The Rules of Conquian -
How To Play The Card Game Conquian
Conquian is a Rummy game played between two people. It is one of the oldest known Rummy
games which originated in Spain and goes back hundreds of years. The game can
be played with more than two people, but typically there are not enough cards
to make it a long enough game.
Objective:
The Objective of Conquian is
to be the first player with no cards left in their hand. To do this you must
“meld” your cards by arranging them in sets (three or more cards in the same
suit in order) or in groups (three of a kind) of three to eight cards and
placing them face upwards on the table. Cards can be added to existing melds
and taken away, provided a complete set or group is left.
No meld can contain more
than eight cards, because the minimum meld is three and you have to meld
exactly eleven cards to win. Ace is always low, so Q-K-A is not a valid meld.
Setting Up:
If you have a Spanish style
deck, you are ready to play. If you don’t have a Spanish style deck you can
make one by removing the 8, 9 and 10 cards from the deck. Note that this will
make sets that go 6-7-J legitimate.
The deck is shuffled and
cut, and each player draws a card at random. Whichever player draws the lower
card is the dealer, and the other player plays first. The dealer deals ten
cards to each player and places the remaining cards face down on the table to
be the “stock”. At this point a wager can be made on the outcome of the game,
but this is not necessary for game play like in Poker.
Rules of Game Play:
The player who has the first
turn (traditionally called the “pone”) takes the top card of the stock and
places it in his or her hand. The player must decide to meld the card (if
possible) to create a set or a group, discard the card. The card that was
picked up may not be kept for future use: it must be melded or discarded in
the hand in which it is picked up. Some versions of Rummy allow you to
exchange the new card for one in your hand, but Conquian does not. No player
may have more than 11 cards in their hand during their turn, and no player may
have more than 10 cards in their hand when it is not their turn. A card is
always discarded at the end of each turn.
The card is discarded onto a
new pile next to the stock. The dealer can then decide to take this card, or
take a new card from the stock. If the previously discarded card is not used
it must be turned face down on a waste pile, and cannot be accessed by either
player.
When you meld cards you can
rearrange cards you have already melded in any way you want. The only
restriction is that you need to leave at least one complete meld in ever
sequence of cards. The melds of both players must be kept separate, and you
may not add cards to the other player’s melds.
The Rule of Forcing
Forcing is a key strategic
move in Conquian, and is one of the most important rules in the game. If the
card discarded by your opponent in their last turn can be used in one of your
existing melds, your opponent can force you to use the card, thereby
making you discard one of your cards in your hand. This can destroy a
strategy and make it impossible for a player to win.
For example, if your
opponent has eight of his cards down in two sets and has two cards in his
hand, there is often only one card that will enable the win for that player.
If you force him to take up a card and discard one of his own, the new
combination required for a meld might not be possible, because of cards
already discarded or used.
Ending The Game
The game ends when one
player successfully melds all of their cards. Note that exactly eleven cards
must be melded, and it should not be possible to meld more cards than this.
A Draw
The game can end in a draw
if the stock runs out before either player has melded all of their cards. In
the event of a draw any wager that has been placed on the game will be held
over for the next game. Remember that because Conquian is played with a
Spanish deck, having a hand all in the same suit means that it is impossible
to win (because an eleventh card to complete your meld could never be found).
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