Jacks, Queens and Kings are sometimes valued at 11, 12 and 13). Two or more cards can also be picked up to equal said card (for example, if a four is played, a player can take any other four’s on the table as well as cards that add up to it). Taking If a player has a card matching the suit of a card on the table in their hand, they can play said card or take cards of the same point value.Trailing: Players can place a card in their hand on the table if they have no other possible plays.The object of cassino is to capture enough cards from the table to reach the game’s total – usually 21 – and win the game.Four cards are placed face-up on the table each player receives four face-down cards of their own.1) other subsequent mentions of the game appear in German texts. Early mentions of Cassino go as far back as a 1797 edition of Hoyle’s according to the Encyclopaedia of Play in Today’s Society (Vol. The origin of cassino is usually noted as being Italian, though this claim seems to be commonly disputed, while the game might have evolved from the Italian fishing game of Scopa.

Jacks have a value of 11, Queens are 12, Kings are 13, the same seems to be true for Swazi Cassino), Draw Cassino, where players are allowed to draw from the deck when making a play, Spade Cassino (where the Jack of Spades counts for 2, and 1 point for each spade at the end) and Swazi Cassino – the version seen in areas like Swaziland and South Africa, where players are allowed to ‘capture’ from their opponent’s pile. Among them, Royal Cassino, where face cards are allocated a higher value (i.e. “What are they playing?” I ask a passerby.Ĭassino (sometimes spelt with only one s) is a basic card-fishing game with several variations with (mostly) the same rules. (Later, I try to copy his Hindu shuffle at home and realize his hands have seen at least a decade more practice.) The game isn’t something I immediately recognize. The cards are shuffled with superhuman speed and dealt. The dealer takes hold of a battered deck of cards – red-backed, a knockoff of Bicycle. I pay – more or less one dollar US – and step closer to the gathering crowd in the middle. My Setswana is limited, but it’s more than enough. “Ke batla Black.” Setswana for “I want a Black (Label).” Illuminated by the moon and I walk through the maze of tin shacks – the first right, then straight, a short left and another right, following the music to one of the drinking haunts.

Casino card games rules