All Fives♠

01 /

Players and equipment

Two or three play individually with 52 cards and no jokers. Each suit ranks A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, highest first. Keep a running score on paper. The target is 61 points, normally accumulated over several deals.

02 /

Deal and settle trumps

Cut for the first dealer, highest card dealing; the deal subsequently moves clockwise. Give everyone six cards in two batches of three, then expose the next card to propose trumps. This exposed card is not added to a hand. The player left of dealer may stand or beg for a different suit.

Dealer may refuse the request and award that player one point. Otherwise set aside the exposed card, give each player three more cards and expose another. If its suit has not changed, repeat until a different suit appears. If the pack runs out before that happens, shuffle everything and redeal.

03 /

Play every card

The player left of dealer leads first. Each other player contributes one card and must follow the suit led if possible. Only a player without that suit may play any card, including a trump. The highest trump wins, or the highest card of the led suit if none was played. The winner leads next. There is no drawing between tricks; continue until everyone’s hand is empty.

04 /

Count captured trumps

After the hand, add the values of these cards in your tricks. Every other card is worth zero. The six scoring trumps total 25, though some may remain undealt. Continue dealing to the 61-point target. The source does not specify simultaneous finishes: our stated table agreement is highest total after the completed hand, with a shared win if those totals are equal.

05 /

An example to try

Spades are trump. A player leads 8♣; you have no clubs and play 5♠. A third player, also void in clubs, plays K♠. That king captures the trick for eight points: three for itself and five for your card. Holding a club would instead oblige that player to follow suit, even with a winning trump available.

← On a small screen, scroll the diagram horizontally. →

06 /

Background and variations

All Fives belongs to the All Fours family and appears in American card-game literature. We do not assign an unsupported invention date. Other versions retain High, Low, Jack and Game points; agree which scoring system applies before dealing.

In Barker’s rules, correcting a failure to follow suit before the trick is turned over avoids a penalty. A revoke called after that but before the next lead costs three points and prevents the offender winning on that hand. An accidentally exposed card stays visible and can be called for by an opponent when playing it would be legal.

Common questions