AUCTION FORTY-FIVE

AUCTION FORTY-FIVE

OBJECTIVE OF AUCTION FORTY-FIVE: The objective of Auction Forty-Five is to earn the most points in a game by winning tricks.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:  4 or 6 Players

MATERIALS: A 52-card deck, a way to keep score, and a flat surface.

TYPE OF GAME: Trick-Taking Card Game 

AUDIENCE: 13+

OVERVIEW OF AUCTION FORTY-FIVE

Auction Forty-Five is a trick-taking card game where players win tricks to score points. The goal of the game is to be the player with the most points. Auction Fort-Five is played by 4 or 6 players in partnerships of 2, for 4 players, and 3, for 6 players. 

SETUP

The deck is shuffled and dealt. Each player will receive 5 cards dealt in groups of three then two cards. Once all players have received their card the remaining deck is placed in the center of the table. The card on top is flipped and the revealed card determines trump. 

After the trump is revealed the player with the Ace of the trump suit can decide if they would like to take the revealed card into their hand in exchange for any other card from their hand. If they do, they will make the exchange but if not then they must announce this, so all players know who has the ace of the trump suit. If they do not do this then the Ace of the trump suit becomes the lowest ranking trump for the game.

If the card revealed is an Ace, then the dealer may exchange for that card after the first trick has been won or must say the wish not to. 

Card Rankings

The suits of cards hold different rankings dependent on if they are trump or not. The ace of hearts also holds special ranking as its always the 3rd highest ranked trump regardless of suit.  

Below are the rankings for trump suits:

For spades and clubs, the ranking is 5(High), Jack, Ace of Hearts, Ace, King, Queen, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

For hearts, the ranking is 5(high), Jack, Ace, King, Queen, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2.

For diamonds, the ranking is 5(high), Jack, Ace of hearts, Ace, King, Queen, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2.

When suits are not trump, they also have different rankings.

For spades and clubs, the rankings are King(high), Queen, Jack, Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

For diamonds, the ranking is King(high), Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.

For Hearts, the ranking is King(high), Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

GAMEPLAY

The game begins with the player on the dealer’s left. They can lead with any card from their hand and all players after must follow suit if able or play a trump. If not able to follow suit they may play any card. 

When a player leads a trick with a trump lower in rank than the ace of hearts then a player is not required to follow suit and play the following cards: 5 of trump, jack of trump or ace of hearts. 

A trick is won by the highest-ranking trump played or if not applicable by the highest-ranking card of the suit led. The winner of the trick will lead the next one until all tricks have been played.

Score 

There are a couple of ways to score dependent on the rules you wish to follow.

The first way is by scoring by reaching a number of tricks won. A team that won three to four tricks earns five points and winning five tricks gets you 10 points. 

Another way to score is that every trick is worth 5 points and the team that won fewer tricks subtracts their score from the winners. So, there would be 25 points to win if you won all 5 tricks, 15 points for 4 tricks, and 5 points if you won 3 tricks. This scoring is used for games where the targeted score reached is 45 points to win.

END OF GAME

The game ends when a targeted score is reached or exceeded, and the winner is the team with the highest score. 

Nakoa Davis
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