Sting Card Game Instructions

Solitaire / Patience games (games for one player) Invented games (newly created games and variations contributed by readers) These types of game are generally not listed in the index below. Building this site is a long project. At present the site contains rules for only a minority of the card games that exist. Sting Card Game,No. By International Games, Inc. The wild-card game that zings your opponents. It's like Rummy gone wild. Condition: This item is used with very slight wear. A wonderful game! Phase 10, a card game created in 1982 and produced by Fundex Games, is a variation of the card game Rummy. You must play “phases” to lay your cards down and play cards on other people’s phases to lay down all your cards in a hand. The basic rules of Phase 10 are easy enough for most people to pick up quickly. In addition to cards numbered 1 through 10 in the red, blue, green, and yellow suits, there are Wild Sting cards (regular wild cards), Double and Triple Wild Sting cards (wild cards that double and triple the score of a run or set), Pass-a-Pile cards (to move a run or set that's in front of you to another player), Take-It-Back cards (to deny Pass-a-Piles), and Super Wild Sting cards (that.can't. be passed and must be. 1976 Sting Game Rules. (IDEAL) $4.00 1984 Sting Card Game Rules. (IGI) $4.00 1994 Sting Game Rules & Playing Questions. (Home Game Company) $4.00 1996 Stir Crazy Mexican Host Guide and Rules. (Decipher) $4.00 0000 Stitchopoly Game Rules. (DMC Corp.) $4.00 1981 Stock Car Racing Game Rules. (Ribbit Toy Company) $4.00.

Two cheating players each turn over quads in a classic fictional hand of five-card draw in The Sting.

With the Academy Awards this weekend, it seems fitting to revisit a scene from one of the most decorated movies to feature poker -- The Sting.

Directed by George Roy Hill and featuring David S. Ward's fantastic script full of witty dialogue punctuating its twisty plot, The Sting is an all-timer, both critically-acclaimed and a top-notch 'popcorn movie' that entertains from start to finish. The film enjoyed the highest box office gross of any released in 1973. It also won seven Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing, Original Screenplay.

The Sting stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford as a pair of Depression-era grifters scheming to exact revenge on a villainous crime boss played by Robert Shaw. The poker sequence aboard the 20th Century Limited that takes place a little over a third of the way into the film is a sheer delight, concluding with the best cinematic example of the 'outcheating the cheater' story common to poker fiction.

The game is five-card draw. Most poker games were during the 1930s, although stud -- the game featured in The Cincinnati Kid (also set during the Depression) -- was prominent as well.

What happens in the poker game is actually an early stage of an elaborate scheme being constructed by Henry Gondorff (Newman) and Johnny Hooker (Redford) to take down the crime boss, Doyle Lonnegan (Shaw).

Looking back on the game's final hand, it's clear enough to see how it provides a kind of smaller-scale version of the film's larger plot, foreshadowing the surprising conclusion. (Here come the spoilers.) Just as Lonnegan gets fooled into thinking a fake off-track betting parlor is the real thing in the film's climax, here, too, is he tricked into believing the person sitting across the table from him is what he appears to be.

On the train, Gondorff gets himself invited to Lonnegan's poker game. It's a high-stakes affair Lonnegan regularly hosts. As is explained earlier, in order to play in the game, 'all you gotta do is show up and look like a sucker.' That's exactly what Gondorff does, posing as a drunk, loutish bookie named Shaw who is loaded with cash and ready to gamble.

'Shaw' beats Lonnegan out of an early pot, then rubs it in afterwards -- just like an obnoxious drunk might do:

Gondorff keeps up the act, enraging Lonnegan to the point that he asks to take a break. We follow Lonnegan who tells one of his henchmen to 'stack me a cooler' -- i.e., arrange a 'cold deck' with which he will cheat and clean out 'Shaw.'

'I'm gonna bust that bastard bookie in one play,' he bellows.

We knew that was going to happen. That's because before the game, we saw one of Gondorff's colleagues outlining Lonnegan's cheating method to him.

'He likes to cold deck low, eights or nines,' went the explanation, meaning Lonnegan arranges a deck in such a way that he will be dealt four of a kind (eights or nines) while his opponent will get a strong but not-as-strong hand.

Gondorff's colleague also knows what brand of cards Lonnegan typically uses -- either Tally-Ho Fan or Tally-Ho Circle, brands first introduced in the 1880s -- and so Gondorff has come to the game armed with both decks from which he can draw his own hand when needed.

After the three remaining players ante, we see 'Shaw' has been dealt 3♥8♥Q♣3♠3♣, while Lonnegan looks down at 2♣4♥7♣9♥9♠. Gondorff leads for $500, Lonnegan raises to $1,000, the third player folds, and Gondorff calls. Gondorff then draws two cards, and Lonnegan three.

After the draw, Gondorff sees he's picked up the case trey and now has 6♥3♠3♣3♥3♦. Lonnegan meanwhile has drawn the other two nines -- as expected -- and has 9♠9♥9♦9♣T♠.

Gondorff bets $500, and Lonnegan raises to $1,500. Gondorff makes it $3,500 to go, then Lonnegan gets more chips in order to boost it to $13,500. Gondorff takes his time, rechecks his hand, then calls.

Here's how it looks, picking up the action after the draw:

Even though the viewer knows Gondorff has something up his sleeve (literally), the moment he tables 6♥J♠J♦J♣J♥ still provides a thrill, in part because while we get to see Lonnegan introducing the cold deck we aren't shown exactly how Gondorff slipped the four jacks into his hand to replace the four treys.

Gondorff's ruse works because of the set-up. Mistaking 'Shaw' for a careless, unsubtle yahoo, Lonnegan has zero suspicion his opponent might try to cheat in the game as well. Adding to Lonnegan's frustration, he can't even call out his opponent, since the only way he can reveal he knows 'Shaw' cheated would be to admit he cheated himself.

'What was I supposed to do? Call him for cheating better than me in front of the others?' says Lonnegan afterwards.

The Sting teaches something about how the 'metagame' works in poker -- that is, how earlier hands or sessions between players can affect how they play one another later.

Gondorff cheating Lonnegan in the poker game is part of a strategy called 'the hook' because it works to make Lonnegan mad enough to try to get back at 'Shaw' later on in the film. The appropriately-named Hooker then follows up by presenting himself to Lonnegan afterwards with a plan to double-cross 'Shaw,' thereby luring Lonnegan into the fake betting parlor plan.

But the foremost lesson for poker players this scene presents is not to underestimate your opponent. Lonnegan does so here and pays for it. And he'll do it again later when he falls into the larger trap set by Gondorff and Hooker.

'5-Card Fiction' is an ongoing series examining fictional poker hands from film, television, and elsewhere. Have a favorite fictional poker hand you'd like to see discussed? Tweet your suggestions @PokerStarsBlog.

You can play five-card draw -- with no limits on the betting (and no cold decks) -- at PokerStars.

OBJECTIVE OF SHANGHAI: Play all cards in hand by melding them.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-5 players

Even though the viewer knows Gondorff has something up his sleeve (literally), the moment he tables 6♥J♠J♦J♣J♥ still provides a thrill, in part because while we get to see Lonnegan introducing the cold deck we aren't shown exactly how Gondorff slipped the four jacks into his hand to replace the four treys.

Gondorff's ruse works because of the set-up. Mistaking 'Shaw' for a careless, unsubtle yahoo, Lonnegan has zero suspicion his opponent might try to cheat in the game as well. Adding to Lonnegan's frustration, he can't even call out his opponent, since the only way he can reveal he knows 'Shaw' cheated would be to admit he cheated himself.

'What was I supposed to do? Call him for cheating better than me in front of the others?' says Lonnegan afterwards.

The Sting teaches something about how the 'metagame' works in poker -- that is, how earlier hands or sessions between players can affect how they play one another later.

Gondorff cheating Lonnegan in the poker game is part of a strategy called 'the hook' because it works to make Lonnegan mad enough to try to get back at 'Shaw' later on in the film. The appropriately-named Hooker then follows up by presenting himself to Lonnegan afterwards with a plan to double-cross 'Shaw,' thereby luring Lonnegan into the fake betting parlor plan.

But the foremost lesson for poker players this scene presents is not to underestimate your opponent. Lonnegan does so here and pays for it. And he'll do it again later when he falls into the larger trap set by Gondorff and Hooker.

'5-Card Fiction' is an ongoing series examining fictional poker hands from film, television, and elsewhere. Have a favorite fictional poker hand you'd like to see discussed? Tweet your suggestions @PokerStarsBlog.

You can play five-card draw -- with no limits on the betting (and no cold decks) -- at PokerStars.

OBJECTIVE OF SHANGHAI: Play all cards in hand by melding them.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-5 players

NUMBER OF CARDS: Two 52 card decks

RANK OF CARDS: K (high), Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A

TYPE OF GAME: Manipulation Rummy

AUDIENCE: All Ages

Shanghai that will be discussed in this article is a variation of manipulation rummy. More commonly, there is a version of Shanghai that is a contract rummy game. These are not to be confused and are different games entirely. For more information about rummy card games, click here. The game is suited for anywhere between 3 and 5 players, although 4 is optimal. Players may add more decks if they wish to play with more than 5 people, however, this tends to make the game less interesting.

The first dealer is chosen at random by which ever mechanism players prefer. After, the dealer deals each player a total of 10 cards, dealt in batches or 3, 3, 3, and then 1 card. The cards that remain are placed face-down in the center of the table, these cards will form the stockpile. In hands that follow, the deal passes to the left.

Shanghai begins with the player to the left of the dealer and passes clockwise. On each turn, players play cards from their hand to the table. Players must meld their cards in the following ways:

• Set Meld. A set of 3 or 4 cards with the same rank but different suits.
• Run Meld. A set of at least 3 cards of the same suit AND in sequence.

Players can use some or all cards in hand to meld or add cards to pre-existing melds already on the table. This particular feature is what makes Shanghai a manipulation rummy game.

If you have the ability to meld more than 1 card you are required to. However, this is not to say you must meld EVERY card that can be melded, but at least more than one. After melding, the turn passes to the next player.

Players that are unable to meld any cards must draw 1 card from the top of the stockpile. If they can play that card, they must, if not they are to continue drawing until they draw a playable card. Once they meld a card their turn is over.

Once a player melds their last card the game ends.

The game’s namesake, Shanghai, refers to a particular move in the game. A Shanghai occurs if a player can rearrange some or all of the melds on the table to allow them to play cards in their hand. This is a valid move, permitting all the melds are legal.

The game ends when one player has played all the cards in their hand. That player scores 0 points. Players that remain in the game score 1 point per card left in hand. The game has no official end, hands are continually played until someone reaches the target score and LOSES, or players call off the game.

REFERENCES:

https://www.pagat.com/rummy/carousel.html