Femkort♠

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Aim and equipment

For 3 to 10 individual players use 52 cards without jokers. Rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 high to low, with no trumps. Win only the last of five tricks. Earlier tricks earn nothing but determine who leads next. This selects the modern compulsory-overtaking profile described by Lyckans Talisman.

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Setup and deal

Choose the first dealer randomly; deal and play clockwise. Shuffle, cut and deal 5 each in packets of 3 and 2. Set the remainder aside concealed: it is neither stock nor a trump indicator. There is no drawing or exchange during play. Dealer’s left leads any card first.

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Legal actions

Each player contributes one card. Follow the led suit if possible. If you hold a card in that suit higher than every card already played to this trick, you must overtake, even if you prefer to save it. Choose any card that overtakes. If unable to overtake, play any lower card of that suit. Only when void may you discard any other suit, which cannot win regardless of rank.

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Scoring

Highest card of the led suit wins and its player leads next. Leave played cards face up in front of their players, slightly overlapped so the history remains visible. Aces, pictures and earlier trick totals earn nothing. In this non-cash profile the final-trick winner records 1 win, replacing a traditional pool.

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Ending the game

After the fifth trick the deal ends: its winner wins regardless of the previous four. For a session play to 3 wins, an explicit duration agreement; there is one overall winner. Rotate dealer left and reshuffle the whole pack. Requests for better cards and unanimous redeals occur in variants but are excluded here: a poor hand cannot cancel a deal.

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Context and variants

Femkort is a Scandinavian last-trick game whose Swedish name means five cards. Lyckans Talisman cites historical sources and distinguishes an older profile without compulsory overtaking. We select the modern rule rather than combining them. No exact invention date or sole inventor is established. This is separate from five-card poker and the special Kille pack.

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Worked example

A leads 8♥. B holds Q♥ and 3♥, so must play Q♥ rather than save the queen for the finish. C is void in hearts and discards A♠: an off-suit ace cannot win. B takes the trick and leads next. Only if this is the final trick does it award victory; earlier B merely gains the lead.

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Common questions