California Jack♠

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Aim and equipment

Two play with 52 cards without jokers, ranked A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 high to low. This selects the exposed-stock profile with 6-card hands. Capture trump A, 2, J and win the comparison of captured card values. Match points and card values are different quantities.

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Setup and deal

Choose first dealer randomly and alternate thereafter. Shuffle and let opponent cut. Deal 6 each singly or in packets of 3. Stack the remaining 40 face up: the top is visible and sets permanent trump. It remains part of stock, not a separate indicator. Nondealer leads. No bidding, begging for another trump or point for turning a jack.

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Legal actions

Leader plays any 1 card. Responder must follow suit or trump when possible. On a plain lead trumping is allowed even while holding that suit. Without the suit but with trumps, trump; only without both may you discard another suit. Follow trump on a trump lead. Overtaking is optional. Higher trump, otherwise higher led-suit card, takes both and leads next. This rule also applies after stock exhaustion.

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Declarations

After every trick winner draws stock top, loser the next card. After the first draw the new top is exposed too; do not hide the loser’s card. Both again hold 6. The card farther below is unknown unless previously remembered. After 20 replenishments stock is empty; play the last 6 tricks without drawing. The deal uses all 52 cards.

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Scoring

After the last trick award 1 each: High to capturer of trump A, Low to capturer of trump 2, Jack to capturer of trump J. Original holding retains no automatic award. Game gives 1 for the higher value of all captured cards: 10=10, A=4, K=3, Q=2, J=1, others 0. Total value is 80; at 40–40 nobody gets Game. No separate last-trick bonus.

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Ending the game

Start at 0 and play to 10. Count strictly High, Low, Jack, Game and stop at the target. This resolves simultaneous crossings of 10 without a tie. Otherwise gather every card, shuffle and change dealer. Hand size remains 6 until stock ends; replenishment does not grow it.

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Context and variants

This belongs to the American All Fours family, distinguished by exposed stock. Checked accounts differ on Low and trump duty; Bicycle’s profile is used consistently rather than combined. They establish no exact date or inventor. Shasta Sam with another player count and books’ closed-stock forms are separate variants.

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Worked example

Hearts trump, stock top J♥. A leads 7♣; void B plays 2♥ and wins. B first receives J♥, then Q♦ is exposed and goes to A. Trump two will later give Low to its capturer B. In a separate deal 2 tens, A, K and Q give 20+4+3+2=29 towards Game, not 29 match points.

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Common questions