MadJack

MadJack is a trick-taking card game for two that is played with a deck of 24 standard playing cards.  

For the first four tricks, the Dummy hand determines the suit that must be followed.  After the Dummy is out of cards, players no longer have to follow suit.  Watch out for Jacks!  They rise to the top of the rank with the lead suit.  The same coloured Jack, known as the Mad Jack, becomes the second highest ranking card for that trick.  Keep track of the Jacks and collect the most cards to win.

Full ruleset below or available as a PDF download.

GAME OBJECTIVE  

Be the first player to earn 10 points or more.

PLAYERS 

2 players

CARDS

Four Suits: 9 - Ace, Two red 5’s and two black 5’s

RANKING

Non-Trump Suit: (low) 9,10,J,Q,K,A (high)

Trump Suit: (low) 9,10,Q,K,A,MadJack,Jack (high)

INTRODUCTION 

MadJack is a trick taking game for two players that includes Jacks that change rank as well as a Dummy hand that plays for part of the round.  In this game, players will need to keep up with the ever changing trump suit and try to capture as many cards as possible.  

MATERIALS

MadJack requires a 24 card deck that includes cards 9-Ace in all four suits.  To keep score, each player will need a set of 5’s as well. 

SETUP 

To determine the dealer, each player cuts the deck.  Lowest card deals first.  Shuffle the cards and deal ten to each player.  Players may look at their cards, but they should not allow their opponent to see them.  

The remaining four cards form the Dummy’s hand.  Place these cards in a face down pile on the table.  The dealer will play the Dummy’s cards to the trick.  

PLAY

THE FIRST TRICK

Turn over the top card from the Dummy’s pile to begin the first trick.  The suit of the Dummy’s card determines the trump suit for that trick. 

The non-dealer goes next.  They must play a card from their hand that matches the suit of the Dummy’s card if they can.  If they cannot match the suit, they can play any card.  The second player also must match the suit led if they can.  

THE JACKS WILL RISE

In MadJack, the trump suited Jack gets promoted to the highest ranking spot in that suit.  So, if the Dummy’s card is a Spade, the Jack of Spades becomes the highest ranking card for the trick.  The Jack of the same color, in this case the Jack of Clubs, becomes the MadJack.  The MadJack is the second highest ranking card for that trick.  Why is he so mad?  He hates being in second place.

WINNING THE TRICK

Of the two cards played by Player 1 and Player 2, the highest card in the trump suit determined by the Dummy’s card wins the trick.  If the trick-winner also beats the Dummy’s card, they collect all three cards.  If the Dummy’s card is not beat, it is simply discarded face down off to the side.  

There is a small chance that neither player can match the dummy card’s suit.  The card played first to a trick by a player determines the suit that must be followed.  If the second player cannot follow that suit, they can play any card.

Example: The dummy card flipped is a 10 of Clubs.  Player 1 does not have any clubs in their hand, so they play an Ace of Hearts.  Player 2 also has no Clubs, so they must play a Heart card if they can.  They play a 9 of Hearts.  Player 1 wins the trick, but they do not collect the Dummy’s card.  It is set aside.

CONTINUING PLAY

Turn the Dummy’s next card over.  Again, this determines the trump suit for the trick.  The trick-winner goes next followed by their opponent.  Play continues as described until the Dummy runs out of cards.

THE DUMMY RUNS EMPTY

The Dummy participates in the first four tricks.  Once the Dummy is out of cards, each trick will only contain a card from Player 1 and Player 2.  Whoever wins trick number 4 will lead for trick number 5.  The card led determines the trump suit for the trick. 

Once the Dummy is out of cards, players no longer have to follow suit. They can play any card they wish. 

Continue playing until all of the cards have been played.  This ends the round, and it is time to tally up the score.

COMPLETING A GAME

The game continues until one player reaches 10 points or more.  This ends the game.   

SCORE  

Whoever collects the most cards wins the round.  Only the winner earns points for the round.  The number of points earned is determined by how many more cards the winner collected.

Win by 5 or fewer cards	1 point for the round
Win by 6-11 cards	2 points
Win by 12 or more cards	3 points

If a tie occurs, whoever wins the last trick earns 1 point for the round.

WIN

The first player to earn 10 points or more wins the game.

THANKS

  

Designer

Bram Tebbutt

Alpha Team 

Mark Ball

Beta Team

Alex V.

Jean Maillard