Mod Four

Mod Four is a plain-trick card game for four players. It can be played either cutthroat or partnership. Cards can be French or Spanish suited. Deck can be full or stripped, as long as there are four suits of everything.

TRICK CARD VALUES: Number cards have the point values of their numbers. Face cards are worth zero points.

TRICK WINNER: Suits are irrelevant. Only numeric values and the order of play, starting with the trick leader, are considered in determining the trick winner.

Once the four cards of the trick have been played, their values are summed, and the trick winner is determined as follows.

Trick / Sum Winner 0, 4, 8,... / Trick leader 1, 5, 9,... / Next player 2, 6, 10,... / Next player 3, 7, 11,... / Last player

OBJECT OF THE GAME: Players initally agree on a target score such as 10 or 15 or 20 points. As soon as one of the players reaches the target score, he wins the game. No need to finish the hand.

PLAY: The dealer of the first hand of the game is selected at random. In subsequent hands, the player to the right of the winner of the last trick deals. The player to the dealer's right shuffles the cards. The player to the dealer's left cuts the deck.

The entire deck is dealt face down, one card at a time, clockwise, beginning on the dealer's left. After all the cards have been dealt, the player to the dealer's left leads the trick by placing any card from his hand face up on the table. Continuing clockwise around the table, players play any card in their hand to the trick until there are four cards in the trick.

The trick winner adds one point to his score, collects the four cards of the trick, and places them face down on his stack of tricks. The winner of the trick leads the next trick.