Sample Round

The Dealer, John, deals the cards. Jane, sitting to his right, is the de facto Leader. Jane has the ace and ten of spades, and the King and Queen of hearts, meaning she knows she has a guaranteed 120 points. Jake has the Queen of diamonds and the Jack of hearts, plus most of the other diamonds, so he decides to take a chance that the King of diamonds is in the Talon and bids 110. Jane raises the bid to 120. Jake is not willing to risk it all, so he passes, and Jane is the Leader. She reveals the Talon and takes it (Jake breathes a sigh of relief when the King doesn’t show).

Not wanting to provide them with any points, Jane gives John the nine of diamonds, and Jake the nine of spades. She then places her final bet, 120, and the round begins with the ten of spades. She wins that set, and the next with the ace of spades, giving her a minimum of twenty points. Having no more aces, she places the Queen of hearts down, announcing the 100 point Marriage. John wins that set with the ace of hearts, but Jane has already won her 120 points. Nevertheless, the round continues.

John places the ten of hearts, forcing Jane to place her King of hearts. She can no longer gain control of the round, meaning she cannot prevent John or Jake from gaining points, but at least she met her bid. John then places the ace of clubs, and Jake takes control by placing the nine of hearts. Knowing that John still has the Jack of hearts (John should have placed it, but he forgot about the nine and was a fool), Jake only places a Jack, in the hopes that he can regain control somehow and use his arsenal of diamonds. However, John retains control for the rest of the round.

Now we total the points. Jane has a little more than 130 with her Marriage, the ace and ten, and whatever cards went with that, but she still can only get 120.