Commerce♠

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Aim and equipment

For 3 to 12 players use 52 cards without jokers. This selects Foster’s no-widow game: the dealer trades stock tops for accounting points, while neighbours may exchange blind. Everyone always holds 3 cards. For non-cash play start a ledger at zero and allow negative balances; nobody is eliminated.

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Setup and deal

Choose the first dealer randomly. Everyone contributes 1 point to a common pool, deducting it from their balance. Shuffle, cut, deal 3 concealed cards each singly, and keep the rest as concealed stock. There is no exposed widow. The left neighbour starts; turns and subsequent deals move clockwise. Each deal creates a fresh pool.

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Legal actions

On your turn trade, barter or knock. To trade, give the dealer an unwanted card and 1 point; receive the concealed stock top. Put the rejected card into separate concealed waste, never back into stock. A dealer trading on their own turn pays nothing to themselves, an explicit clarification of the dealer’s advantage. To barter, offer a card face down to the left neighbour. They either return their chosen card before inspecting yours or refuse by knocking. Accepting barter does not replace that neighbour’s upcoming normal turn.

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Declarations

Rank hands from highest: equal-rank triplet; same-suit sequence; point, the best total of 2 or 3 cards of one suit. Compare triplets by rank, A above K. Compare sequences by top rank; Q–K–A is highest, A–2–3 lowest, and K–A–2 invalid. For point, ace is 11, K Q J are 10, others their numbers; a singleton suit scores 0. Equal point totals favour 3 cards over 2. Resolve remaining ties by dealer, then nearest left: an explicit extension of positional priority to every category. Pairs and ordinary flushes have no separate ranking.

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Scoring

A knock stops exchanges immediately, with no final circuit. Reveal all hands and award the pool to the best. A losing dealer pays the winner another 1 point. If the dealer’s losing hand is in the same category as the winning hand, instead pay 1 to every other player. Compare the whole hand’s category: point against point qualifies even in different suits. Trade payments belong to the dealer, not the pool.

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Ending the game

Play one deal per participant; highest final ledger balance wins and tied leaders share victory. If stock runs out, our teaching agreement reveals and settles immediately as after a knock; do not recycle waste. If nobody has a combination or point, all hands tie and positional priority applies. These are stated edge-case agreements for the old account, not newly claimed historical laws.

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Context and variants

Foster describes Commerce with and without a widow in Complete Hoyle, whose checked edition was revised in 1914. This documents a historical version, not an invention date. CRP offers another arrangement with a shared row and lives; it is not imported here. Historical cash payments become an accounting ledger while retaining actions and the dealer’s advantage.

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Worked example

A holds 6♠–7♠–K♦. They surrender K♦ and pay the dealer 1 point, receiving 8♠ from stock. That makes a same-suit sequence. On the next turn A may knock: it beats point A♥–K♥–4♣ despite that point totalling 21. If the dealer holds 3♣–4♣–5♣, they lose in the same category and pay every opponent.

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Common questions