CALIFORNIA JACK is a game arising from All Fours, but it uses the full pack rather than the shortened pack, and is more complex and skillful. It is thought by most to be better than the original poker game.

A good California Jac hand. There are two good cards for trick-winning and three for losing.

NUMBER OF PALYERS

California Jack can only be played satisfactorily by two players.

CARDS

California Jack is played with the full pack 52 cards, the Ace ranking high, the 2 low. The non-dealer cuts the pack and exposes the bottom card to decide the trump suit.

The dealer deals six cards, one at a time, to each online poker player, and places the remainder of the pack face upwards on the table, taking the precaution to square it up so that only the top card can be seen.

THE PLAY

The non-dealer leads to the first trick. The winner of a trick takes the top card of the stock, the loser the next card. A player must follow suit if he can, and he loses one point if he revokes.

When the stock is exhausted and the last six cards have been played, the tricks won by each player are examined, and one point is scored for winning High (Ace of trumps), Low ( 2 of trumps ), Jack (Jack of trumps) and Game (majority of points, counting each Ace won as four points, each King as three points, each Queen as two points, each Jack as one point and each 10 as ten points).

The game is won by the player who first scores ten points. The player should aim to keep both winning and losing cards in his hand because if the exposed card of the stock is valuable he will wish to win it, but if it is not, he will wish to lose the trick on the chance of the next card of the stock being a more valuable one. The 10s, of course, are the cards to go for.

SHASTA SAM

This is a variation of the game in which the stock is placed face downwards on the table instead of face upwards. It is a less skilful game as, of course, the winner of a trick does not know what card he will draw poker.

Games for Five or More Players