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Fumblaroo

A three person card game played almost exclusively in Mandleclang, which uses a 27 card deck.

The Deck

The deck consists of a normal 52 card deck from which has been removed cards 3-8 and the King of Clubs.

The cards are ordered (lowest to highest) 2 9 10 J Q K A, except for the trump suit, (where 2 is highest card) and the same colored non-trump suit, the 2 of which is now considered a trump card of the second-highest power.

Dealing Phase

The dealer shuffles the cards and offers the cut to the tallest person at the table. He then deals three hands of five cards each, leaving the leftover twelve cards in the "Kingdom", a pile which sits in front of the dealer. The top card is turned up on top of the pile. If the card is the 2 of clubs, the hand is forfeited and the dealer gets one (1) point.

Otherwise, the card is the proposed "trump" suit.

The person to the left of the dealer may either pass if he doesn't like the proposed trump, or "order it up", in which case, the dealer picks up the card and discards one of his own. If the player passes, the next person may either pass or order the card up. If both non-dealers pass, the dealer may either pick up the card, or turn the card down, in which case the player to the left of the dealer MUST decide trump.

Playing Phase

Play proceeds in five "tricks". The person to the left of the dealer leads a card, and the other two players must throw a card of the same suit. If they have no cards of the same suit, they may either play an "off card" (a card of a different suit that is not trump) or a trump card. Whoever plays the highest trump card wins. If no trump are played, the highest ranking card of the suit led wins. Whoever wins the trick lays the first card for the next trick, until five tricks are played.

Scoring

The number of tricks won determines the number of points earned by the winner in a hand.

5-0-0 = 5 points (regardless who called trump)

4-1-0 = 2 points (regardless who called trump)

3-1-1 or 3-2-0 = 1 point

2-2-1 = 2 points to the person who didn't call trump

The deal proceeds clockwise until ten points are won. The first player to ten points wins the game.

Advanced Strategy

In a close game, a player may choose to deliberately forfiet tricks in order to force a 2-2-1 outcome in which they would benefit. This technique is called dranoring, named for Brother Dranor, who was famous for this tactic.