{"id":28,"date":"2026-04-21T00:49:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T00:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/example.com\/?post_type=card_game&#038;p=28"},"modified":"2026-04-21T00:49:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T00:49:21","slug":"all-fours","status":"publish","type":"card_game","link":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/?card_game=all-fours","title":{"rendered":"All Fours"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is All Fours?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>All Fours is one of the oldest card games still played today, dating to 17th-century England. It is the direct ancestor of Auction Pitch and many American games. Each hand offers exactly four points to score \u2014 called High, Low, Jack, and Game. The player who captures these specific prizes scores the points. What makes All Fours unique is that you do not have to follow suit \u2014 you can play any card at any time, which creates fascinating strategic choices.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What You Need<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>One standard deck of 52 playing cards<\/li><li>Two players, or four in two partnerships<\/li><li>Score pad<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Four Scoring Points \u2014 Explained<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>High:<\/strong> Whoever is dealt the highest trump card scores 1 point. You score this simply by having the card \u2014 you don&#8217;t have to win a trick with it.<\/li><li><strong>Low:<\/strong> Whoever WINS the lowest trump card in a trick scores 1 point. The lowest trump must actually be captured in a trick \u2014 just holding it is not enough.<\/li><li><strong>Jack:<\/strong> Whoever wins the trick containing the Jack of trump scores 1 point. If the Jack of trump is not in play (not dealt to any player), this point is not awarded this hand.<\/li><li><strong>Game:<\/strong> Count the value of all cards you captured in tricks: Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2, Jack = 1, Ten = 10. (Note the Ten is the most valuable Game card.) The player with the highest total wins this point. Ties result in no one scoring Game.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Setting Up the Game<\/h2>\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Shuffle and deal six cards to each player.<\/li><li>Flip the next card face-up to propose a trump suit.<\/li><li>The non-dealer decides: Stand (accept this suit as trump) or Beg (reject it and ask for a new proposal).<\/li><li>If non-dealer Begs, the dealer can Give the Gift \u2014 accept the suit and give the non-dealer 1 point \u2014 or Run the Cards \u2014 deal three more cards to each player and flip a new trump proposal.<\/li><li>If the new proposed trump matches the original suit, run the cards again. Keep going until a different suit comes up or the deck runs out.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Play<\/h2>\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The non-dealer leads the first card \u2014 any card they choose.<\/li><li>Here is the key difference from most trick games: each other player may play ANY card \u2014 they are NOT required to follow suit.<\/li><li>However, there is one exception: if trump is led, you MUST play a trump card if you have one.<\/li><li>The trick is won by the highest trump card played. If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit that was led wins.<\/li><li>The winner of each trick leads the next one. Play all six tricks.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Scoring<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>After all six tricks, determine who captured each of the four prizes and score accordingly. A player can score multiple points in one hand \u2014 for example, if you hold the highest trump and win the Jack of trump in a trick and have the most Game points, you score 3 points in one hand.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Winning<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>First to reach 7 points wins. If both players reach 7 in the same hand, the points count in order: High first, then Low, then Jack, then Game.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tips for New Players<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Since you don&#8217;t have to follow suit, you can strategically play trump even when another suit was led \u2014 use this to capture the Jack of trump or the high-value 10s.<\/li><li>The Ten is the most valuable Game-point card at 10 points. Protect your 10 of trump and try to win opponents&#8217; 10s in tricks.<\/li><li>The Jack of trump is worth a full point \u2014 it is a high-priority target for both players.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/results?search_query=how+to+play+All+Fours+card+game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>\u25b6 Search How to Play on YouTube<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Is All Fours? All Fours is one of the oldest card games still played today, dating to 17th-century England. It is the direct ancestor\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"game_category":[2,4],"game_tag":[],"class_list":["post-28","card_game","type-card_game","status-publish","hentry","game_category-classic-games","game_category-trick-taking"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/card_game\/28","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/card_game"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/card_game"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"game_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fgame_category&post=28"},{"taxonomy":"game_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playerules.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fgame_tag&post=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}