The Other Black Jack

If you ask someone if he knows how to play Blackjack, the answer you'll get may not be a simple yes or no. Instead, you might get asked back: "Which Blackjack do you mean?"

Aside from the more well-known game of Blackjack played in casinos the world-over, there is actually another card game that shares the name. This other version, commonly spelled-out as " Black Jack," is a British variation of the card game Crazy Eights.

A short word about Crazy Eights: Played with 2-to-4 players, the object of the game is to get rid of all the cards in your hand onto a discard pile by matching the previously discarded card's suit or number, or by changing the suit with an 8.

In Black Jack, each player is dealt 7 cards (as opposed to 8 cards dealt in Crazy Eights). The dealer then places one card face-up on the table and leaves the remaining pile of cards face-down.

On the table are two stacks of cards; one face-up, the other face-down. If the face-down stack runs out, the top card of the face-up stack is placed on the table while the rest of the face-up cards are turned into a new face-down stack. The players may shuffle the new stack then if they wish.

With each turn, the player will try to place cards from their hand to the face-up stack, but a card can be placed on the stack only if it matches the top card's rank or suit. The player who does not get their turn will take the top card from the face-down pile. If the player has only one card left after a turn, they must say "Last Card." If the player fails to do this, they must pick up 7 more cards from the top of the face-down stack as penalty. The first player who gets rid of all their cards is the winner.

Specific cards, dubbed "magic cards," can affect the gameplay in certain ways. Playing an Ace appoints a new suit to follow in the next play. A Two causes the next player to pick up two cards unless he can lay down another two, which then causes the succeeding player to pick up four (and if that player plays another two, the next must pick up six, and so on…). When a Seven is laid, the player can lay any or all of his cards which match the suit of that Seven. The Ten reverses the direction of the play. The black Jack forces the next player to pick seven cards, unless he lays down a red Jack (which counteracts the black) or another black one, which then makes the next player pick fourteen cards unless he produces a red Jack. The Queen skips the next player, while the King skips the next two.

The name may be familiar, but it's a whole different game. Overlooked and overshadowed by its more popular namesake, the British Black Jack is a game that's just as enjoyable and worth taking notice of.