OBJECTIVE OF TEN POINT SMEAR: The objective of Ten Point Smear is to reach a score of 52.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4 to 6 Players
MATERIALS: A Standard 52-card deck, 2 jokers, a way to keep score, and a flat surface.
TYPE OF GAME: Trick-Taking Card Game
AUDIENCE: Adult
OVERVIEW OF TEN POINT SMEAR
Ten Point Smear is a trick-taking card game for 4 to 6 players. The goal is for your team to reach a score of 52 before your opponents.
This game is played with partnerships. For 4 and 6-player games, partnerships are fixed. Players will sit opposite their partner between two opponents. For 5-player games, the bidder will choose a temporary teammate each round, and the remaining players will form a team.
SETUP
The first dealer is chosen at random and passes to the left for each new deal.
This deck is shuffled and dealt out each player receiving 10 cards for a 4 and 5-player game and 8 cards for a 6-player game. The remaining deck is kept by the dealer for later.
Card Rankings
The trump suit is ranked Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, Jick, Jokers, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 (low). The Jick is the jack of the same color as the trump jack and is a part of the trump suit. The two jokers rank the same, but if played in the same trick the first joker played out ranks the second.
The other suits rank traditionally Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 (low).
Bidding Point Values
For bidding, there are points awarded to players who win certain cards or meet certain criteria during the game
There are points awarded to players who win certain cards or meet certain criteria during the game. The things that award a point are the high trump, low trump, Jack, Jick, jokers, 3 of trumps, and Game.
The high trump point is given to the team who plays the ace of trump. The low trump point is given to the team who plays the 2 of trump. Jack is given to the team who wins the jack of trump in a trick and Jick is given to the team who wins the same-colored jack. The joker points are given to the team that wins the trick containing the each of the jokers (each joker is worth one point). The three of trumps is worth 3 points and is given to the team that wins the 3 of trumps in a trick. Finally, the game point is awarded to the team that scored the most points throughout the game.
For the game point, players tally their score based on the cards their team won in tricks. Each ace is worth 4 points, each king is worth 3, each queen is worth 2, each jack is worth 1, each 10 is worth 10 points, and the joker is worth 1 point.
There will be a total of 10 points up for grabs.
BIDDING
Once all players have received their hands the round of bidding can begin. The player on the dealer’s left will start and in turn, each player will bid higher than the previous or pass. Each player only gets one chance to bid. Players bid on how many of the above points they must win in a round.
The minimum bid is 4 and the maximum bid is 10.
If all other players pass, then the cards are thrown in a redealt by the same dealer.
The bidding ends once the dealer bids or passes, or a bid of 10 is made. The winner is the highest bidder and they become the bidder.
After the bid is completed, the bidder chooses the trump suit.
For a 4-player game, the bidder takes all 14 undealt cards and adds them to their hand. Then all players discard down to a 6-card hand. No trumps may be discarded unless a player holds more than 6 trump cards.
For a 5-player game, after the bidding is completed all players discard down to 6 cards in hand. The undealt cards are not used and will remain unseen for the round. After the trump suit is called the bidder will then call their partner by naming any specific card. They cannot name a card they hold or the 3 of trumps.
The player holding the card must reveal it to the table and must play it to the first trick. if no player holds the card, then the bidder plays the round alone.
For a 6-player game, the bidder takes the 6 undealt cards and adds them to their hand. All players discard down to 6 cards in hand. They may not discard any trumps unless they hold more than 6 trumps.
GAMEPLAY
The bidder will lead to the first trick. Play proceeds in clockwise order. The following players must follow suit if able. If they cannot follow suit may play any card, including trumps.
The trick is won by the highest-ranked trump. If not applicable, then the trick is won by the highest card of the suit led. The winner collects the trick and leads to the next trick.
The round ends once all 6 tricks are played.
SCORING
Scoring happens after each round.
The bidder’s team will determine if they were successful in completing their bid. If they were successful, they score the number of points won (this may be more than bid). If they were not successful, then the number bid is subtracted from their score. It is possible to have a negative score. The opposing team scores any points earned to their score as well.
END OF GAME
The game is played until a team (or player) reaches a score of 52 or more. This team (or player) wins.
If more than one team (or player) reaches 52 in a single round then the team (player) with more points wins, if there is still a tie, then the bidding team (player) wins.
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