Tripoley is a combination of cards and a board game; it is actually played by combining three games into one. It is a kind of a family betting game which is enjoyed by children as well as adults. So, if you’re looking for a game that is fun-filled and entertaining, yet challenging enough, then Tripoley is the one for you. In this Plentifun article, we take you through the game’s rules and instructions.
Tripoley is a product of Cadaco Toys of Chicago, Illinois, and Cadaco has been marketing it since the time they acquired the rights from Stanley Hopkins in the 1930s.
Whoever said you have to party or go on a vacation to far off places to spend some quality time with family and friends, has never played card or board games. They pass off as the most popular way of bonding with your folks, while having some fun. Some are quite simple, while others are complicated and challenging.
One such game is ‘Tripoley’. It is a combination of three card and board games: Hearts, Poker, and Michigan Rummy. It is fun and can be played by people of all ages. It is a fast-paced game, with a combination of chance and luck. Although it is fast-paced, it is simple and very easy to learn. All you need is a deck of 52 cards, with no Jokers included, playing chips, and a group of 4 – 6 people. Here are the rules and instructions for playing this game.
How to Play Tripoley
The main goal of this game is to win all the chips. You will need a deck of cards (Jokers excluded), playing or poker chips, and a Tripoley mat or game board.
- If you are the dealer, you can swap your hand for the spare hand, or auction it for the chips of the highest order.
- Shuffle and deal all the cards, beginning from the left, giving one hand to each player, along with one ‘spare’ hand, which would be given at the end.
- Four spaces are reserved for the Hearts 10 through the Ace, one for the King and Queen of Hearts, one for ‘8-9-10-One Suit’, and another one for the ‘Kitty’. All these spaces encircle the space for the ‘Pot’.
- You can purchase the Tripoley game board from the market or even online, or even make one at home yourself.
- Before dealing the cards, all the players are required to place one chip onto every section of the board, which means that each player has to place nine chips in total.
- You are not supposed to look at your hand or even the ‘spare’ hand.
- If you don’t have any good cards for the opening Hearts round, or for assembling a good poker hand, you can exchange them.
- The player to the left of the dealer then becomes the new dealer, and the game continues in the same way, until someone wins all the chips from the other players, or until everyone wants to end the game.
- Play starts again from the player who played the last hand. He has to play the lowest card of the opposite color suit.
- The next round is Michigan Rummy. In this, the dealer plays the lowest card in his hand.
- Depending on your hand, determine whether you want to ‘see’ the current bet, raise, or fold it.
- In the next round of Poker, take five cards to form a poker hand, and also ensure that you make the best hand possible.
- Players with Hearts cards valued 10, Jack, Queen, King, or Ace, get the chips from those respective sections. The player having both, King and Queen, gets the chips from ‘King Queen’ section.
- The first round is the Hearts round. Start by placing one chip in the ‘Pot’, and one in each section.
- Players can now look at their hands once they have ‘anted up’.
- Similarly, anyone who has an 8, 9, and 10 of the same suit gets the chips from that space. If multiple players happen to have this same sequence, the chips are then split between them.
- The dealer is then supposed to start the single round of betting, in which the chips are placed in the ‘Pot’ space.
- The player with the best hand gets all the chips from the ‘Pot’.
- If you have the next highest card, then play it. For example, if the dealer plays Two of Hearts, then the player having a Three has to play his card, followed by Four, and so on, until no one has the next highest card. This is mainly because, it may be in the ‘spare’ hand, or until someone plays the Ace of that suit.
- The player who manages to get rid of all the cards in his hand wins all the chips in the ‘Kitty’ section. Other players are then supposed to pay one chip for each of their remaining cards to the winner.
- If there are any chips remaining on the board, then a single hand of Poker can be played to determine who will get those remaining chips.
Simple, wasn’t it? Since you know the rules now, gather everything and everyone, and start playing the exciting game of Tripoley.