Tablanette is a unique four-deal game that involves addition, foresight, and strategy to discard the correct sequence of cards. Tablanette is played with two players, and the object is to discard your cards to pick up table cards and score points. The kings, queens, jacks, and tens score you points, along with the 2. The game uses a standard pack of fifty-two cards.

Rules of Play

The first dealer, who is randomly selected, deals six cards face down to each player and four cards face up to the middle of the table. If a jack is played face up, it is removed to the bottom of the stack and another card is dealt to the middle of the table.

The dealer's opponent starts by playing the first card. If a player lays down a card with a value equal to any of the four cards on the table, he picks up that card, leaving the card he played on the table. If any two or three cards on the table add up to the value of the card that was played, he can pick up all of those cards. During play, kings have a value of fourteen, queens have a value of thirteen, jacks have a value of zero, the number cards count as their face value, and aces can have a value of eleven or one. For example, you can lay down a king and pick up an ace and a three (counting the ace with a value of eleven). Or you can lay down a seven and pick up a six and an ace (counting the ace as a value of one).

The player then takes any card(s) he has removed and places it face down in front of him to create a pile. If he's able to take all of the cards on the table, he announces “Tablanette” and takes all those cards, including the card he laid down. This play is worth double points when it comes time to score the hand. The jack is a special card, and if you are dealt a jack, you can play it to pick up all the cards on the table. Since a jack is worth zero, you do not score any additional points on a Tablanette.

Players take alternate turns until all of their hands of six cards have been played. The dealer deals six new cards and play continues as above, followed by two more deals of six cards and play in between. If any cards remain on the table, the last player to take a card from the table gets to take the remaining cards.

Scoring the Game

Each player scores points for various cards that are captured during play. You score one point for the 2 and two points for the 10. You also score one point each for any king, queen, jack, or ten in your hand. If you have won more than twenty-seven cards, you score an additional three points. The first player to reach 251 points wins!