ROOK
Encyclopedia
Rook is a trick-taking game
Trick-taking game
A trick-taking game is a card game or tile-based game in which play centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called tricks. The object of such games then may be closely tied to the number of tricks taken, as in plain-trick games such as Whist, Contract Bridge, Napoleon, Rowboat, and...

, usually played with a specialized deck of cards. Sometimes referred to as "Christian cards" or "missionary poker", Rook playing cards were introduced by Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers is a toy and game manufacturer and brand. Since 1883, the company has published more than 1,800 games; among their best known products are Monopoly, Cluedo , Sorry, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Ouija, Aggravation, and Probe...

 in 1906 to provide an alternative to standard playing cards for those in the Puritan tradition or Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...

 culture who considered the face cards in a regular deck inappropriate because of their association with gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...

 and cartomancy
Cartomancy
Cartomancy is fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards. Forms of cartomancy appeared soon after playing cards were first introduced into Europe in the 14th century...

.

Rook playing cards

The Rook deck consists of 57 cards: a blue Rook Bird
Rook (bird)
The Rook is a member of the Corvidae family in the passerine order of birds. Named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, the species name frugilegus is Latin for "food-gathering"....

 card, similar to a joker
Joker (playing card)
Joker is a special type of playing card found in most modern decks, or else a type of tile in some Mahjong game sets.-Name:It is believed that the term "Joker" comes from a mispronunciation of Jucker, the German/Alsatian name for the game Euchre. The card was originally introduced in about 1860 for...

, and 56 cards divided into four suits
Suit (cards)
In playing cards, a suit is one of several categories into which the cards of a deck are divided. Most often, each card bears one of several symbols showing to which suit it belongs; the suit may alternatively or in addition be indicated by the color printed on the card...

, or colors. Each suit—black, red, yellow, and green—is made up of cards numbered 1 through 14. This 14-card, 4-suit system is derived from the French tarot deck; removing the 21 atouts, or trumps, from that deck while keeping the Fool card yields the 57-card French-suited deck that was re-faced to create the Rook deck. Though the culture-neutral deck was developed for the game Rook, many other games have evolved or existed previously that use the 56-card deck with or without the Rook, or — by removing the 14s and the Rook — one can use the deck like a deck of standard playing cards.

Official rules for Tournament Rook (Kentucky Discard)

Kentucky Discard is the version of Rook played at most Rook tournaments and clubs, and is a partnership game for four players. The players are organized into two teams of two players each, sitting opposite each other. Players must keep their hands secret from all other players, including their teammate. The object of the game is to be the first team to reach 300 points by capturing tricks that contain cards with point values. If both teams have over 300 points at the end of a round, the team with the higher point total wins.

Only certain cards, known as counters, have point value. Each 5 is worth 5 points, each 10 and 14 is worth 10 points,and the Rook Bird card is worth 20 points.

Deal

The Rook Bird card is included, while the 2s, 3s, and 4s are removed from the deck, for a total of 45 cards.

The dealer shuffles and cuts the deck, then deals all of the cards, one at a time. After every player has received his or her first card, the dealer places one card in the center of the table. This is repeated until there are five cards—the nest of rook—in the middle of the table. The remaining cards are dealt normally to the four players, giving each a hand of 10 cards.

Bidding

After the deal, players bid in increments of 5 points for the privilege of using the cards in the nest and naming the trump suit. Bidding starts with the player to the left of the dealer and passes clockwise. The minimum bid is 70 points, and the maximum is 180 points (the sum of the point values of all of the counters). If a player chooses not to increase the bid, he or she may pass to the next player. A player that has passed may not bid for the remainder of the round. Once all players but one have passed, the high bidder adds the five cards in the nest to his or her hand, and then puts any five cards back into the nest. He or she then names the trump suit.

Play

After the trump suit has been named, the player to the left of the dealer leads with any card, placing it face-up on the center of the table. Play proceeds clockwise, with each player playing one card face-up in turn. A player must either follow suit (play a card of the same suit as the card that was led) or play the Rook Bird card. If a player has no cards of the leading suit, he or she may play any other card, including the Rook Bird card or a card of the trump suit.

After each player has played, the player who played the highest trump card, or, if no trump card was played, the highest card of the leading suit takes all four cards, or takes the trick, and places it face-down in front of him or her. Tricks taken may not be reviewed by any player until the end of the round. The person who takes the trick leads in the next trick.

If a player reneges, or fails to follow suit when he or she could have, the error may be corrected before the next trick is taken. If it is not discovered until later, the round ends, and the team that made the error loses a number of points equal to the bid, regardless of which team made the bid. The opposing team scores all the counters they captured before the error was discovered.

The player that takes the last trick in a round captures the nest and scores any counters in it.

Rook Bird card

The Rook Bird
Rook (bird)
The Rook is a member of the Corvidae family in the passerine order of birds. Named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, the species name frugilegus is Latin for "food-gathering"....

 card is the highest trump card in the game. As such, it takes any trick in which it is played; leading it is treated the same as leading a card of the trump suit; and if trump suit is led and the player holding it has no other trump, he or she must follow suit by playing the Rook Bird card. However, the Rook Bird card may be played at any time, even if the player holding it is able to follow suit. It is the only card that may be played this way.

In an alternate method of play the Rook Bird card is the lowest trump card in the game. As such it beats all non-trump cards but is taken by any other trump. It cannot be played out of turn. This adds a different strategy to play with the bid winner actively seeking out the rook and the rook holder trying to play it at a time when it can be kept.

A third method known as "Rook ten-and-a-half" places the Rook card's rank between the 10 and 11 of trump. In this version the player holding the Rook must follow suit if possible. The Rook retains its 20 point value when the game is scored.

Scoring

When all possible tricks have been taken, each team adds the values of the counters it captured. If the bidding team failed to make the number of points bid, that team loses a number of points equal to the amount of the bid, and does not make any points for counters captured in the round. The opposing team receives points equal to the value of any counters they captured.

The first team to reach 300 points (or a predetermined amount established by the players at the game's start) is the winner.

Adaptation for standard playing cards

Rook may be played with standard playing cards
Playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...

 by removing the 2s, 3s, and 4s from the deck, playing Aces high, and adding the joker
Joker (playing card)
Joker is a special type of playing card found in most modern decks, or else a type of tile in some Mahjong game sets.-Name:It is believed that the term "Joker" comes from a mispronunciation of Jucker, the German/Alsatian name for the game Euchre. The card was originally introduced in about 1860 for...

 to be used as the Rook Bird card. When playing with such a deck scoring changes as follows: each 5 is worth 5 points, each ace and 10 is worth 10 points, and the joker is worth 20 points. Aces play high in tricks.

A common alternate form of the game (as described in Hoyle's Rules of Games) uses a complete deck of standard playing cards but assigns the point cards differently (aces = 15, kings = 10, tens = 10, fives = 5), and is essentially similar to the 1-High Partnership described below.

Four player partnership variants

Since the game of Rook has been played for over a century, many local variants are in existence for the four-player partnership form of the game. Perhaps foremost is that the game can be played exactly according to the above Kentucky Discard Tournament rules, except using the entire deck, giving all players 13 cards with a 5-card nest. Other variants, including the original form of Kentucky Discard, do not include the Rook, while still others make the Rook the lowest trump or change its relative value, are played without a nest, add the 1 as a 15 point counter that is the highest card in each suit, or give a 20-point bonus for winning the majority of tricks or the last trick. Most of these variants are described in a book titled Rook in a Book published by Winning Moves, and in the official rules that come with Parker Bros editions of Rook.

The two official variants of four-player partnership Rook described by the game publishers are Kentucky Discard Rook (Tournament Rules), and Regular Partnership Rook:
  • Kentucky Discard Rook (Tournament Rules) is the most popular form of the game, and the rules have been described above. Officially recognized variants of Kentucky Discard Rook (Tournament Rules) include Kentucky Discard Original Rules (eliminates the Rook card), The Red 1 (adds the red 1 card as a higher 30 point trump), and Buckeye (adds 1s as 15 point counters that are the highest cards in each suit).
  • Regular Partnership Rook is played with all cards 1-14, but without the Rook or a nest, and 20 points is given to the partnership that wins the majority of tricks. Officially recognized variants of Regular Partnership Rook include Dixie (which uses a nest and uses the 13 as a 10 point counter instead of the 14), Display, and Boston (both of which involve the declarer playing the partner's hand as a dummy, similar to Bridge
    Contract bridge
    Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...

    ).


Rook in a Book describes other common variants, including 1-High Partnership. This game is very similar to the version of the game for regular playing cards as it appears in Hoyle’s Rules of Games and many internet sources. It is played with all cards 1-14, adding the 1s as 15 point counters that are the highest cards in each suit. The Rook functions as the lowest trump and is worth 20 points, and an additional 20 points is given to the partnership that wins the majority of tricks.

Other variants

Many other forms of the game can be played with 2 to 8 players, both with and without partnerships.

A version for an odd number of players is known as "call-your-partner Rook." Typically played with 5 players, the player who wins the bid immediately "calls" one card to add to his team. The player holding the named card called secretly partners with the bid-winner until play reveals the card and partner's location. Points in a hand are divided between the two teams that formed during play, but scores are recorded individually over a series of hands, as partnerships change from hand to hand. After winning a bid, a player is often faced with the choice of calling a high trump card, or a high card of another suit to be his or her partner. The three defenders meanwhile are often forced to choose whether to add points to a hand when the identity of the partner remains unknown.

Trump calling variants

Low Card:
Low card can be called when the bid is taken, in this scenario the Rook becomes the 10.5 of trump, fives are the best, and ones are the worst with quality of card descending as the number gets higher. It can be called low card with any color being trump.

No Trump:
No trump hands can be called, when this is done, the Rook becomes the 10.5 of Red, and there is no trump, all cards play as if they were off suit. This can be called in conjuncture with high card or low card.

Circus Rook:
Circus Rook is a variant where when the winning bid is earned, the player who takes the kitty calls "Circus Rook". After this is called, the person to the immediate left would call trump, and give their best card to the player to their left (for instance, if high card green is called, and the rook was in an opponents hand, they would pass it to their left) the player who called circus rook and his partner would then pass their worst card to their left (most likely a low off suit card). The game play then continues with the team who called trump leading.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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