Sports with Cards: Smile or Frown

For many years playing cards was just something old men did, in seedy gamming rooms, but recently cards have once again become a popular thing to do when sitting around with friends at home, in the coffee shop or in a casino. Here I have listed some of my favorite games. Some of the games are very easy and take only minutes to learn and some can be very difficult to learn and may take a lifetime to learn.

Which Games Can One Pick Up Effortlessly?
1) Battle for Might
This fun one is the easiest of the lot! This game requires no skill, no strategy and no effort. The result relies purely on luck and even a four year old child can play. For playing this, you need not learn complicated rules or difficult strategy. Just note that the stronger card wins.

2) Liar:
Here, all cards lower than eight are removed from the deck, and then seven cards are dealt. The remainder is placed down and one card is placed face-up. According to that card, the player in turn places cards facing down on top of that card. He has to state what card it is, but he can lie. If someone thinks is has lied, they can challenge him and reveal the card. If the player lied, he has to pick up all the cards, if not the challenger does the honors. The goal is to finish all the cards in your hand.

3) Johnny 5:
Johnny 5 is a little more difficult then the first to games but still is very simple to learn. Each player is dealt 5 cards. The left over cards are placed in the center of the table face down the player to the dealers left the may put down a pair of cards or a r 3 card run of cards. If you do not have any the player must take a card. The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards and to have you last one or 2 cards total 5.

4) Three Card Monty:
Three Card Monty is a fun game and the rules could not be any easier. Three cards are placed on the table and the middle card is turned Face up. The card is then flipped over and the three cards are then shuffled. The object is to try to figure out which of the three cards is the card that was flipped over.

List of Most Difficult Games to Learn
1) Touch:
It took me more than a few hours to learn this game even though the basic structure is quite banal. The cards are arranged into two batches on either side and some are placed in the middle, others divided between you and another player. Then, each one begins (by turn) laying down a sequenced card (also by colour and also by number) that goes from top to bottom. Another aspect of touch is that even though it’s a kind of variation of Patience, here you must add cards to the aces in the middle. If you do not, you lose a turn.

2) Pass the Anchor:
The Anchor stands for the Ace of Clubs, and the object here is to complete the entire suit from Ace to King. One can block progress by using a different colour and to take this out someone has to buy it with other cards. The winner is that player with the King. This is kind of like taking part in a market except that you have to hand over what you have but this is considered a turn as well. Towards the end of the game, it becomes tedious, and it would never end if not for the rule that you cannot buy twice.

3) DOHH:
Dohh is a fun game. What makes it hard to play is that the looser gets a punch in the arm from the other players. An entire deck of cards is split evenly between the players. Each player turns over their top card. The player with the highest card gets to punch the player with the lowest card in the arm. The only way to win is to be the last person in the game. When the deck of cards has been gone thru the deck is reshuffled and dealt again. Until all players give up except one.

Misha Bolerikovsky is a Russian based editor of internet casinos where he overviews popular card games such as blackjack and baccarat as well as bridge and rummy.