Two to eight.(Use two straight decks--including jokers—for 4 or more players)
To have the lowest point count after 11 hands.
There are 11 deals. The first hand dealt is one of three cards. When the play of that hand is over,
the second hand dealt will be four cards. When that hand is over, the third hand dealt will five cards. And so on.
The player to the left of the dealer starts the play. When it's a player's turn, he or she has
the option of taking a card from the draw pile OR taking a card from the discard pile. If the player can
not then declare "Pay Me!" (see below), he or she discards a card onto the discard pile, and play passes
to the next player on the left. Play continues until one player can declare "Pay Me!" (see below). At that
time, each of the other player--in turn--gets to draw one more card from the draw pile or discard pile
and then discards to the discard pile. When all players have completed this last draw, the player who
declared "Pay Me!" shows his or her meld, and all other players then lay down their melds and play off
on the melds of the "Pay Me!" declarer. When all cards are melded or played off that can be, penalties
are assessed for all unmelded cards. The score tallied for each player is the point value (penalty) of
each unmelded card.
Valid melds consist of Sets--three or more cards of the same denomination- -and/or Runs--
three or more cards in sequence in the same suit. Wild cards can be used in forming a meld .
Wild cards are determined by the number of cards dealt. So which denomination is
wild changes with each hand dealt. For instance, iIf three cards are dealt, the wild card is a three. If ten
cards are dealt, the wild card is a ten. If thirteen cards are dealt, the wild card is a King.
A player can declare "Pay Me!" when he or she can meld out, with a
discard.
When a player melds out, all other players tally up the point values for all cards
remaining in their hands. The point values for each player's unmelded cards are added to their
respective scores.
2 thru 10 face value, Jack thru King counts 10, Aces count 15, and Jokers count 25.
To play, each player puts 50 cents in the pot. When a player wins a hand (Calls PAY ME!)
each remaining player pays him or her a dime.