Sevens (Fan Tan)
What Is Sevens?
Sevens — also called Fan Tan, Parliament, or Card Dominoes — is a sequential building game where players take turns adding cards to a shared layout. The layout starts with the four 7s and grows outward in both directions — 8 goes above the 7, 6 goes below, then 9 and 5, and so on. Eventually the entire deck gets laid out in four rows from Ace to King. The first player to empty their hand wins. The strategy: sit on cards your opponents need to extend their rows.
What You Need
- One standard deck of 52 playing cards
- Three to seven players
Setting Up the Game
- Shuffle all 52 cards and deal them as evenly as possible. Some players may have one extra card — that is fine.
- Players look at their cards. The player holding the 7 of Diamonds goes first.
Understanding the Layout
Picture four rows forming in the center of the table, one row per suit. Each row starts with the 7 of that suit in the middle. Cards extend to the LEFT going down (6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace) and to the RIGHT going up (8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King). By the end of the game, all four rows are complete.
How to Play — Step by Step
- The player with the 7 of Diamonds places it face-up in the center of the table to start the Diamond row.
- Going clockwise, each player on their turn MUST play a card if they legally can. You cannot pass if you have a playable card.
- A card is playable if it is one of the following: any 7 (starts a new suit row in the center), a card one rank higher than the current highest card in its suit row (extends a row to the right), or a card one rank lower than the current lowest card in its suit row (extends a row to the left).
- Example: if the Heart row currently shows 7, 8, 9 of Hearts going right and 6, 5 of Hearts going left, you can play the 10♥ (right extension), the 4♥ (left extension), or the 7 of any other suit not yet started.
- If you have NO playable cards at all, you pass your turn. In chip-based versions, you pay one chip to the pot when you pass.
- Play continues clockwise until all 52 cards are laid out.
Winning
The first player to play all their cards wins. In chip versions, every other player pays the winner one chip for each card remaining in their hand.
Strategy
The entire strategy of Sevens centers on knowing when to play and when to hold. If you hold the 8 of Clubs when your opponent desperately needs it to continue their Club row, you can block them — but only if playing the 8 of Clubs is not mandatory. You can only pass voluntarily if you have no legal plays. So if you have the 8 of Clubs and the Club row needs it, you must play it.
- Build toward rows where you have many cards in sequence — if you have 5, 6, 8, 9 of Hearts, playing 6 extends the row left and sets up your 5. Playing 8 extends right and sets up your 9.
- Track which cards opponents are waiting on — if you have a card someone desperately needs, play it last if possible.
- Starting rows in multiple suits early gives you more options on future turns.