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Survival by winning tricks
Linger Longer belongs to the British family of short-hand trick games and is also associated with the name Sift Smoke. Manuals differ in hand sizes and in when an empty hand is eliminated. The shared idea is that the winner alone replenishes a card. A precise inventor is not established. We use the equal-to-player-count deal and resolve the winner’s replacement before eliminating empty hands, so a last-card winner can survive.
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The dealer shows a card, then keeps it
Use 52 cards without jokers for 3–6 players. Deal singly clockwise; each receives as many cards as there are players. With 4 players, that is 4 each and 36 in the face-down stock. Show the last card dealt to the dealer, then return it to that hand: its suit is trump throughout the hand. This is not an extra card under the stock. Rank A K Q J 10 down to 2. Choose first dealer randomly and rotate clockwise between hands.
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Follow suit and resolve the trick
The player left of the dealer may lead any card in this profile. Each active player contributes one card clockwise. Follow the led suit if able; only when void may you trump or discard freely. There is no requirement to play a higher card. The highest trump wins, otherwise the highest card of the led suit. Put won cards aside: they do not become a new hand or stock. The winner draws exactly 1 card from stock, then leads again.
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A last card may still save you
Do not eliminate someone while the trick is unresolved. After the winner’s draw, anyone with no cards is out even if stock remains; skip them in future tricks. A player who won with a last card survives by drawing the replacement. Winning does not enlarge that player’s previous hand: spending a card and drawing a card preserves its size. Losing reduces a hand. Continue with fewer active participants and keep the original trump suit.
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A finite ending when stock runs out
If only one player remains with cards after a resolved trick, that player wins. This profile also ends when stock is exhausted: the winner of the trick that draws the final stock card wins the hand. Do not continue indefinitely without replacement under this rule. This explicit convention prevents an all-empty tie. A hand win is 1 match point; play until someone has 3. Instant elimination before a last-card winner draws, compulsory opening trumps, and different initial hand sizes are separate variants.
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Win with your last trump
Hearts are trump. A leads K♣, B follows 3♣, C has no clubs and plays the last hand card 2♥, D follows A♣. C wins by trumping, despite the low rank, and draws 9♦. C remains active with that card; an opponent who used a final card without winning drops out. The replacement is only 1, not the number of cards captured. If 9♦ was the final stock card, the stated exhaustion rule ends the hand in C’s favour.
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Common questions
Does winning grow the hand?+
No: one played and one drawn preserves its previous size.
Is a last-card winner eliminated?+
Not if a replacement can be drawn; resolve the trick first.
How many cards does the winner draw?+
Exactly one per trick, not one per captured card.