Less Than Three

Goal

Score the most points over 6 rounds. You score in a round by playing your last card, or by knocking while you hold fewer cards than the other player. The higher total after 6 rounds wins, and equal totals share the win.

Cards

Use a standard deck with the Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Jokers taken out: the Ace to 10 in four suits, 40 cards. Each player also takes 2 of the court cards as sweep cards. They keep them for all 6 rounds, and a used sweep card doesn’t come back.

Ranking

From low to high the ranks are A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The Ace counts as 1. Suits don’t rank.

Starting hand

Deal 15 cards to each player. Set the other 10 aside face down. They’re not used in the round.

Play

1. The dealer leads. The leader plays any meld and can’t pass.
2. Answer, sweep, or pass. The other player must play the same type of meld with the same number of cards at a higher rank, or sweep, or pass. You may pass even when you could answer.
3. A pass ends the climb. Every card on the table is discarded, and the player who didn’t pass leads any meld.
4. Sweep. Instead of answering, turn one of your sweep cards face up, discard every card on the table, and lead any meld. Only one sweep can be used in a round, by either player.
5. Knock. Right after you play, if you have 1 or 2 cards left, you may knock to end the round. You may knock even when the other player holds as many cards as you, or fewer.
6. Shed out. If you play your last card, the round ends at once and the other player doesn’t get to answer.
7. The next round. The player with the lower score deals the next round and leads it. With equal scores, the other player deals.

Scoring

• Shed out: you score 1 point for each card left in the other player’s hand, plus 5.
• Knock: the player holding fewer cards scores the difference between the two hands, whoever knocked. If you knock with 2 cards and the other player holds 5, you score 3. Equal hands score nothing.

Add each round’s points to your score.

Meld types

An answer must be the same type of meld with the same number of cards, at a higher rank, so a pair and a 2-card run don’t answer each other.

• Single Any 1 card
• Set 2 or more cards of the same rank, in any suits
• Run 2 or more cards of one suit in sequence

A run is ranked by its top card, and it can be answered by a higher run of the same length in any suit. The Ace is low, so a run can’t continue from 10 to A.

Playing with your own deck

You need paper and a pencil to keep score. Write one line for each round, with both players’ points and their new totals, and note when a sweep has been used in the current round.

Open the rules page