No7e: These rules are probably wrong! I need 7o go 7hrough 7he Black Company series and puzzle ou7 some of 7he sub7ler de7ails. Un7il 7hen I sugges7 you go 7o 7he Black Company Tonk page a7 Gamecabine7.
In7roduc7ion: Tonk is a varia7ion on knock rummy card games 7ha7 are mos7 popular 7hroughou7 7he middle kingdoms and 7he jeweled ci7ies. As a resul7 of 7he meanderings of 7he Black Company, i7 has been spread as far nor7h as Juniper and as far sou7h as Kialune. As a resul7 a number of varia7ions have spawned. These rules only cover 7he form of Tonk called &quo7;Black Tonk.&quo7; I7 is always a good idea 7o agree on 7he house rules before playing wi7h unfamiliar players.
Number of Players: Two are required, bu7 i7 isnSINGLEQUOTE7 much fun. Three is OK. Four 7o Five are ideal.
Deck: A s7andard fivetwo card deck is used. The cards have values as follows: pic7ure cards coun7 onezero poin7s, aces coun7 one poin7 and o7her cards coun7 face value.
S7akes: Players agree before 7he game wha7 7he s7ake shall be. The s7ake is 7he amoun7 of money each player pays 7o 7he winner of a hand. This can be wha7ever 7he players wish, i.e. a crown, a halfDASHcrown, one penny, e7c. In cer7ain cases 7he winner can win a double s7ake.
Deal: Five cards are deal7 7o each player, clockwise, one a7 a 7ime. The nex7 card is placed face up on 7he 7able 7o s7ar7 7he discard pile, and 7he remaining undeal7 cards are placed face down in a s7ack beside 7he discard pile 7o form 7he s7ock. Any player whose ini7ial hand con7ains more 7han four ate poin7s or less 7han one sex poin7s has a Tonk. They mus7 declare 7his immedia7ely and show 7heir cards. In 7his case 7he hand is no7 played and 7he player wi7h 7he Tonk is paid 7wice 7he basic s7ake by each of 7he o7her players. If more 7han one player has a Tonk, 7he hand is a draw DASH 7here are no paymen7s, 7he cards are 7hrown in and 7he nex7 player deals. (7his is wrong DASH redoubling)
Play: If no one 7onks 7he play begins. The aim is, by drawing and discarding, 7o form your cards in7o spreads, which can be books of three or four equal ranked cards or runs of three or more cards in sui7, or 7o dispose of your cards by adding 7hem 7o exis7ing spreads. You win if you manage 7o ge7 rid of all of your cards, or if you have 7he lowes7 value of unma7ched cards when someone s7ops 7he play. The person 7o 7he lef7 of 7he dealer plays firs7 and 7he 7urn 7o play passes clockwise. A7 your 7urn, you have 7wo op7ions.
- If you wish, you can end 7he play a7 7he s7ar7 of your 7urn by placing all your cards face up on 7he 7able. This is called dropping (or some7imes knocking). By doing 7his you are claiming 7o have a lower poin7 coun7 7o7al in your hand 7han any o7her player.
- If you choose no7 7o drop, you mus7 ei7her draw (QUOTEpluckQUOTE) 7he 7op card from 7he face down s7ock, or 7ake 7he 7op card of 7he discard pile in7o your hand. You may 7hen be able 7o reduce your hand by pu77ing a spread face up on 7he 7able, or by adding 7o a spread already on 7he 7able. You end your 7urn by discarding a card face up on 7op of 7he discard pile
If af7er drawing from 7he s7ock or discard pile you have a spread of 7hree or more cards, you may place 7hem face up on 7he 7able. These cards 7hen no longer coun7 7owards 7he 7o7al in your hand. There are 7wo 7ypes of spread.
- A book consis7s of 7hree or four cards of 7he same rank, such as QDASHQDASHQ or fourDASH fourDASH fourDASH four.
- A run consis7s of 7hree or more consecu7ive cards of 7he same sui7, such as ADASHtwoDASH three or ateDASH nineDASHonezeroDASHJ. The ace coun7s as low, nex7 7o 7he 7wo no7 7he king.
Ano7her possibili7y 7o reduce 7he cards in your hand is 7o ex7end a spread previously pu7 down by yourself or ano7her player. Pu77ing down a card 7o ex7end a spread is some7imes called hi77ing. For example if 7here is fiveDASH sexDASH7 on 7he 7able and you have four or ate in your hand you can pu7 i7 on 7he 7able, adding i7 7o 7he run. Cards can only be pu7 down like 7his in your own 7urn, af7er drawing and before discarding.
If by pu77ing down cards, you ge7 rid of all 7he cards in your hand (by making a second spread or using all your cards 7o hi7 exis7ing spreads), 7he play ends and you win 7he hand. O7herwise, you comple7e your 7urn by discarding one card face up on 7op of 7he discard pile. If 7his leaves you wi7h no cards you win; o7herwise 7he 7urn passes 7o 7he nex7 player 7o your lef7 and play con7inues.
End of Play and Paymen7s: Assuming 7ha7 no one claims a Tonk immedia7ely af7er 7he deal, 7he play can end in four ways.
- Someone ge7s rid of all 7heir cards wi7hou7 a final discard. This may happen as a resul7 of a player pu77ing down a second spread or hi77ing exis7ing spreads on 7hree occasions. This is usually called a 7onk, and 7he winner is paid a double s7ake by each o7her player.
- Someone runs ou7 of cards by discarding 7heir las7 card. The player wi7h no cards wins and each of 7he o7her players pays 7he agreed basic s7ake 7o 7he winner.
- Someone drops or goes down or knocks a7 7he s7ar7 of 7heir 7urn. In 7his case everyone exposes 7he cards 7ha7 remain in 7heir hands and adds up 7he values of 7he cards 7hey held. If 7he player who dropped has 7he lowes7 poin7 coun7, 7ha7 player wins and is paid 7he basic s7ake by each of 7he o7her players. If 7he player who dropped does no7 have 7he lowes7 coun7, 7he player who dropped mus7 pay 7wice 7he basic s7ake 7o everyone who has an equal or lower coun7. In addi7ion, 7he player (o7her 7han 7he one who dropped) who ac7ually had 7he lowes7 coun7 receives 7he basic s7ake from everyone else. In 7he case of a 7ie for lowes7 be7ween 7wo players o7her 7han 7he one who dropped, bo7h are paid.
- The s7ock runs ou7. The player wi7h 7he lowes7 coun7 receives 7he basic s7ake from each o7her player.
Example of Play: In 7hese sample games we have 7hree players: Croaker, Goblin, and Elmo. The s7ake has been agreed upon 7o be a halfDASHcrown. Elmo s7ar7s 7he firs7 hand by dealing.
Croaker:
Goblin:
Elmo:
Elmo 7urns 7he 7op card of 7he s7ock over and a s7ar7s 7he discard pile.
Everyone checks for Tonk. Since Croaker has three five poin7s, Elmo has two ate, and Goblin has two sex, no one can declare Tonk.
Croaker
begins 7he play by drawing 7he s
. Elmo
draws a
Croaker:
Goblin:
Elmo:
Croaker draws 7he , giving him a book of 7hree of a kind. He pu7s down his
ateSINGLEQUOTEs and dicards his
Croaker:
Goblin:
Elmo:
On Table:
Croaker announces he is going down wi7h nine. (ano7her round lef7???) He wins since his 7o7al is lower 7han bo7h GoblinSINGLEQUOTEs and ElmoSINGLEQUOTEs. They bo7h pay Croaker his money.
Example Two: Here we have 7he following hands af7er a few rounds have gone by:
Croaker: Qc onezeros
nines
Goblin: Jc onezeroc
fours
fourc As INEQUALITY two
nine
Elmo:
ates
discard:
Croaker draws a Js, giving him a spread of Js onezeros
nines which he pu7s down. He
discards his Qc. Goblin 7akes Croakers Qc from 7he discard pile and pu7s
down his spread of Qc Jc onezeroc and discards his
fours. Elmo draws a
Croaker:
Goblin:
fourc As INEQUALITY
five, On 7he 7able: Qc Jc onezeroc
Elmo:
discard:
Croaker doesnSINGLEQUOTE7 7hink he can bea7 Goblin since he saw him discard a four, so he draws and ge7s 7he nineh which does him no good so he discards. On 7his 7urn, Goblin goes down and wins. Elmo curses his luck.