Ranter-Go-Round is a primitive
gambling game
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...
and
children's game
This is a list of games that used to be played by children, some of which are still being played today. Traditional children's games do not include commercial products such as board games but do include games which require props such as hopscotch ...
using
playing cards
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a f ...
. It is known in most European countries as Cuckoo; the French variant being called
Coucou
Coucou (also called Cuckoo, As Qui Court or Hère) is an historical French card game that uses a pack of 32 or 52 cards and is played by five to twenty players. It is unusual for being played with only a single card in hand. As a shedding game, th ...
. Other English-language names include Chase the Ace and, in America, Screw Your Neighbor which, however, is a name also used for other games.
It is related to the
dedicated deck card or tile games of
Gnav
Gnav is a traditional game that is played with either cards or wooden pieces. Related games are Gnaio, Cuccù, Hexenspiel or Vogelspiel, Kille (also called Cambio, Campio, Camphio, Camfio or Kamfio), Coucou and Ranter Go Round. The game can b ...
and
Killekort
Kille (pronounced or ), also called Harlequin, Cambio, Campio, Kambio or Kamfio, is a game played with special playing cards, dating from a mediaeval French gambling game. In Sweden, the game had its heyday during the 1750s, but it is one of the o ...
.
History
Ranter Go Round is described as early as 1881. The game "is said to have been first played in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
," however Cuckoo has been played in Europe since at least the 17th century, often with special cards. An 1882 account describes Ranter Go Round as "a first-rate game for a winter evening." Players have three lives in the form of counters, receive one card each and exchange with their left-hand neighbours, the dealer exchanging with the stock. Players may stand i.e. refuse to exchange if they believe they have a card high enough not to lose. There are no cards with special privileges.
Confusingly, at about the same time the name Ranter-Go-Round appears in the literature associated with the different game of
Snip, Snap, Snorem
Snip-Snap-Snorum, or Snip-Snap-Snorem (sometimes unhyphenated), is a matching-type card game, mostly played by children, and has several variants. The game dates to at least the 18th century, and probably derives from a more ancient drinking and ...
. For example, in 1879 in a publication by the English Dialect Society it is described as "an old-fashioned game of cards, marked with chalk upon a bellows or tea-tray. Now at a table, and called Miss Joan. This is followed by the lines 'Here's a card, as you may see! Here's another as good as he! Here's the best of all the three; And here's Miss Joan, come tickle me. Wee, wee!'" The same description appears in the ''West Cornwall Glossary'' of 1880.
Play
Any number of players may participate, using a standard deck of 52
cards without jokers. The card rankings (from highest to lowest) are K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-A, or alternately A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2. Suits are irrelevant. The goal in each hand is to avoid ending up with a lower-valued card than any other player.
[Hoyle's Games, ]Edmond Hoyle
Edmond Hoyle (167229 August 1769) was an English writer best known for his works on the rules and play of card games. The phrase "according to Hoyle" (meaning "strictly according to the rules") came into the language as a reflection of his gene ...
, revised and brought up to date by R. F. Foster, 1926. A. L. Burt
A. L. Burt (incorporated in 1902 as A. L. Burt Company) was a New York City-based book publishing house from 1883 until 1937. It was founded by Albert Levi Burt, a 40-year-old from Massachusetts who had come to recognize the demand for inexpen ...
Company, New York.
Each player starts the game with the same number of chips or counters, usually two to four. When the game is played for money, all players contribute the same amount to a central pot. Each player is dealt one card face-down, after which play begins with the player to the left of the dealer. After examining this card, a player may either keep it or exchange it with the player on the left. However, if the intended recipient is holding a card of the highest value (depending on which set of rankings is being used), the recipient turns that card face-up and the trade is nullified. Any player who shows a top-value card in this manner is considered to have finished for that hand. Play proceeds clockwise around the table, with the dealer playing last; instead of trading cards with someone else, though, the dealer may exchange his or her card for the top one from the deck.
After all players have taken a turn, they turn their cards face-up and the one with the lowest-valued card loses one chip. If two or more players tie for lowest card, they each lose one chip, except in variants that include "pairing up". The dealer rotates one position clockwise around the table for each new hand. Players who lose all their chips are out of the game; the last remaining player wins and collects all the money in the pot. However, if the last two players both lose their final chips in a tie, the game has no winner; the money remains in the pot, and all players make a further bet and start a new game.
Variants
* Players holding cards of the same value are considered to have "paired up," and their combined cards outrank any single card regardless of its value. For example, in a four-player game, two players holding sixes would outrank one opponent with a king and another with a queen; the queen is now the low card and must give up one chip. If two or more groups pair up in a single hand, higher pairs beat lower ones, triples beat pairs, and quartets beat triples.
* Players stuck with an ace have to pay double.
* When exchanging the dealer may cut the deck and then turn up the top card.
* The
dealer
Dealer may refer to:
Film and TV
* ''Dealers'' (film), a 1989 British film
* ''Dealers'' (TV series), a reality television series where five art and antique dealers bid on items
* ''The Dealer'' (film), filmed in 2008 and released in 2010
* ...
is not allowed to exchange with the deck if the top card is a king.
* If the player who is forced to exchange gives an ace or deuce (2), they announce it aloud, but the player who initiated the exchange says nothing (as the initiator's card may be passed on).
* Counters are not used and the player with the lowest card at the end of each round is immediately eliminated from the game.
* A player who runs out of chips may be allowed to remain in the game, but is eliminated upon losing one more hand.
* Sometimes the object is to avoid having the highest card in the deck. The order, from high to low, would be A Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 K. The king is the lowest as it is the best card in the deck, regardless of value.
* If the dealer chooses to trade cards and receives one of the same rank from the top of the deck, they immediately wins the hand and all other players lose one chip. Alternatively, the dealer becomes immune for that hand and the player with the lowest remaining card loses a chip, even if it is higher than the dealer's card.
* Kings Jerk - Any player dealt a king may take a chip from the pot, if one is available at the start of the hand.
* King Stops All Play - A player dealt a king turns it face-up upon being asked to trade or when their turn comes. All play immediately stops and the loser of the hand is determined based on the cards held at that moment.
References
Bibliography
* _ (1879). ''Specimens of English Dialects''. English Dialect Society.
* _ (1881)
''Cassell's Book of In-Door Amusements, Card Games and Fireside Fun''.Cassell.
* _ (1882)
''Cassell's Book of Sports and Pastimes'' London, Paris and New York: Cassell, Petter, Galpin.
* Courtney, Margaret Ann (1880). ''West Cornwall Glossary''. London: Trübner.
*
External links
at
pagat.com Pagat.com is a website containing rules to hundreds of card games from all over the world. Maintained by John McLeod, it contains information for traditional, commercial, and newly invented card games from all over the world. It has been described ...
{{Non trick-taking card games
19th-century card games
Comparing card games
Cuckoo group