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Tong­its

Tong­itsOrigin Philippines

Players 3

Skill(s) required Strategy

Deck Anglo­American

Random chance Medium

Related games

Tonk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tong­itsis a 3 playerrummytype of game that gainedpopularity in the 1990s in Luzon,[1] the largest island ofthe Philippines.

This game is played using the standard deck of 52cards. Itsorigin remains unknown[2] but the game rules and the veryname can be associated with the American cardgame, Tonk.[1]

Contents [hide]

1 Rules1.1 Objective of the game1.2 How to Play1.3 Meld (Bahay)

2 Ending the Game2.1 "Tong­its"2.2 Draw2.3 Deck pile runs out2.4 Winning the Pot

3 Card Points4 References5 External links

Rules [edit]

Note: Like many popular card games, there are variations to these rules. Rules with variations are notedwhere possible.

Objective of the game [edit]

The objective of the game is to empty your hand of all cards or minimize the count and the scores ofunmatched cards that are still on the player’s hand by forming card sets (melds, also called a "Bahay"(pronounced Ba­Hi), or "Buo" in some dialects), dumping cards and calling a draw. The player who gets ridof all the cards or has the least number of total points at the end of the game (when the central stack isempty) wins the game.[3][4]

How to Play [edit]

Each player is dealt 12 cards while the dealer gets 13 and the rest of the cards are left as a central stack.The game begins when the dealer dumps a card. The next person can either pick up the disposed card or

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get one from the central stack. Collect hand combinations and dump unnecessary cards. The picking anddiscarding of cards goes on until someone wins by Tong­its, calls a draw or until the central stack runs outof cards. If this happens, the players tally the points of the cards they have at hand and the one with thelowest wins. In case of a draw the last person to take a card from the central deck wins. .[3][4]

Meld (Bahay) [edit]

Meld (Bahay) is a set of matching cards a player needs to collect in order to win the game. When a playercollects a meld, he has the option to either lay it down, or keep it. However, a player must expose at leastone meld to call or challenge a draw unless the player has a "Secret" or "Sagasa" in which case he canchallenge (but not call). If a player fails to lay down a meld and does not have either special melds whenthe game ends, the player is considered “Burned” and will neither be able to challenge a draw (if one iscalled) nor eligible to win in the end tally count (if the central stack runs out).[4][5]

Three­of­a­kind: three equally ranked cards (7♣ ­ 7♦ ­ 7♠)

Four­of­a­kind: four cards of the same rank/number, opened or held at the same time. is also called“Secret” or "Special" (J♣ ­ J♦ ­ J♠ ­ J♥)

Four­of­a­kind: four cards of the same rank/number, opened as a three of a kind, then the fourth card ofsame rank/number is added by the same person when displayed and the fourth card is drawn from thedeck. This is called "Sagasa". Otherwise this can become a "Secret" or "Special"

Straight Flush: at least three sequential cards of the same suit (3♠ ­ 4♠ ­ 5♠) (8♦ ­ 9♦ ­ 10♦ ­ J♦ ­ Q♦)

Straight flush composed of 4 or more cards is also called a “Escalera."[5]

Ending the Game [edit]

"Tong­its" [edit]

If the player is able to use all of his or her cards in combinations, by connecting to opponents’ or theexposed card sets (sapaw), or if the player gets rid of all his cards, then the player wins by Tong­its. Aperson can discard of his cards by forming melds and laying it down or making a "sapaw" on one of theother players' laid down meld. A meld consists of at least three cards (three­of­a­kind or straight flush) andasapaw would be the fourth of those three, or the continuation of that straight flush.[6]

Draw [edit]

A player with at least one exposed meld and has low points can call a draw before his turn given that noother players connected to his exposed meld before that. Otherwise, the player will have to wait for his nextturn to call a draw.[6]

Once a player calls for a draw the opponents can either fold or challenge the draw. Only players who haveexposed melds are given this opportunity. A player cannot call for a draw if his exposed hand(s) has beenmelded (sapaw) by any opponent within the round. Players with no card sets exposed are automaticallyfolded. When a draw has been called, the points are computed and tallied. The person with the lowest

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points wins. If a tie occurs, the challenger wins. In the event of a three­way tie, the player to the right of thechallenger wins.[6]

Deck pile runs out [edit]

When the central stack runs out of cards, the game ends. A player with no exposed melds automaticallyloses. The player with the lowest points in total wins. If there is a tie for the least points, the player thatpicks up the last card from the deck wins.[4][6]

A player who does not expose any melds before an opponent calls Tong­its or Draw is considered burntorsunóg. Burnt players at the end of the game automatically lose.[6]

Winning the Pot [edit]

Bets are added to a pot. The winner who wins two consecutive games collect the pot money. This can alsobe changed to 3 consecutive games wherein upon the second win the player gets an additional payment.

Card Points [edit]

All the cards have corresponding points. The Rank goes:

Ace 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jack Queen King. Ace is considered one point. All the Jacks Queens and Kings are 10 points each. All the other cards (namely, 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10) match their value.[5]