Cooncan, by Robert Frederick Foster
LAWS OF THE GAME
For Four or Five Players
- The Pack shall consist of two packs of fifty-two cards each and two jokers, all shuffled together and used as one. [See laws for two and three players.]
- Cutting - The king is the highest card and the joker lowest, the ace being next to the joker. In case of ties, those in the tie cut again, but the second cut decides nothing hut the tie. If more than one card is exposed, the lower is the player's cut.
- Forming Tables - The prior right of playing is with those first in the room. A table is complete with five persons, and if there are more than five candidates, the privilege of playing is decided by cutting, those cutting the highest cards playing the first game. The table being formed, the players cut again for the first deal, the highest cut having the choice of seats and dealing the first hand. The next highest cut sits next him on the left, and so on round the table.
- Reforming Tables — At the end of every hour any player may demand that the cards be drawn again for the choice of seats.
- Duration of Game — One round of deals is a game, after which candidates for admission to the table may cut in, those already at the table cutting out, the lowest cuts retiring. After the first game, those who have played the greatest number of consecutive games cut to go out. (See laws for two players.)
- Substltutes — Should any player quit the table during the progress of a game, be may, with the consent of the other players, appoint a substitute to finish the game for him, but such appointment becomes void at the end of the game and does not in any way affect the substitute’s rights of entry to the table on his own account.
- Shuffling — Any player at the table has a right to shuffle the pack, the dealer last.
- Dealing - Each player deals in turn, the order of dealing passing to the left. The player on the dealer’s right shall cut the pack, leaving not less than four cards in each packet. Should the dealer shuffle the pack after the cut, it must be cut again. Ten cards shall be dealt to each player, one at a time, beginning on the dealer’s left, the next card being turned face up and placed beside the pack to form the stock, the remainder of the pack being left on the table, face down. [See laws for two and three hand.]
- Misdeals — There must be a new deal if any player discovers that he has been given more or less than his right number of cards, but there shall be no misdeal for any card exposed during the deal or found faced in the pack. [See laws for two and three hand.]
- Incorrect Hands — Any player found to have more or less than the correct number of cards after he has drawn and discarded, shall be considered to have a foul hand and shall pay for it just as if be had failed to get rid of any of his cards. [See laws for two players.]
- Drawing Cards — The player to the left shall begin by drawing a card, either from the top of the pack, without showing it, or from the top of the stock of faced cards, but if he touches either be cannot change his intention. Each player to the left, in turn, shall have the same choice. (See laws for two players.]
- Irregularities in Drawing - If two cards are drawn from the pack and seen by the player drawing them, he must lay them upon the table, face down, and the player to his right shall select one of them and bury it in the pack, face down. If the cards are not seen by the player, he may return the proper card to the pack, placing it on the top. If the cards are so exposed that the table can see them, the player must take the higher and the other must be buried in the pack, face down. [See laws for two players.]
- Should any player lay out before drawing a card, he cannot amend his play after he has drawn. Should, a player discard without having drawn a card, he must take back any cards be may have laid out on that round, draw a card from the top of the pack, and pass his turn. [See laws for two hands.]
- Drawing out of Turn - Should any player draw a card out of his proper turn, it must be objected to before he discards, or the incorrect draw and plays following it stand good, the player who should have drawn losing his turn. If the draw out of turn is corrected in time, the card drawn must be replaced. If from the stock, on the stock. If from the pack, the player to the right of the one in error shall draw a card from the whole hand, face down, and bury it in the pack. When it comes to the player in error to draw, in his proper turn, after be has been corrected, he must draw from the pack and not from the stock, as penalty.
- Laying Out - Each player in his turn, after having drawn a card, may 1ay upon the table, face up, any sequence of not less than three in suit, or any three or more cards of the same denomination, or he may add a card or cards from his hand to any combination already on the table, whether laid out by himself or by another player.
- The Ace - In forming sequences, the ace may be above the king, as in A K Q, or below the deuce, as in 3 2 A, but it cannot be used to make a round-the-corner straight, as K A 2.
- The Joker - This card may be called anything the holder of it pleases, whether he has one or more duplicates of the named card in his own hand or not.
- If the joker lies at the open end of any sequence exposed on the table, any player may remove it to the other end of the sequence, provided he can play a card that fits the sequence after he has made the change in the position of the joker. A joker so moved shall be laid crossways, to indicate that it may not be moved again. A joker in the interior of a sequence cannot be moved under any circumstances.
- Forcing — No player can be obliged to take a card exposed on the stock, even if it fits a combination exposed on the table; but any player may be forced to admit a card added to a sequence he has himself laid out, if any player has a card that will fit, even if the player who laid out the sequence has concealed the duplicate of that card in his own hand.
- Errors in Laying Out - Should a player lay out a false combination, such as 7 8 of clubs and spade 9, or two kings and a jack, he may correct it before he discards, but not afterward. If unable to correct it he must wait until be has discarded before taking any of the erroneous combination back into his hand. Should no player at the table remark the error and demand that the cards be taken up until it comes round to the turn of the player in error himself, he may add to the combinitiun as if it were legitimately made, or leave it on the table as it is.
- The Game - The player who first gets rid of all the cards originally dealt him, together with those drawn from the pack or the stock, by laying them out in combinations of his own, or by adding them to combinations shown by others, or by discarding to the stock, wins the game, and all play shall stop immediately. [See laws for two players.]
- A player is not obliged to discard his last card to the stock if he can lay it out in combination. Thus a player holding a pair and drawing a third, can lay down all three, discarding none.
- Scoring - As soon as any player wins the game by getting rid of his last card, each player in turn to the left of the winner exposes the cards remaining in his hand and their pip value is ascertained and goes to the credit of the winner. [See laws for two hand.]
- The jokers are worth 15 points each, aces 11, kings queens and jacks 10, and all others at their face values.
- Unfinished Games - Should the pack run out before any player wins the game, the stock shall be turned face down and drawn from as if it were the pack, the first to draw from it taking the top card.
This is a portion of a full-text reproduction of Robert Frederick Foster's book "Cooncan (Conquián): A Game of Cards Also Called Rum", which was published in 1913, by Frederick A. Stokes Company, and is now in the public domain. The text of the book was OCR'd from a vintage copy of the book, and is provided as an educational resource for Rummy players, researchers, and students of the game. Any grammatical or typographical errors are an artifact of this process, and should not be attributed to the author.
Cooncan, by Robert Frederick Foster - Table of Contents
