Cheat

Cheat is a great game! 

It is great fun and very controversial. Don't take it seriously or your health will suffer.

It is especially fun for kids or for people who are starting out at card games.

The object of the game is to discard all your cards before anyone else.

How you go about this is up to you.

If you follow the rules, you should declare which cards you are getting rid of, at each of your turns. However if you want any chance of winning, you should cheat to win.

OK, so how do you play?

The deal is variable. 

The dealer deals or hands out the cards in any way they wish as long as they are facedown. If any of the players wants to challenge the way the dealer has dealt or handed out the cards, they say 'cheat'. 

Any cards over the average amount that should be dealt to any player (e.g. 4 player games should have 13 cards each) are then given to the loser of the challenge. 

If the dealer dealt the cards evenly, they then have the right to play first but if they haven't then the first play goes to the challenger.

The first player then puts some cards face down in the middle of the table and declares what those cards are e.g. 3 kings.                 

What they actually put down can be any combination of cards they like, including all their cards, should they be so cheeky.

Any of the other players can, if they wish, then call that player a cheat.

If they do, that player must immediately (or quicker) turn over the cards they have just played to show if they have cheated or not.

If they are proven to be a cheat, they must pick up their cards, and any other cards below that have been played, and place them in their hand. 

If they haven't cheated, the player who called them a cheat must pick up all the cards that have been played and place them in their hand.

Play is clockwise. The next player to play if there is no challenge is the player to the left. 

If you haven't got a legal play, you have no choice but to cheat.

The only rule is that if the opening player has called 'kings' for instance, the next player must play (or pretend to play) kings or any adjacent rank. 

This means that if a king has been called immediately before, then the next player must play (or pretend to play) kings or queens or aces.

Had a '9' been played, then the next player must play (or pretend to play)    
'9's or '8's or '10's.

The first player to discard all of their cards is the winner.

You can sort your hands as in the diagram above but be careful as the best cheat players will soon spot the order of your cards if you don't vary.

If you are dealt this hand and the player to your left began the game with 3 queens, you could immediately know that they were cheating, as you hold 2 queens yourself.

If they opened with 2 queens you have a choice of playing either your queens or jack or king or you could call them a cheat or just cheat yourself.

Cheat is a great game and one of the few that rewards you for cheating.

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Copyright © August 2013 Rols Sperling
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