Beggar My Neighbor

From the Book: Great Expectations

This is a simple game that requires no logic. It was neat to play something that linked us both to the book and the past. Here’s how to play:

Goal: To win all the cards from the other players.

Set up: When playing with 4 people or less, use one card deck. If playing with 5 or more, use two decks. Deal cards face down until the deck runs out. It doesn’t matter if everyone has the exact same amount of cards. Don’t look at your cards!

Rules for play:

1. The player left of the dealer turns over their top card and places it in the center of the table.
2. If a player places a card between 2 and 10, play passes to the next player.
3. If a face card or an Ace (court cards) is played, the next player must “pay honor or tribute to the court cards” and play the number of cards from their pile as follows:
   • If an Ace is played, the next player must turn over 1 card.
   • If a Jack is played, the next player must turn over 1 card.
   • If a Queen is played, the next player must turn over 2 cards, one at a time.
   • If a King is played, the next player must turn over 3 cards, one at a time.
   • If one of the cards played is a Court card, the player laying down the cards stops and the next player must make the next play based upon the above rules. If that person played only in cards numbering 2-10, the player who last played the court card takes the cards in the middle.
   • Play continues until a player has collected all of the cards.
4. The person to gain all the cards in the end is the winner.

If you are more a of visual learner, here is an online video that helped us to understand the game even better:

We hope you enjoy playing this game as much as we did!