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The game can be played with 54 cards by adding the 2 jokers. The two jokers plus the four cards that are normally removed would form their own half-suit. Thus having nine half-suits makes it impossible for the two teams to tie; unless one of the sets is lost as a null set (depending on house rules;
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Another common strategy is the 'stalemate breaker'. If members of a team come to the conclusion that all the cards in a set are all held by their team and they can correctly attribute them, they don't declare the book immediately. This book is kept as a stalemate breaker. If at a later point in the
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When a whole team runs out of cards, their opponents must try to claim the remaining books. If it is the turn of one of their team members, that player must do this alone. If it is the turn of the side that ran out of cards, the player whose turn it was, chooses an opponent with cards who must then
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The players holding those cards then reveal them and, if George is right, his team wins the book called "Low Spades". If he is wrong because an opponent holds one of the cards, the opposing team wins the book. If his team holds the whole book, but George gets the distribution wrong because Mary has
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Since players can only ask for cards they do not possess in a book of which they have other cards, others can deduce the card or set of cards a player has. The best strategy is for players to divulge as much information as possible to their teammates while simultaneously giving away as little
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game a player in that team is on the verge of finishing a book (i.e. he knows which opponent has which card) but is cannot get a turn, the stalemate-breaker is used. A teammate, whose turn it is, can declare the stalemate breaking book and pass the turn onto the player who was stuck.
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A player who has collected an entire book, can lay it down, face up, and win it for the team. If a book is split between team members, a player can claim it when it is that player's turn, by saying "Claim" and declaring the cards held by each team member. For example, George says:
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and deals all the cards out, individually and face down, beginning with the player to the dealer's immediate left. If six play, they will each receive 8 cards; if eight play, 6 cards. When the deal is finished players pick up and look at their own cards.
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information as possible to their opponents. Thus good strategy consists not only of asking for cards that one needs, but in not prematurely divulging the existence of all the books one has. Players need both strategy and memory skills to win the game.
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A variant played by some advanced players is to allow people to ask for cards they already possess, in order to confuse opponents. This variant is not very common among most players, because it can make the game very complicated and
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At any stage a player may ask what the last question and answer was, but no information about earlier ones may be discussed. Players may ask how many cards another player has. They may not keep any written records about the game.
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A player who runs out of cards drops out of the game, unless this has arisen because that player has made a claim. In the latter case, the player may pass the turn to any teammate who still has cards.
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The called player must hand over the called card, face up, if held. The caller then has another turn and may ask another question of any desired opponent. If the called player does
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The game is played by six or eight players in two teams. Six is best and is standard in the
Canadian game. Players sit in alternating order. Four 8's are removed from a standard
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One variant uses sets of four cards with matching numbers rather than lows and highs of suits. This would result in 13 sets each having the same face value.
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A player does not need to hold any of the book in order to make a claim. A won book is stacked in front of a member of the winning team.
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Usually, the dealer goes first. When it is a player's turn, the player may ask a question of any member of the opposing team as follows:
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Once all the books are claimed, the winners are the team with more books than the others. If both teams have 4 books, it is a tie.
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When a book is declared, the team gets to choose who gets to ask next. It is used to transfer the chance to a teammate, if needed.
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Players may be required to announce when they have one card remaining, or announce and retire if they have no cards remaining.
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the 3 and 7 and Joseph has 5 and 6, then the book is forfeited and neither team scores for it.
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Players may be required to declare a book as soon as they hold all the cards of that book.
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Claim! Low Spades, I have the 4 and 8, Mary has the 3, and Joseph has the 5, 6, and 7.
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have the called card, the turn ends and the called player has the next turn.
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In addition, several house rules may be enforced, depending on the players:
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Other cards can be eliminated from the pack instead of the 8s e.g. 2s or 7s.
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Several variations exist, based on how cards are grouped into books:
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A specific card must be requested e.g. "I would like the 7 of Spades"
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for 6 or 8 players in two teams using a shortened version of the
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The player must hold a card that is part of the requested book
545:"9. Canadian Fish" at bantha.org. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
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see below). The final amount would only consist of 8 sets.
19:"Canadian Fish" redirects here. For fishes of Canada, see
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are assumed to be to the left i.e. clockwise. The first
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The objective is to win more books than the other team.
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In
Canadian Fish they say "Declare" instead of "Claim".
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A high book scores twice as many points as a low book.
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158:in southern India and in parts of North America.
481:Presumably a forfeited book is laid to one side
455:Players may claim a book on any player's turn.
307:The player may not ask for a card already held
190:pack to leave 48 cards. There are thus eight
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317:Anna only has one Diamond in her hand – the
310:The player may not ask a teammate for a card
304:The player asked must hold at least one card
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166:The following rules are based on
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134:. The game is sometimes called
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281:cards, highest deals. Dealer
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391:make the remaining claims.
35:Canadian Fish, Russian Fish
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356:Claiming and winning books
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570:Litaf (Literature Online)
194:of six cards each called
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21:List of fishes in Canada
321:J. She may ask for the
202:such as "Low Spades" (
226:7) or "High Hearts" (
132:standard 52-card pack
142:, after the similar
590:Canadian card games
565:Canadian Fish rules
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150:. It is played in
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97:15–30 minutes
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94:Playing time
168:John McLeod
579:Categories
528:Literature
489:References
449:confusing.
416:Variations
192:half-suits
152:Tamil Nadu
124:Literature
67:Matching,
43:Exchanging
27:Literature
533:pagat.com
460:Footnotes
254:Objective
172:pagat.com
128:card game
16:Card game
403:Strategy
315:Example:
283:shuffles
186:52-card
178:Overview
395:Winning
279:drawing
144:Go Fish
56:Players
383:Ending
275:dealer
156:Kerala
102:Chance
69:memory
64:Skills
59:6 or 8
48:Family
200:books
162:Rules
146:, or
126:is a
75:Cards
337:Kor
329:10,
290:Play
271:play
269:and
267:Deal
262:Deal
250:A).
196:sets
154:and
136:Fish
83:Deck
40:Type
531:at
350:not
333:Q,
325:9,
234:10
198:or
138:or
581::
497:^
246:K
242:Q
238:J
230:9
222:6
218:5
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210:3
206:2
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78:48
343:♦
339:♦
335:♦
331:♦
327:♦
323:♦
319:♦
248:♥
244:♥
240:♥
236:♥
232:♥
228:♥
224:♠
220:♠
216:♠
212:♠
208:♠
204:♠
23:.
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