Designed by W Johnson
Published by FX Schmid
Translated by Chris Mellor and Mike Schloth
Distributed from The Rules Bank by Mike Siggins
The DOUBLE cards are different from traditional game cards in that each card has not one, but two suits and ranks [hereafter referred to as "motifs" ] printed on it. During the game only one motif on a card is used - the question is which one?
This is the particular charm of the game, to allow for this change in planning your play. Is it worthwhile to play the Ace of Clubs if it means giving up the 2 of Hearts?!
Each player is assigned the task of predicting the number of tricks they will win with the cards in their hand and to play the cards such that their prediction will come true.
WHOEVER IS BEST IN THIS ENDEAVOR WILL GATHER THE MOST POINTS AND WIN THE GAME.
A word about the DOUBLE cards: Aside from the particular motifs of POPE and FOOL, which are both explained more fully further on, the rest of the motifs are exactly like the ones you would find in a normal Rummy Game - in two identical sets of 27 cards. The two motifs on each card are always of a different suit and rank.
As long as the cards are held in your hand, both motifs on each card may potentially be used in play. However, as soon as a card has been played, only one of the motifs is in effect. To show which half of the card you are using, play the card on the table with the desired motif towards the center of the table. The second motif - after playing the card - has no effect.
As in most trick taking games, so too in DOUBLE must all players follow "suit obligation" [Farbzwang -- I love that word], i.e. the next card played must follow the previous suit played if possible. Therefore, if the first player plays, for example, a Diamond, then all players must likewise play Diamonds.
Only those players who have no cards with a matching suit, in this case Diamonds, may play a card with a different suit.
Each player receives 5 black and 2 red chips - a total point value of 15. The remaining chips are all placed together in a handy heap to form the "bank".
The 54 cards are shuffled and dealt to the players.
(NOTE: If less than six players are in the game, you may if you like only play with one of the decks of 27 cards).
[The two sets of cards, 27 each, are identical aside from the backs which are printed in different colors - at least they are in my deck].
10 hands are played. They all follow the same steps:
| 1st hand | 1 card | 6th hand | 5 cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd hand | 2 cards | 7th hand | 4 cards |
| 3rd hand | 3 cards | 8th hand | 3 cards |
| 4th hand | 4 cards | 9th hand | 2 cards |
| 5th hand | 5 cards | 10th hand | 1 card |
Decide who should deal the first hand. The second hand will be dealt by the player to the first dealer's left, and so on for the rest of the hands.
The dealer shuffles the deck and deals to each player only as many cards as the particular hand requires. The rest are set face down in the center of the table. Each player takes their cards into their hand without revealing them to the others.
Turn over the uppermost card in the stack of unused cards. The trump is the suit of the higher ranking motif (sequence: 2 [lowest], 3, 4... 9, 10, B, D, K, Ace [highest] ). This card is slid face up under the stack of unused cards so that only the trump half of the card is exposed (see the illustration).
Beginning with the first player - the person to the left of the dealer - each player must predict how many tricks they believe that they will win in the current hand.
Each player places before themselves a number of their chips equal in value to the amount of tricks they are predicting to win. 1 black chip = 1 trick, 1 red chip = 5 tricks.
If a player believes that he or she will take no tricks this hand, then that player places no chips before him or herself.
If in the course of the game a player should lose all of his or her chips, then that player may only predict "no tricks" until he or she wins more chips.
A player may make change with the bank at any time.
The first player [to the left of the dealer] plays the first card in the hand. He or she must set the card on the table such that the half he or she wants to be in effect is towards the center of the table.
In turn, each of the other players must likewise play one of their cards. The suit of the card just played MUST be followed. Only if a player has no cards of this suit on either half of the cards in is or her hand may that player play a different suit. The different suit may be the trump suit ("trumping") or any other suit ('throwing off").
Once each player has played a card, the winner of the trick is determined: If no trump was played, the winner of the trick is the player who played the highest ranking card in the led suit. If a trump was played, the winner is the player who played the highest ranking trump.
If two identical cards are played, the FIRST of them played is considered the higher card.
The player who won the trick puts all of the cards in the trick together in a small stack and sets the stack face down near him or herself. Tricks taken must be displayed such that each player always knows how many tricks each player has won in the current hand.
The winner of the last trick plays the first card in the next trick etc...
The FOOL is the highest card in the game; it beats all other cards. The POPE is the second highest card in the game; it beats all other cards except for the FOOL.
Both cards are "suit-less", i.e. they do not belong to any of the four suits. Neither may be called as trump, nor may either be trumped.
If the FOOL or the POPE is played as the first card in a trick, then the rest of the trick is played as no trump.
If the FOOL or the POPE is revealed during the TRUMP DETERMINATION phase, then the entire hand is played as no trump.
After all cards in the hand are played, the prediction of each player is compared with the actual number of tricks each player has taken.
If a player has predicted correctly, then that player receives 5 points ( = 5 black or 1 red chip) from the bank for the correct prediction plus a number of chips equal in value to the number of tricks made.
If a player has predicted incorrectly, whether by winning too few tricks or too many, then that player loses to the bank the chips he or she set out as part of their prediction.
EXAMPLE: Joe predicts that he will win 2 tricks. To show this, he sets two black chips before himself. At the end of the hand, it is determined that Joe has, in fact, won exactly 2 tricks. Because Joe's prediction was correct he gets 5 black chips (or 1 red chip) from the bank. In addition, he takes back the 2 black chips he set before himself when he made his prediction plus an equal number of chips from the bank. In total, Joe has won 7 points this hand.
If Joe had won 3 tricks, then his prediction would have been incorrect and he would have had to give up his two black chips to the bank.
All cards are gathered together and shuffled. The first player (the player to the left of the old dealer) is the next dealer. The new dealer deals out to each player only as many cards as the next hand requires. A new trump is determined, chips are set out to show the new predictions, the hand is played,..etc.
At the end of ten hands, the player with the most chips is the winner.