Rich man, Poor man

Two nights ago, hubby and I spent a hilarious night of goofiness with another couple and friends from their homegroup. With six of us crowding close around their kitchen table, the sugar rush from the homemade ice cream compounded the goofiness factor several times over.

The game we played was one of those hybrids that combines a standard deck of cards with the individual silliness of the players.   For a group of un-selfconscious people, (or for people who become that way when hyped on sugar), it is the perfect game!

Which I will now share with you. Ahem. 

"Rich Man, Poor Man"

SETUP:

The dealer gives cards to every player in the circle, starting with those on his/her left. If the number of cards does not deal evenly, those on the left will have more than the rest...and this is part of being "poor". :)

GOAL:

You want to get rid of all your cards as quickly as possible.  This is called "going out". 

PLAYING THE CARDS:

1) In your hand, arrange the cards by number, with 2 being the highest card, three being the lowest. (Example: 3, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, Jack, King, Ace, 2)

2) The dealer places a card (usually a low card) on the table, face up. The person to his left must then match that card (by playing the same number) or beat it (by playing a higher card). Obviously, you want to get rid of your low cards if you can, while keeping your high cards for later. 

3) 2 is the trump card! If a 2 is played, the one who played it moves the pile of cards to the side and plays whatever new card they choose.

4) Sometimes, the first one to play a card may choose to play 2 of the same card (eg. two sevens). If they do, the person to their right must play two matching cards that are also sevens or a higher value.

5) If you are unable to play a card, you must say "pass".  There is no penalty for passing, but you lose the chance to play a card. 

6) The first person to "go out" will be the "rich man" for the next round and will sit in the chair designated for this position. The next person to "go out" will be the next richest, and will sit to the rich man's right, and so on, down to the poorest person. 

7) At the beginning of the second round (as in real life) the poor get poorer and the rich get richer. The poorest person gives their two best cards to the "rich man", while the rich man gives the poorest their two worst cards.  The second-richest person also exchanges one card with the second-poorest person. 

THE FUN PART:

When you are "rich", there are certain privileges...and these can be as silly as the imagination of the rich person.  

For example, last night, I was richer than JC, so I made him sit for the rest of that round with his knees up close to his chest, looking pretty silly.  Another dude who likes to wear his hair long was told by a richer person that he had to put his hair in pigtails. (see pic!)
At one point, I had to make, um, farting noises every time I "passed" in the card game.

Obviously, these privileges are not limited only to the single person who is "richest". Anyone sitting to your right is poorer than you, and you can order them to do silly things. (One caution: DON'T make anyone do things that would make them sick, injured, or do something that goes against their conscience.)

You can imagine the chaos as we played. Pure awesomeness.