Conquian

The Pack

A standard pack of 52 cards with all the tens, nines and eights removed, leaving a total of 40 cards in the deck.

Rank of Cards

The jack and seven are considered to be in sequence. The rank of an ace is low only so that the sequence A, 2, 3 can be formed, but not A, K, Q.

Object of the Game

Each player tries to form matched sets consisting of groups of three or four of a kind, or sequences of three or more cards of the same suit.

The Deal

Each of the two players is dealt 10 cards. The remaining cards form the stock; no upcard is turned.

The Play

After the deal is completed, the non-dealer turns up the top card of the stock. The player does not put it into their hand but must immediately meld it, along with cards from their hand, or discard it.

Melds ("spreads") are as in regular Rummy - matched sets of three or four or a sequence of three or more cards of the same suit.

Each player in turn thereafter must either take the top discard and meld it (placing the meld face up on the table), or turn up the top card of the stock and meld or discard it.

When the player takes and melds a discard, they must then discard from their hand. If a player is able to add the discard to one of their previous melds, the opponent may require them to do so, and then discard.

After turning up the top card of the stock, and before discarding it, a player may meld or lay off from his or her hand if they wish.

A player may shift their own melds around as long as only valid melds remain. For example: If the player previously melded J, 7, 6 and the 5 is drawn or discarded, they may add it to the sequence, remove the jack, and meld three jacks.

How to Keep Score

The game ends when a player has melded exactly 11 cards. Therefore, a player may have no card left in their hand but still continues to play because they need another melded card to go out. Each deal is a separate game, and if the stock is exhausted before either player has melded 11 cards, the next game counts double.