# Pips

> Pips (pips.club) teaches classic card games with clear, step-by-step rules and an animated table. Every game follows the same seven steps: At a glance, Setup, The deal, A turn, Special cards, Scoring, Winning.

## Games
- [How to play Crazy Eights](https://pips.club/crazy-eights.md): Learn Crazy Eights in five minutes: deal five cards, match the pile by suit or rank, play a wild 8 when you are stuck, and score the cards left in other hands.
- [How to play Spades](https://pips.club/spades.md): Learn Spades step by step: partners sit opposite, bid the tricks you can win, follow suit, trump with spades and score 10 per trick bid. Bags, nil and breaking spades explained.
- [How to play Canasta](https://pips.club/canasta.md): Learn classic four-player Canasta: two decks and four jokers, 11 cards each, melds of the same rank, wild 2s and jokers, red and black threes, the frozen pile, canastas and scoring to 5,000.
- [How to play War](https://pips.club/war.md): Learn War in two minutes: split the deck, flip at the same time, the higher card takes both, and a tie means war. The player who wins every card wins.
- [How to play Go Fish](https://pips.club/go-fish.md): Learn Go Fish: deal 7 cards (5 with four or more players), ask other players for a rank you hold, go fish when they have none, and collect books of four. Most books wins.
- [How to play Rummy](https://pips.club/rummy.md): Learn basic Rummy: deal 10 cards for two players, draw from the stock or discard pile, meld sets and runs, lay off on melds, discard, and go out first. Scoring and going rummy explained.
- [How to play Gin Rummy](https://pips.club/gin-rummy.md): Learn Gin Rummy for two players: 10 cards each, draw and discard to build sets and runs, knock with 10 or less deadwood or go gin, and score to 100.
- [How to play Hearts](https://pips.club/hearts.md): Learn Hearts for four players: pass three cards, the 2 of clubs leads, follow suit, avoid hearts and the queen of spades, and shoot the moon. Lowest score at 100 wins.
- [How to play Klondike Solitaire](https://pips.club/klondike.md): Learn Klondike solitaire: deal seven columns, build down in alternating colours, turn up hidden cards, use the stock, and build each suit from ace to king on the foundations.
- [How to play Texas Hold’em](https://pips.club/texas-holdem.md): Learn Texas Hold’em poker: blinds, two hole cards, betting on the flop, turn and river, the best five-card hand from seven, and every poker hand ranked.
- [How to play Blackjack](https://pips.club/blackjack.md): Learn Blackjack at home: beat the dealer’s total without going over 21. Card values, hit, stand, double down, split, and why a natural pays 3 to 2.
- [How to play Cribbage](https://pips.club/cribbage.md): Learn two-player Cribbage: deal six, throw two to the crib, peg fifteens, pairs, runs and 31 in the play, then count hands and crib. First to 121 wins.
- [How to play Euchre](https://pips.club/euchre.md): Learn Euchre: 24 cards, five each, order up or name trump, the right and left bowers, take three of five tricks with your partner, go alone and play to 10.
- [How to play Whist](https://pips.club/whist.md): Learn classic Whist: four players in two teams, 13 cards each, the last card sets trump, follow suit, and score a point for every trick over six. First to 5 wins.
- [How to play Oh Hell](https://pips.club/oh-hell.md): Learn Oh Hell (Oh Pshaw, Nomination Whist): 3 to 7 players, hands that shrink and grow, bid your exact tricks, the dealer’s hook rule, and 10 points plus your bid.
- [How to play President](https://pips.club/president.md): Learn President, also called Scum: deal the whole deck, beat the last play with more of a higher rank, pass when you like, go out first and swap cards as President.
- [How to play Cheat](https://pips.club/cheat.md): Learn Cheat, also called I Doubt It or Bullshit: deal every card, play face down and claim the next rank, call “Cheat!” on a liar, and be first to empty your hand.
- [How to play Speed](https://pips.club/speed.md): Learn Speed: 20 cards each, a hand of five, two centre piles, and no turns. Play one higher or one lower as fast as you can, flip from the side piles when stuck.
- [How to play Old Maid](https://pips.club/old-maid.md): Learn Old Maid: take one queen out, deal all the cards, throw out pairs, draw blind from your neighbour, and don’t be the one left holding the odd queen.
- [How to play Spider Solitaire](https://pips.club/spider.md): Learn Spider solitaire: two decks, ten columns, build down in any suit, move same-suit runs, deal ten from the stock, and clear eight runs from king to ace.

## Knowledge base
- [A short history of playing cards](https://pips.club/history-of-playing-cards): The history of playing cards in plain English: Chinese origins, Mamluk cards, the arrival in Europe in the 1370s, the French suits, tarot, corner indices, the joker and the modern 52-card deck.
- [Anatomy of a deck](https://pips.club/anatomy-of-a-deck): How a standard 52-card deck works: the four suits, the thirteen ranks, court cards, aces, jokers, indices and pips, card sizes, and how many ways a deck can be shuffled.
- [How to shuffle and deal](https://pips.club/how-to-shuffle-and-deal): Learn to shuffle cards three ways (overhand, riffle and the wash), why seven riffle shuffles are enough, how to cut, and how to deal cards the standard way.
- [Choosing a deck](https://pips.club/choosing-a-deck): A plain guide to buying playing cards: plastic versus paper, poker size versus bridge size, jumbo index for easy reading, and how many decks each game needs.
- [Which deck for which game](https://pips.club/which-deck-for-which-game): A quick reference: how many decks and cards you need for Canasta, Spider, Euchre, Blackjack, Cribbage and 15 more card games, and which deck suits each game.
- [Glossary](https://pips.club/glossary): plain-English definitions of card game terms.

## Decks we recommend
- Bicycle Standard (Bicycle, US Playing Card Co.): The classic. The deck most people picture. Poker size, standard faces, shuffles well. If you buy one deck, make it this.
- Copag 1546 plastic, double deck (Copag): Lasts for years. Two 100% plastic decks in a hard case. Washable and hard to bend, and a double deck is what Canasta and Spider need.
- Bicycle Jumbo Index (Bicycle, US Playing Card Co.): Easy to read. Extra-large numbers and suits. Readable across the table, for kids learning their first game and grandparents alike.
- Waddingtons No. 1 (Winning Moves UK): The British classic. The pack found in British homes for generations. Paper cards with a linen finish that fan and shuffle smoothly.
- theory11 Monarchs (theory11): The gift. A luxury deck with a navy and gold tuck box. The one to give, or to bring out when the good whisky is poured.
- Piatnik 100% Plastic, bridge size (Piatnik, Vienna): For big hands. Two plastic decks in the narrower bridge size, 58 × 89 mm. Easier to hold when your hand has 13 cards or more.
- Fournier Nº 818 (Heraclio Fournier): From Spain. A French-suited poker deck with jumbo indices from the Spanish maker Fournier. Paper; the Nº 2800 is its 100% plastic twin.
- Bicycle Canasta Games (Bicycle, US Playing Card Co.): Learning Canasta. Point values printed on every card and the wild cards highlighted, so new players can count their melds without a table.
- Bicycle Prestige (Bicycle, US Playing Card Co.): Plastic Bicycle. The familiar Bicycle faces on 100% plastic cards, with a carrying case. Wipe them clean after snacks at the table.
- Bicycle Invisible Deck (Bicycle trick deck): For magic tricks. A classic trick deck: a friend names any card, and it turns out to be the only one upside down in the deck.

## Coming soon
- Bridge
- Pinochle
- Klaverjassen
- Pesten
- Durak
- Skat
- Belote
- Scopa
- Briscola
- Cassino
- Rummy 500
- Kings in the Corner
- Egyptian Ratscrew
- Slapjack
- Spoons
- Golf
- FreeCell
- Pyramid
- Omaha Hold’em
- Seven-Card Stud
- Five Hundred
- Hand and Foot
- Nertz
- Big Two