Favourite Games with Playing Cards - recommendations please!

Every year when we go on holiday, we spend a lot of time playing cards.  Recently poker has become a favourite but we've played all sorts of card games, some fun, some boring, some confusing, some where the winners are smiling and the let's call them non-winners are not smiling (see photo below).


But I'd love some good recommendations.  Either just the name of the game and we'll google it.  Or the name plus an outline of what the game's about and we'll google it.  Or the name plus the rules.  Ideally I want games that suit anyone aged 10 or over.   Thank you as always for your endless sources of information on books (I've downloaded a nice selection taken from this year's recommendations), games (I've invested in one or two of the suggestions) and, in advance, for your playing card game recommendations (and any good patiences too!).

Comments

  1. chase the ace, cheat, go fish (endlessly!), rummy (7 or 13 cards). If you are feeling adventurous you could teach them bridge ;-)

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  2. Cheat, anyday! but no letting people put one card down at a time...thats not allowed ;-)

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  3. We always played cribbage and pontoon on our holidays. Both excellent games and good for the maths skills.

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  4. In college, students hung out in the "Bear's Den" for hours and hours, and skipping class to play the card game "Bid Whist". You can find the rules of how to play here---> http://www.pagat.com/boston/bidwhist.html I enjoyed the game, too, but my studies came first.

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  5. By far and away our absolute favourite is cribbage followed by rummy and whist.

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  6. Definitely Cheat! Beggar my neighbour (your bairns may be a little old for this but it's still fun!), donkey, old maid and s**t head...Have fun!!

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  7. We play a lot of Oh Hell. It's a fairly fast moving trump and trick-taking game for three or more players. A seven-year-old nephew plays with adult assistance, and my nine-year-old niece plays well with no help. We have a few rule variations on bidding, setting trump, and scoring, but there's a good account of the basic rules at http://www.pagat.com/exact/ohhell.html

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  8. We spend hours on our holidays playing whist. It's a bit challenging, but makes for some serious card playing. We also play a lot of cribbage and rummy.

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  9. Replies
    1. There is a card game of golf that a friend of mine taught me recently. Definitely playable by 10+ year olds. Best with two decks.

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  10. My family play Twos a lot - so much so that my parents have a running tournament between the 2 of them alternating with Chinese Checkers: It's a version of Rummy each player is dealt 10 cards and the remaining is placed in the centre with the top card in the well face up, or the player to the left of the dealer is dealt 11 cards and throws one card into the well. The aim for each round is to match a set and then to get as many more sets as possible to get the highest score. The sets are: 1x3, 2x3, 1x4, 2x4, 1x5, 2x5, 1x5, 2x4, 1x4, 2x3, 1x3 - they can be made up of the same card or a run from a suit - the name Twos refers to the 2s being the joker, which can therefore replace any card or for instance to make a 5 from cards of the same value obviously only 4 in a pack the 2 makes it 5. One the sets are laid down in front of all players, the aim is to get as high a score as possible by making new sets adding to the sets you already have and the sets of the other players - these cards are laid out in front of each player (so they know what cards they have played.) The only cards that cannot be added to sets are the ones replaced by the 2s. The cards score 2=50 A=15 KQJ and 10=10 and all other cards are 5 - A can be used as a 1 or after the K. When it comes to the well you can either pick up from the face-up cards or pick from the face down but you have to throw out - you can also pick up all the well if you have played your set. The winner of each round is the first to get rid of all their cards and the scores for each player are determined by what they have laid on the table minus what remains in their hand when the round is finished. Hope that makes sense - don't know if it would completely work with 6 as we usual play with 4 but you could possibly play with 2 sets. For added Jokers you can add the jokers from the pack. I'm not sure if it is possible to Google it - but I could always type up some easier to read instructions. We also played Last card a lot - and there are a lot of different versions.

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  11. Milles bornes is so much fun - the cards are specific to the game - you can't just use a regular deck of cards. I'm not sure if that was what you wanted...http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Moves-1034-Collectors-Edition/dp/B00004SDAP

    Also, because I'm a geek: Authors - I loved this game as a kid. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_kk_1?rh=i%3Atoys-and-games%2Ck%3Aauthors+card+game&keywords=authors+card+game&ie=UTF8&qid=1343929239

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  12. I have to agree with the recommendation of Cheat (called "Bull" or something worse in the USA). It is a great game when you have a variety of ages playing. Simple rules here:
    http://www.h2g2.com/approved_entry/A2116487

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  13. Cheat, go fish, cribbage are favourites with most ages.

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  14. Sh*t head is a must , but you may need to change the title slightly ;-)

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  15. I'm with Helen. "Spoons" is the all time best game to
    play, especially with kids. We also like Kings in
    the corner and Canasta. We enjoy all three.
    ~Amy~

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  16. Cribbage! It's great for quick adding-on maths skills, and it uses some of the same "hands" as poker does.

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  17. There's none that I know that haven't already been listed, but have a lovely holiday and your kids are gorgeous!

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  18. as kids we played penny pot poker, cribbage, canasta, snerts, pinocle and about 20 versions of rummy to name a few i can remember, but spite and malice,[several versions] was the favorite, and still is.

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  19. We loved UNO--colors and numbers are simple enough for kids, and the randomness helps with the winning/losing. My brother-in-law loved Canasta. And when I was younger we played something where everyone had their own deck of cards and played like an individual solitaire, but the cards were put into joint piles by suit in the center as you could, and the one who played their cards first won (first calling out UNO, to warn the others when they were down to one card). We played in large groups 6 or 8 and had a blast. Not sure what the game was called (we called it UNO, but that is another card game entirely). I am curious about your list too, as my family is card playing crazy for Pinnocle and I'm tired of it!

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  20. Nerts is a fun solitar like game played with multiple players and multiple decks.

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  21. I recommend spoons as well. It is a fun game for/with kids and even more fun after the kids are in bed and adult beverages are included!

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  22. Hand and Foot is great one! Have you guys tried that one? You just need lots of decks of cards. But the directions can be found easily online.

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  23. Go Fish, and more recently "Stop the Bus" - but other than that I am hopeless at remembering card games - I keep looking for a decent book of card games but have yet to find one. If I ever do, I'll let you know.

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  24. My favourites were:
    Newmarket - http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/22/rules-card-games-newmarket
    Beany - http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Beanies

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  25. My boys used to love playing "Battle". Even the youngest, as long as he knew his numbers, could play.

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  26. Spades or Hearts are both fun, but lately we have been loving Pitch 6.

    Pitch 6 can be played with 3 to more people. And is quick and easy enough to play with younger people. You play each round with 6 cards, so it goes fast. It does require bidding, but bidding only goes around the table ONCE, you either bid higher or pass. And you are bidding on how many of the 6 points you think you can collect.

    The points(cards) to collect each round are:

    1 High Card in trump suit
    2 Lo Card in trump suit
    3 Jack in trump suit
    4 6 in trump suit
    5 Last trick - just take the last trick for this point.
    6 Game - collect the most face cards and 10's for this point and add them up. 10's=10 points, Aces=4 Kings=3 Queens=2 Jack=1

    You can read the full instructions here:
    http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Pitch_Six.pdf

    Enjoy your gaming! :)

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  27. 500 Rummy is one of our favorites. Spite and Malice is also good. Kings in the corner is great for kids just getting out of the 'War' and 'Slap Jack' and 'Go Fish' stage!

    MGM

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  28. I have a whist group! we are quite obsessed and love playing it. We play for money too. not much just a little. all goes into a common pot and we do fun things together with it. Whist is like baby bridge. FUN! Our family loves RUMMY!!!!

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  29. Have you ever played Phase 10? We played a version of that growing up with two decks of cards. We played in rounds like the game Phase 10 is played. With groups and sets of cards.
    We also played spoons where you needed just one deck of cards. If four people are playing you use 3 spoons in the center. You have 4 cards in your hands and pick up and replace cards in your hand trying to get 4 of a kind. When any player gets 4 of a kind they either sneakily or quickly choose a spoon. When the other players notice that a spoon has been taken, they quickly take a spoon until the unlucky person who doesn't have a spoon is the looser of that round. And you laugh and play again.

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  30. I like clock patience - a change from the usual when keeping myself entertained
    My colleague in work plays something called Newmarket with her grand-daughter and other family members
    Now a playing card game but a card game that Jeanette plays with her children is Chattabox http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cheatwell-Games-01166-Chattabox/dp/B000KDS6SU

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  31. Continental Rummy!!! Good for 2-12 players and uses multiple decks of cards...so fun!:)
    http://www.rummy-games.com/rules/continental-rummy.html

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  32. I used to love playing Newmarket with my mum (great for two because there's a dummy hand - we weren't a very game play-y family) and years later for many a camping cornwally summer I played it, interspersed with Hearts and Cheat with my ex and his kids ...

    Knockout Whist too - start with 12 cards go down one until you play final round with 1 card ... winner of round chooses trumps ... most excellent.

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  33. We play lots of cards on holiday too. Gin rummy is our top choice, keeps adults and children entertained. Cribbage is great too. Racing Demon is good, manic, but children of all ages love it, and it tends to bring out people's competitive natures!

    I've never played UNO but the Maths teachers at my work use it a lot and all our children seem to enjoy it and play it during breaks as well, which seems like a good recommendation.

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  34. I said it before and I'll say it again, Egyptian Ratscrew! It's a variation of Beggar My Neighbor. Fast-paced, easy and lots of slapping and laughing. My friends and I used to get in trouble in college for being too loud in our dorm room when we were playing it, it's that much fun!
    http://www.waste.org/~oxymoron/cards/ratscrew.html

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  35. 10-Point Pitch. I've never met anyone outside of Nebraska who plays this game, but everyone in Nebraska loves it. I spent countless hours in college playing it. It's a bidding game for four people, in partners. The e-how article on it is accurate, but make sure you read all the way to the tips & tricks at the bottom, because those are actually some pretty crucial rules. :)

    I'd also second the recommendation for Nertz. Kids would totally love that one. I spent a lot of hours in college playing that one too. :)

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  36. 99 and Bull sh** are good ones especially 99 for adding stuff up :)

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  37. I used to love playing Kaluki with my Nan and her siblings :) http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/how-to-play-kaluki.htm

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  38. I used to play spoons and canasta as a kid when we'd go visiting family. We are in the process of teaching our daughter cribbage. My daughter likes to play Egyptian War. There are lots of variations on slap cards for this one which can make it more interesting.

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  39. Our family's absolute favorite is Five Crowns--the kids started playing it with us around age 9 and still love it today. Our other more recent favorite is Dutch Blitz which is like a group solitare game!

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  40. It's been years since I played cards. My Grandfather used to love Kings in the Corner and I played that with him every single Sunday while he was alive. (there are a few different names for this game)

    There are some really great sites for card games that give you info about the game and then the instructions/rules.
    This is a good one even if it's supposed to be for Grandparents.
    http://www.grandparents.com/gp/content/activitiesandevents/games/article/card-games.html

    And the Bicycle card company has games on their site as well. On theirs it's great because you can tell it how many people will be playing and whether they are adults, kids, or all ages.
    http://www.bicyclecards.com/card-games/rules#

    The last time I played cards was with another couple. We got together every weekend to play Euchre. I loved that game. It was always a lot of fun.

    I see someone already mentioned Cribbage. That's another game my Grandfather just loved to play so he taught both my brother and I but we got really good and used to beat Grandpa. LOL

    Maybe those sites I gave you will give you some new ideas.

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  41. My aunt taught me to play a card game called Golf. We played the nine card version. If you google it, you cand find instructions, but I think it might be suitable for waht you are looking for.

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  42. Canasta!

    it's fun and you can play in pairs...loads of fun!

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  43. Bartok! It starts out playing a lot like Uno, but with a regular deck of cards:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartok_(card_game)

    It's extra fun because you can keep making up new rules, throwing away or modifying the ones you don't like, etc. I teach game design, and Bartok is one of the first games I like students to play/design.

    I like to play with novelty card decks that we get from vacations... having pictures on the cards gives you more things to make rules out of.

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  44. We used to have 'Speed' tournaments at family gatherings. Egyptian Roadkill is another good one (similar to slap jack but a little more involved). Have fun!!!

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  45. It's all about the Euchre! Both sides of my family play and we get serious lol.

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  46. Love Canasta and Go fish but the BEST game is Up and down the river , also called Oh Hell...here is a link to some rules: http://www.ehow.com/how_4510231_play-card-game-up-down.html

    Have a great holiday

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  47. Our family loves "pitch". Played either 4 handed or 6 handed. The rules here are similar to how we play; though not exactly http://www.pagat.com/allfours/pitch.html.

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  48. Spoons, Spades, Hearts, Casino, Spite and Malice (also called Cat and Mouse), Uno, I Doubt It, Pinochle, Crazy Bridge (not like bridge at all - there are different "rules" for each hand - played with partners - one round winners/losers switch scores, one round you lose a point for talking, etc.)

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  49. Liverpool (a type of rummy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_rummy). Us kids playing with my French great aunts for money. Won myself a lobster dinner for my birthday one summer. Looking back, that seems kinda weird. LOVE this game! So many great memories!

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  50. One of my all time favorites is 'Pounce', also called 'Nertz'. It's like group speed solitaire, and it can get wild and crazy and is always fun, even if you do run the risk of getting a papercut. :)

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  51. Please excuse the name of this one but it is great fun. http://www.pagat.com/climbing/asshole.html
    And there are lots of great games on this site too.
    Another favourite is hearts/Black Witch etc http://www.pagat.com/reverse/hearts.html
    Also Speed or Spit http://www.bicyclecards.com/card-games/rule/spit. These are slightly different but lots of fun. You will find lots of variations of play for these two so make sure you set the rules before you play with anyone new.
    If you have a big group try Spoons, http://www.pagat.com/passing/pig.html DO NOT USE anything else but spoons, this gets physical. If you lose, you lose a letter so you become a POON, OON, ON etc.
    Finally try Demon Patience, for this you need a different set of cards for each person. The back of each set of cards needs to be distinguishable. Each player deals a pile of 13 cards face down (the demon) and turns the top card face-up. Deal four more cards face-up in a row, extending right from the demon (the work piles). If an ace is revealed, it is placed in the middle of the play area. Hold the remaining cards in your hand, this is your stock. When play begins, each player starts turning over their stock in threes. Cards revealed from the stock can be moved to the bottom of a work pile, as can the face-up card of the demon or any other card at the bottom of a work pile. Build downwards from the work piles with cards one lower in value and of opposing colour. So if the bottom of one pile is a red eight, you can place either of the black sevens under it. On aces in the foundation, build upwards, in the same suit.
    If you empty a work pile, replace it with a face-up stock card or the top of the demon. If you remove the top of the demon, turn the next card face up.
    Now for the twist: the aces are a communal area. This is where the interactivity comes in. The first player to empty their demon ends the game by yelling OUT or DEMON, and scoring begins. The player who went out scores 10, any player who placed a king on a foundation scores five, then everyone gets points equal to the number of cards they placed in the foundation minus the number of cards left in their demon. Because of this scoring system, you need to use decks with different designs

    Hope these help and that you can find one in here that you enjoy. If you are after dice games check out - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farkle

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  52. Spite and Malice is a great game that we played a lot with our two sons. You can play it with just two people or with more. Just google Spite and Malice and you should get the instructions.

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  53. I used to love playing Sevens when I was younger. My parents would play Canasta with their friends and before they played we would all play a game of Sevens with me. This site seems a good explanation: http://www.ehow.com/how_4421124_play-card-game-sevens.html

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  54. THe biggest hit round here is a little card game called Bohnen in german - I guess it's probably just Beans in English.

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  55. Spoons! Check out Wikipedia entry knit. I used to play this with my family. The more people the better. All ages. Can become aggressive in a nice way as people compete for the spoons when they see the first one pulled off the table.

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  56. We used to play board games every Sunday night at our house as my children were growing up. One of our favorites was a card game called "Phase 10"

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  57. Most have already been mentioned. Cheat is GREAT as is Kaluki and Canasta (both similar) but our favorite was always Yahtzee. You can buy this in W.H. Smith and it is great - it's poker dice and so much fun even the adults love it as Rummikub which you can also get from W.H. Smith. If you want to know the rules of either Kaluki or Canasta I can tell you without any problem at all. Just email me and all you need is two decks of cards for either game and for Rummikub or Yahtzee you can buy both as I've said before from W.H. Smith or John Lewis or online from Amazon. Have a great holiday with loads of game playing.
    Patti xxx

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  58. Ahh I have fond memories of play Newmarket with all my extended family on holidays and at Christmas - it's a simple game for all ages. Also use to play Chase the Lady - I can't rember how to play it now but it was something to do with not wanting to end up with the Queen of Spades in your hand I think.
    Have a fabulous holiday x

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  59. We have spent days (literally days!) playing and laughing with a card game called Golf. Fast, fun and easy to learn. And for all ages. If it doesn't come up email me and I'll explain it to you.

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  60. 31 and pig! Pig is especially good when the youngest get confused by the cards. They just need to watch everyone else's noses--and they always end up winning :) And gin.

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  61. I loved playing President with my family when we were on holiday. It's easy and anyone who can count can play it. Here's a link to the rules http://www.pagat.com/climbing/asshole.html You need at least 3 to play, four or more is even better. The whole deck is dealt out and there are multiple winners (this is good for younger kids who are bummed when they lose) the fist one out is the President, then the next out is the vice-president, and so forth. You keep score, and the kids get to change seats based on rank.

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  62. There are two card games that we played on holidays when I was a kid - and both were occasionally played in an extended family tournament form. :-)

    One was called Nerds - basically, two teams of two, each with a deck of cards, playing a version of solitaire as a race and you can build on each others aces. It gets pretty frantic and is really fun.

    The other is called Kaiser and seems to be regional to Western Canada. It's a trick-taking game, a little like Whist but a number of cards are removed to play with 2,4 or 6 people. You bid to see how many tricks you'll take. High bid calls trump. You want to take as many tricks as possible. However, the trick that contains the 5ofHearts counts for 6 tricks (1 trick + the 5) and the trick that contains the 3ofSpades counts for -2 (1 trick minus 3). If you get the amount you bid or more, you get a point for each trick. If you miss, you lose that amount of points. It sounds more complicated that it is. Really fun. You can even get 4-player specialty decks here with just the cards you need. Easy to modify the scoring for beginners.

    Also, Karen is right about President - very fun but we called it a different name when we were kids and another name now that we're adults...

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  63. We used to play Spit ( I was really good at this, and its really fast, ace) and have recently replayed Scabby Queen - maybe a Scottish thing? :D

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  64. Try headbandz. Hilarious for adults but made for children. We played this with our cruise partners all across the seas and had an audience watching us laugh our behinds off!

    glen

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  65. 500
    Canasta
    Speed

    Or there's master and idiot (I've heard a lot of variations on the name, ones that involve more ridiculing of the loser than idiot )
    Will have to email you the rules and description of that one as I'm having trouble pasting it in here - blogger has issues with the ipad. A lot.

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  66. Wow! This is like a walk down Memory Lane! BS was played a lot, as was Hearts and Spit. Spit must have another name. It's a bit like Solitaire for multiple players.

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  67. I grew up playing Spite & Malice and my kids love it too!

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  68. Yes, we play Spoons and Kings in the Corner with the grandkids(age11)
    they love it. Also play Pit, which you buy, has a bell!

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  69. Another vote for cribbage. We usually travel with our board but pegging can be tracked on paper easily enough. I've seen boards for 2-4 players.

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  70. I know that you asked for card games (and our favorites have already been brought up) but Mexican Train played with dominoes is really, really fun and it works for ages over 4 or 5. My family is nuts over it and we've been playing it for over 15 years.

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  71. Well if you are going to purchase a special deck of cards my kids LOVE Skip Bo! Heck what am I saying I love Skip Bo!!

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  72. my husband is a mathematician which makes it not fun to play strategy games with him because he is too too good at them. so i like dice games that add more chance into the mix. we bring yahtzee on every camping trip and then throw one extra die in so we can play farkle. we also bring bananagrams on every trip. i adore bananagrams and if australia doesn't have it i'd be happy to send it to you :) none of these are card games and i'm sure you are back from your holiday, but i thought i'd chime in anyway :)

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