RAMCHI



OBJECTIVE OF RAMCHI: The objective of Ramchi is to win the most chips.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 Players

MATERIALS: Standard 52-card deck, chips to keep score, and a flat surface.

TYPE OF GAME: Partition Card Game

AUDIENCE: Adult


OVERVIEW OF RAMCHI

Ramchi is a partition game for 3 players. Each player will use their hand to make up to five combinations of three cards each. These combinations will be pitted against the other players, players who win earn chips used later for determining the winner. 

SETUP

The first dealer should be chosen randomly, but in future hands, it will be the player who won the last round of the last hand. 

The dealer will shuffle the cards and deal each player a hand of 17 cards, one at a time. 

The card that is not dealt is revealed to the table. The holder of the 2 of diamonds may exchange for this card if they wish.

Now that players have their hands they will check to see if they have a four of a kind. The highest four of a kind wins the whole hand and collects all 4 of the chips from the pot. The cards are reshuffled by the player and dealt for the next hand.

If no four of a kinds are present then the players may begin making their combinations. Players will try to make as many combinations as possible, up to five. The different kinds of combinations are described below. These combinations will be kept in a player’s hand and the unused cards will be discarded. Each player must discard at least 2 cards. After players have discarded their cards the game can begin.

Card Rankings and Combinations

The card ranking for Ramchi is traditional with Ace being the highest, followed by the king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 being the lowest. This ranking will help determine which combinations beat others. 

There are five types of combinations they include Three of a Kind (the highest), Three-card Straight Flush, Three-card Straight, Three-card Flush, and Three unrelated Cards (the lowest). 

With a Three of a Kind, a player must have three cards of the same rank. The highest possible three of a kind is a triple Ace, and the lowest is triple 2s. 

With a Three-card Straight Flush, a player must have three cards in ranking order all of the same suits. The highest three-card straight flush is Ace, 2, 3 of the same suit, followed by the 2, 3, 5 of the same suit, this is called a Ramchi. The remaining ranking follows traditional ranking with Ace, King, Queen being the next highest and descending from there. The lowest possible is the 4, 3, 2 of the same suits. 

With a Three-card Straight, a player must have three cards in ranking order of any suits. These rank the same as the above three-card straight flush.

With a Three-card Flush, a player must have three cards of the same suit in any order. To determine the rank of these, first compare the highest card of the flushes, if they match then look at the second card to determine rank, and so on. The highest possible is an Ace, King, Jack. The lowest is 5, 3, 2. 

With Three unrelated cards, a player must have three cards that are in no way related. None can be of the same suit or rank. 

GAMEPLAY

After players have discarded their unused cards, the player to the right of the dealer starts the game and continues anticlockwise from them. They will play their highest-ranked combination and all players will follow, also playing their highest-ranked combination. The player who plays the highest-ranked combination, or the first player to play the combination if there is a tie, wins and collects chips from each player according to the round and will lead the next round, playing their second strongest combination. This continues until all players have played all their combinations. If a player runs out of combinations before other players, they will not participate in the following rounds for this hand. The player who wins the last round will be the next dealer. 

The winner of the first round wins 1 chip from each player, 2nd round wins 2 chips, and so on till the 5th round winner wins 5 chips from all players.

END OF GAME

The game ends when a player runs out of chips or when all players determine the game is over. The winner would be the player either last standing or with the highest amount of chips.  

Amber Crook
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