How to play Big Two

1 player vs computer, or 4 online

Be the first player to get rid of all thirteen cards, by answering the combination on the table with a higher one of the same size, and by spending as little as possible to do it.

The rules, step by step

1. 1

   Thirteen cards go to each of four players. Whoever holds the three of diamonds leads first, and their opening play has to include it.

2. 2

   The ranks run 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2, so the two is the best card in the deck. When two cards share a rank, the suit decides: diamonds lowest, then clubs, then hearts, then spades highest.

3. 3

   You may play a single, a pair, three of a kind, or five cards forming a straight, a flush, a full house, four of a kind with any fifth card, or a straight flush.

4. 4

   Answer the table with the same number of cards, beating what is there. Among five-card hands the order is straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush, and a higher category always wins.

5. 5

   If you cannot beat it or do not want to, pass. You are out of the trick until it ends.

6. 6

   When the other three have all passed, the last player to put cards down leads a fresh trick with any combination they like. The first player with an empty hand wins.

Tips that change how you play

• Win with the smallest thing that works. If a lone seven takes the trick, do not take it with the ace. The point of a high card is that it wins a trick you actually need, and there are only so many of them.
• Count what breaking a pair costs you. Answering a single with one half of your pair of kings turns a strong pair into a spare king. Passing a trick you could have won is often cheaper than the shape you would have to destroy to win it.
• The lead is the only free move in the game, so use it to dump length. A five-card straight off the bottom of your hand sheds five cards at once and keeps the lead if nobody can answer, which is worth far more than winning somebody else's trick.

The trick worth losing

You hold the four of clubs, the six of spades, both black kings and the two of hearts. West leads the nine of hearts. You can beat it three ways: a king, the two, or nothing at all. Take it with the two and you have won a trick worth one card and spent the best card in the deck to do it. Take it with a king and you have broken your pair, which was the thing most likely to win you a trick later on its own terms. The third option is the one to take. Pass, and let North or East fight over a nine. Say East wins it with the ace of spades and leads a pair of fives. Now your kings answer as a pair, they are almost certain to hold, and you are two cards lighter with the two still in your hand. A few turns later West goes down to a single card and leads the queen of clubs to try to go out. That is the trick the two was for, and you still have it. The same five cards, played in a different order, and the difference is one trick you declined at the start.

Mistakes that cost beginners the game

Spending a two to win an ordinary trick.

The two beats everything, which means it will still beat everything later. Keep it for the trick you have to win: the one where an opponent down to two cards is about to take the lead and go out. Winning a trick in the middle of the game with it buys almost nothing.

Passing whenever the answer looks expensive.

Passing hands somebody else the lead, and the lead is what lets a player shed five cards at once. Watch the counts. When an opponent is down to one or two cards, beating them is worth breaking almost anything, because if they get the lead the game is over.

Treating five-card hands as a last resort.

A straight or a flush moves five cards in one turn, which is more than a third of your hand. Look for them while you still have the cards to build one. A player who has spent their middle cards on singles has nothing left to make a run out of.

Common questions about Big Two