the most valuable) and the sweeps. For two players the game goes to 11 points. For four there is scopone.

Three cards are dealt and the next is turned up; its suit is the briscola (trumps). You do not have to follow suit. The values match brisca: ace 11, three 10, king 4, knight 3 and jack (fante) 2, for a total of 120. The first to 61 wins; at 60 all it is a draw. With two it is played individually; with four, in partnerships, and there is a five-player variant in which the winner of the auction «calls» a secret partner.

Each player gets three or four cards, depending on house rules, and four go face up on the table. If you play a card of the same value as one on the table, you take it and start your pile, with the last captured card face up on top. If the card you play matches the one on top of your opponent's pile, you steal the whole pile. Whoever ends with the most cards wins.

Each player receives twelve cards and eight remain in the talon. The elder hand may exchange one to five cards, and the younger hand whatever is left. Then three kinds of combination are compared, and only the best of each kind scores: the point (most cards in one suit), the sequence (a run of three or more in one suit) and sets (three or four aces, kings, queens, jacks or tens).

Then twelve tricks are played without trumps, with an obligation to follow suit. Points are scored for leading, for winning tricks and for taking the majority; taking every trick is capot and scores 40. Reaching 30 points before your opponent scores gives pique (30 more), and doing it with declarations alone gives repique (60 more). A game, or partie, is six deals.

Each player gets eight cards and the trump is turned up. The ranking is ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine, eight and seven. While there is a stock you need not follow suit: whoever wins the trick may lay down a meld, and then both players draw. Melds score: marriage (king and queen of the same suit) 20, or 40 in trumps; four aces 100; four kings 80; four queens 60; four jacks 40; trump sequence (ace, ten, king, queen and jack) 250.

The meld that gives the game its name is bezique: queen of spades and jack of diamonds, worth 40; double bezique (both queens of spades and both jacks of diamonds) is worth 500. Once the stock is gone you must follow suit and win the trick if you can, and at the end each ace and ten captured scores 10. The game is usually played to 1,000 points.

Cards are dealt into each player's area in pairs, one face down covered by one face up (depending on the version, each player also keeps a few cards in hand). Trumps are chosen as in normal belote and tricks are played: when you play a face-up card, the one underneath is turned over and becomes available.

The trump ranking is the hallmark of the family: jack (20 points), nine (14), ace, ten, king, queen, eight and seven. In the other suits the ace (11) is highest, followed by the ten (10). Cards plus the last trick add up to 162 points, and whoever chose trumps needs more than half. It is a direct relative of Dutch klaverjas.

Six cards are dealt, the trump is turned up and the rest forms the talon. Values: ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2 and nine 0. While there is a talon you need not follow suit, and both players draw after each trick. A player holding the king and queen of a suit may declare them when leading: 20, or 40 in trumps. The nine of trumps can be exchanged for the turned-up trump card.

Whenever it is their turn to lead, a player may close the talon by turning the trump card face down: no more drawing, and you must follow suit and win the trick. A player who believes they have 66 says so and the hand ends. Depending on how badly the opponent fared, 1, 2 or 3 game points are won, and the game is played to 7.

The rules are those of sixty-six without the nines: ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3 and jack 2. Each player receives five cards and ten remain in the talon. The jack of trumps is the card exchanged for the turned-up trump. King-queen marriages score 20 or 40 and the talon can be closed as in sixty-six.

Scoring counts down: each player starts with 7 points and subtracts 1, 2 or 3 with each hand won, depending on the result. The first to reach zero wins the Bummerl, which is what the series of hands is called.

The ranking is ace, seven, king, jack, queen, then six down to two. Values: ace 11, seven 10, king 4, jack 3 and queen 2, giving 120 points in total. For two, bisca de três is played, with three cards in hand and a draw after each trick, with no obligation to follow suit. There is also bisca de nove, with nine cards, in which a trump must be answered with a trump once the stock runs out. The first to 61 wins.

Ten cards are dealt and one is turned up for the discard pile. Each turn you draw from the stock or the discard pile and discard one. You are aiming for sets of three or four of a kind and runs in the same suit; the ace is always low. Unmatched cards (deadwood) count their value: court cards 10, ace 1 and the rest their number.

With this hand only a two is left over, so you can knock (knock). With nothing left over it is gin and earns a bonus. But be careful: if your opponent, after laying off their loose cards on your melds, ends with the same or less than you, they undercut you and take the hand. The game is played to 100 points. All the details in gin rummy rules.

Each player receives six cards and lays two aside face down for the crib, an extra hand that belongs to the dealer. The deck is cut and a common card (the starter) is turned up; if it is a jack, the dealer pegs 2. Then the players lay cards alternately, calling out the running total, without going over 31: points are scored for hitting exactly 15 or 31, for pairing the previous card and for making runs.

Then each player counts their hand together with the starter. In the example, each five makes fifteen with the ten, the king and the queen: six fifteens at 2 points each is 12, and the pair of fives adds 2 more, for a total of 14. Points are pegged on the board and the first past 120, that is, the first to reach 121, wins.

Each player is dealt four cards and four go to the table; when they are used up, four more each are dealt without adding to the table. On your turn you play a card and do one of three things: capture cards of the same value or a group with the same total, build (combine your card with others on the table, announcing a value you will capture later) or simply trail it on the table. Court cards capture only matching court cards.

At the end, points are scored: most cards 3, most spades 1, each ace 1, the ten of diamonds («big casino») 2 and the two of spades («little casino») 1. The classic version is played to 11 points and a widespread variant to 21. Although it is often said to be Italian, there is no evidence that it was played in Italy under that name.

For two, each player is dealt fifteen cards. Each turn you draw two cards from the stock and discard one, which speeds up melding considerably. You lay down groups of cards of the same rank, with jokers and twos as wild cards, and a canasta is a meld of seven. To go out you need two completed canastas. The initial meld requires a minimum count that rises with your score. More in canasta rules.

Six cards are dealt, the trump is turned up and the rest forms the stock. The attacker plays a card and the defender must beat it with a higher card of the same suit or with a trump. The attacker can keep adding cards of the same rank as those already played, up to six. If the defender beats everything, the cards are discarded and the defender becomes the attacker; if they cannot or will not, they pick everything up. Then both draw back up to six. When the stock runs out, whoever is left holding cards loses. There is a two-player version with 24 cards, nine to ace.

In spit each player receives 26 cards and lays out five piles of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 cards in front of them with the top card face up; the rest is their reserve. On the call of «spit», both turn a card into the middle and start playing cards one rank higher or lower on top, regardless of suit; the ace connects with both the king and the two. If nobody can play, another reserve card is turned up.

In speed each player has a five-card hand and a pile to replenish it, and in the middle there are two reserve piles to unblock the game. The first to run out of cards wins.

The whole deck is dealt and nobody looks at their cards. Taking turns, each player turns their top card onto a central pile. If a court card or an ace appears, the other player has a number of chances to turn up another court card or ace (four for an ace, three for a king, two for a queen, one for a jack); if they fail, the pile goes to whoever played the court card. At any moment, if two matching cards appear in a row (or separated by one, the «sandwich»), the first to slap the pile takes it. Slapping without reason costs you cards. Whoever ends up with the whole deck wins.

The whole deck is dealt into two face-down piles. Both players turn up their top card at the same time and whoever shows the higher card puts both at the bottom of their pile. If they tie, it is «war»: each player puts one card face down and another face up, and the higher card takes the lot. Whoever ends up with every card wins. A full game can go on for a very long time, so at home it is usually played to a set number of rounds or against the clock.

Each player makes a reserve of 13 cards with the top one face up, lays four cards face up in a column on their side of the table and keeps the rest (35 cards) as a stock. Between the two columns there are eight spaces for the foundations, which are built up by suit from ace to king. On the eight side columns you build down in alternating colours.

You can also place cards on your opponent's reserve or discard pile if they are of the same suit and one rank higher or lower. Plays to the foundations are compulsory: if your opponent misses one, you interrupt («crapette!» or «stop!») and take over the turn. The first to get rid of their cards wins.

Each player has a personal pile (20 to 26 cards depending on the version) with the top card face up, and at the start of their turn fills a hand of five cards. In the centre, ascending sequences are built regardless of suit, starting with the ace and ending with the queen; kings can stand in for any card. Each player can have up to four discard piles of their own, and discarding ends the turn. The first to play out their whole personal pile wins.