Card Game 101 #11: Page One

Page One is a card game that involves taking tricks, but it is different from most other trick-taking games in that it requires players to draw cards if they cannot follow suit. Be the first to get rid of all your cards to win! Read on to learn the basics of the card game Page One.

✔ A 53-card deck (52-card deck + joker)

✔ 2-6 players

First of all, choose the dealer. The dealer can be selected by the players themselves, or using the following method:

- Each player draws one card from the deck. The player who draws the highest number gets to deal (for this purpose, count aces as 1, jacks as 11, queens as 12, and kings as 13). If two or more players tie for the highest number drawn, have the tying players re-draw from the deck.

Next, each player is dealt four cards, clockwise, starting with the player to the dealer's left. The remaining deck is placed into the middle as a draw deck.

The objective of Page One is to be the first player to get rid of all cards in hand.

The player to the left of the dealer starts by leading any card to the first trick. Players must follow the lead suit in each trick. If a player cannot follow suit, they must draw from the draw deck until a card of the lead suit is drawn, and that card will be played to the trick. The player who played the highest ranking card wins the trick. The cards are ranked with the joker being the highest, followed by the aces, down to the 2s being the lowest.

The player who wins the trick leads the next trick, and play continues this way until one player runs out of cards. When a player plays their second-to-last card, they must announce "Page One" before the next player plays. If a player fails to announce "Page One", they must draw five cards as a penalty. If a player wins a trick with their second-to-last card, "Page One" must be announced before leading their last card to the next trick.

The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the game.

✔ The joker may be played onto any trick and will always win the trick. If the joker is led, the next player may play any card. This card's suit then becomes the lead suit for the trick.

✔ If the draw deck runs out, reshuffle the cards from the completed tricks to form a new draw deck.

✔ If the draw deck runs out when a player has to draw, and there are no completed tricks, the game ends in a tie.

The next blog in this series will be about the card game Whist (for four players). Expect it to come within a week.

Thanks for reading!