User:Finalerock44/sandbox

Overview
Bah-Kar-Ee is a card designed and created in 1935. It was published by Jarvis Porter Ltd, who also went under the business name of Porterprint. It was based around the game Whist and the game Rummy. The cards were made up of two full decks of cards, but also included a new card, the royal ace, as well as some extra joker cards. The game was designed for 3-6 players. The game consists of two stages to each round, the release-play, and the end-play. As this game was made in 1935, and only was published once, copies are rare and valuable.

Contents
Bah-Kar-Ee comprises of two card decks that are then shuffled together to create the deck. Each card deck consisted of 52 standard playing cards, 4 royal aces (one per suit) and 4 jokers. In the box, there was also a rulebook, a set of scorecards, 4 blank cards and a deck divider for the box that converts the box into a tray for the draw and discard piles.



Set-up
To set-up the game, you deal to each player a certain number of cards. To decide who the dealer is, each player cuts the deck to reveal a card. The lowest card is the dealer.

The dealer must deal the cards in such a way that the cards are dealt out in 1s, 2s, then 3s, until the required hand size is met. Once all of the cards have been dealt, the dealer then draws the first card of the deck and places it face-up on the discard pile. The player to the left of the dealer then starts the game.

Release-play
In the release-play, players play in a similar to Rummy. Each can choose to either pick up from the deck or take the top card of the discard pile, before discarding a card. During this stage of play, the goal is to create a set of 5 or a run of 5 (the run must all be in the same suit), as well as to build up a hand filled with high cards (Ace is high) in preparation for the end-play. When a player is satisfied that he has done this, he calls Ba-Kar-Ee! and lays down his group of 5 cards to prove that he has done this. The other players all get one final turn to try and Bah-Kar-Ee as well. If they don't then they must lay down a failed Bah-Kar-Ee. At the end of this stage, the players score before removing the deck, discard and all Bah-Kar-Ees from the table keeping them in one face-down pile.

End-play
Once the release-play is over, then the players start the end-play. The player who called Bah-Kar-Ee first begins an auction.

Auction
The purpose of the auction is for the players to decide on a trump suit and to bet on how many tricks they can win. The player who gained a Bah-Kar-Ee first last round begins the bidding by saying the number of tricks he/she think they could win, along with a trump suit that they think could benefit them. The bidder must start at a minimum amount of tricks detailed here: The next player then has the option to up the bid by 1 and choose a new trump suit, up the bid one and keep the same trump suit, up the bid one and choose to have no trump suit, pass or double the points scored for the current highest bidder (including minus points). If the bid has not increased by the time it is the highest bidders turn again, then they have won the auction and begin to play tricks.

Tricks
Once the auction has been completed, the winner of the auction starts by playing a card. Each other player then places a card in order to try and have the highest card on the table to win the trick. The Royal Ace is the highest card and cannot be eaten except by a royal ace of the trump suit if any. The aim of the auction winner is to try and fulfil his contract. The other players play by themselves but have the goal of stopping the auction winner. Once all of the cards have been played, the points are scored and the next player deals.

End of the Game
The game ends once every player has dealt once or twice depending on the players' preference. The scores are tallied up and the winner is declared. There is no tiebreaker.

Minor Rules

 * If a joker is in a failed Ba-Kar-Ee, then it is -50 points.
 * You can have up to 2 jokers in a Ba-Kar-Ee before you lose points for them.
 * It is illegal to have a joker in your hand during end-play.
 * If you have too many cards or break any rules then you are 'revoking' and lose 200 points.
 * When playing with 4 players you are on a team with player sat directly opposite you. Whoever wins the bid, must play their team members hand for them unless he/she chooses otherwise. If this is the case then the team member whose is being played for them reveals their hand and places it on the table sorted by suit and low-to-high.
 * When playing with 6 players, the teams are as follows: players 1, 3 and 5 are team 1 and 2, 4 and 6 are team 2. The same team rules for 4 players apply.

Scoring
This table is a replica of the one shown in the rulebook.