Introduction

FiftySix is one of the best games among the innumerable card games out there. The uniqueness of this game is the way it helps to build one's memory power, sharpen logical thinking, strategy planning, and the abundant fun and joy it gives. It is a popular card game among families and friends in Kerala and it can be played with 4, 6 or 8 players. The game is played between 2 teams using a few selected cards from 2 decks of normal playing cards. This game will improve one’s skills in ‘simple maths’ for sure.

The Cards used

J,9,A,10,K & Q

As we know, there are 4 categories (suits) of cards in a deck. When the 6 cards shown above are taken from each suit, it makes (4 X 6) 24 cards. Since 2 decks are used, it becomes a total of 48 cards.

	Jacks	Nines	Aces	Tens	Kings	Queens	Total
Spades	2	2	2	2	2	2	12
Clubs	2	2	2	2	2	2	12
Diamonds	2	2	2	2	2	2	12
Hearts	2	2	2	2	2	2	12
Total Cards	8	8	8	8	8	8	48

When 48 cards are equally divided (dealt) among 6 players, every one gets 8 cards each. (When 8 people play, 8 & 7 cards are also used, so that each player still gets 8 cards). As this game uses a trump, it is important to understand how many cards are there in each suit (category). For example, if Clubs is made as the trump, and since there are 12 cards in clubs, there will be a total number of 12 trumps for that round of game. (For an 8 player game, there will be 16 trumps).

The Points System

As mentioned earlier, only the following cards (from both the decks) are used for playing 56. . Each of these cards hold points as shown below.

J	9	A	10	K	Q
3	2	1	1	0	0

(The 8s and 7s used, when 8 people play, hold 0 points each) .

Now, let us have a look at the point system. As shown in the table, the total points in one category(suit) is 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 0 + 0 = 7 points. Cards of all four suits put together make 28 points(7 X 4). And with 2 decks, it becomes a total of 28 X 2 = 56 points. Now you know, why the game is known as 56.

Power Hierarchy

J ,9, A, 10, K, Q is the ranking order. The aim of the game for both the teams is to collect the maximum number of points in their hold. When the round starts, whichever team played the Jack of the same genre first, gets all the cards played in that round (unless any player “cuts” with a Trump). If nobody played a Jack, the hold goes to the next power card 9 and then Ace,10,King,Queen...... Since there are 2 Jacks, 2 Nines and so on, the hold goes to the person(team) who played the first highest point card.

Tokens (Rewards)

In the beginning each team will be given with 12 tokens aka bases. Usually, the unused portion of the deck is used as the bases.Each card is treated as 1 token. At the end of every round of game, the winning or the defeater team gets bases from the opposite team.

The Game

The game is a competition of bidding and winning the bid points. An important aspect of this game is that, defeating a bidder team has more rewards than a bidding team can get by winning. So, at the time of bidding it is important to see whether you can defeat the other team than bidding and winning, unless your bidding is for a higher stake. The game is played in multiple rounds till one of the teams runs out of tokens.

Team selection

All players are made to sit in a circle and the cards are dealt one by one. The first 3 people (for 6 player game) who get an Ace is in one team. Others are seated alternatively.

Seating for 6 player game

You may build your own team with a mutual agreement as well.

Card dealing

The sorted 48 cards are shuffled well and the person sitting next to the shuffler has to approve the shuffling. He / She can re-arrange the shuffled cards with one hand upto a maximum of three times. Normally he takes a portion of the cards from the top and asks the shuffler to start dealing the cards starting from the other portion. This approval process is also known as a ‘Cut’. The shuffler distributes the cards (four at a time) in a circular way, usually clockwise and the person sitting on the right does the approval cut. The card distribution starts by giving 4 cards each to all players in an order, starting first from the person sitting on the left of the dealer and ending by taking the last 4 cards for himself. It takes two rounds to distribute 48 cards and all players get 8 cards each. Players must ensure that only they see the inside of their cards. Both dealing as well as playing the game rounds (tricks) can be done either in clockwise or anti-clockwise directions. However, once the first round of dealing is done in any one direction, it cannot be changed later.

Calls

Calling out the bids and remembering other's calls is the most crucial part of this game. Calls are to inform what powers you hold and also to enquire what cards your partners hold. Since calls are open, your opposite team will also come to know what cards your team has. Calls are also made in the same order of cards dealt and gives a chance for every player to call. Calls have the following intentions.

1. Find out what could be a strong trump between the partners.
2. What is the maximum point your team can grab in that round?
3. Is it better to play with a trump or without a trump (aka 'no-trump')?
4. Is it better to keep bidding or try to defeat the opposite team's bid? (Remember, that fetches more rewards)?
5. To announce how well a team members can support a partner's bid with their cards.
6. To make a game plan with a foolproof strategy.

The first and foremost duty of a team member is to support the bidder of his team, by announcing (through calls) the cards he has, in terms of power and the count of cards in the same suit. He has to do this at the first chance he gets to call. In subsequent call turns he may anoounce the other powerful cards he has got. If he has a good hand in a different suit, he can propose a new trump as well.

Bid Rules

Player sitting next to the dealer opens the bid. The minimum bid is 28. If he doesn't have any good cards worth calling, he may 'pass' the call to the next player. However, this pass will be considered as 28 no-trump if the calling round ends without any other calls, and played as a no-trump round.

Call rounds are in the same order of dealing, starting with the opener and then gives a chance to the person sitting next to him (opposite team) to call his cards. He can pass or call his strengths. Next person to call is the player 2 of the first bidder's team and he may support the first caller indicating what he holds in the same suit. Calls must indicate what trump one is proposing and the strength in that suit. Normally one would begin a call only if he has minimum 4 cards with a Jack in any suit. So, let us assume that the opening bidder has a Jack, Ace, 10 and a King in clubs, he may call '28 clubs'. (Please note that calling '28 Clubs' and 'Clubs 28' have different meaning that we will discuss later). The following table gives an idea what to call in different scenarios.

Jacks	Nines	Aces	Tens	Kings	Queens	Total	Call
1	0	1	1	0	1	4	28 Clubs
1	1	1	1	1	2	7	28 Clubs
2	0	1	0	0	1	4	29 Clubs
2	1	1	0	0	0	4	30 Clubs
2	2	0	1	0	0	5	31 Clubs

Observe the different call numbers depending on the number of Jacks and nines. The above examples are in scenarios where one has atleast 4 cards including a Jack.This is also known as a straight call. Imagine you have only 3 cards including a Jack, then the call should be 'Plus Clubs'. If you have 4 cards including a nine, the call should be "Clubs 28' and with 3 club cards including a nine, the call would be 'Clubs plus.'

Calls and meanings

The main idea behind the call bidding is to understand what others are holding as well as to show your team members what you are holding. This enables to create a proper game strategy for both the teams. The core of the game is the strategy, like what card to play when your turn comes and what support one can get from the team members. So, extreme care is needed in how you make bid calls. A few standard calls and its meanings are given below.

1. Starting Calls

Call	Meaning	Intention
28 Spades*	I have a Jack and 3 or more cards in spades	Proposing spades as trump
29 Spades	I have 2 Jack and 3 or more cards in spades	Strenth of spades as trump
Plus Spades	I have 3 spades including the Jack	Normally a support call
Plus 1 Spades	Have a Spades Jack with another spade	Normally a support call
Spades 28*	Have 4 or more Spades with a 9	Proposal to make Spades as trump
Nos	Dont have any cards of previous callers bid	Indicates this suit is a cut if not a trump
Plus 1 Nos**	Have 1 card of previous callers bid	Indicates its a cut in the second round.
Plus 2 Nos***	Do not have any cards of 2nd previous callers bid	Indicates its a cut in the second round.

* Note the difference in the meaning of '28 Spades' and 'Spades 28'
** The call increments by one
*** The call increments by two
Please note that these calls are essentially needed especially when the stakes are high.

Unconventional practices

Calls and Rewards

Calling out the bids and remembering other's calls is the most crucial part of this game. Calls are to inform what powers you hold and also to enquire what cards your partners hold. Since calls are open, your opposite team members also comes to know what cards your team is in possession.

Call	Bidding Team wins	Bidding Team loses
28	Gets 1 base from opp. team	Gives 2 bases to opposite team
40	Gets 2 base from opp. team	Gives 3 bases to opposite team
44	Gets 3 base from opp. team	Gives 4 bases to opposite team
48	Gets 4 base from opp. team	Gives 5 bases to opposite team
56	Gets 5 base from opp. team	Gives 6 bases to opposite team

Double and Re-double

If a player in the opposite team feels that his team can defeat the bidding team, he can call a "double" which means that he is callenging that bid with an extra base. If the bidding team fails, they need to give an extra base than the normal and if they win, they get 1 base extra from the oppositee team.