How to Play the Sevens Card Game

The Sevens card game goes by several different names. Names like Fan Tan, Parliament, Domino and Spoof Sevens. It’s an easy game to learn with an interesting mix of luck and strategy. Depending on how to play it has a similar feel to Play or Pay or Go Boom or even Palace.

In this post we’ll cover what you need, how to play, and rule variations for all things Sevens card game.

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What you Need

You will need a deck of cards with the jokers removed and 3 to 8 players. If you need some new cards shop here; Canadians here. We love fresh new cards and the Crazy Chicken Lady ones look fun. Of course you can’t go wrong with a classic like Peanuts cards.

How to Play the Sevens Card Game

First, shuffle the cards really well. Next, decide who will be the first dealer. That player will now deal out all of the cards one at a time. It is okay if players have different amounts of cards.

The object of Sevens is to be the first to play all of your cards.

The player with the 7 of diamonds goes first. She will place the card in the middle of the playing area, face up. Now the player to her left can play. He must play either a 7 or a card that is one higher or lower than a card on the table. In this case, he would have to play either the 6 or 8 of diamonds or a 7. If he can’t play, he knocks or passes on his turn.

Cards are placed beside the center 7 on either side. Following cards can be placed either beside the 6 or 8 to make a fan or placed on top to make piles. Cards must match the suit of the 7 in the middle.

Now the player to his left can play a card that is either one higher or lower than a card on the table or a 7. If the above player has placed the 6 of diamonds, then this player can now play wither the 8 of diamonds, the 5 of diamonds or a 7. If the play before had placed a 7 of clubs, then she could also play the 6 or 8 of clubs. Again, if this player can’t play she knocks or passes on her turn.

If you have a card that can be played you must play it.

Play continues with players placing card that are one higher or lower than the card at either end of the fan. Aces are low so can only be played after a 2. Kings and aces finish the fan on their respective ends.

Winning Sevens Card Game

The first player to shed all of their cards is the winner.

Sevens Card Game Variations

There are many variations of this game. Once you are comfortable with the basic game, try throwing in one or more of these rule changes.

The first rule change would be to allow players to place more than one card at a time. Of course all the cards you play in a turn would have to be in sequence and only in one pile and on one side of the 7.

Next up we have that the player to the dealer’s left is the first to play, no matter who has the 7 of diamonds. This player can play any 7 that she has. If she doesn’t have a 7, she passes on her turn. When playing this way, it is important to rotate the deal position.

Scoring

Another interesting way to make the game last longer and add difficulty is to add a scoring element. There a few scoring variations. First, a player gets one point for each card left in their hand. Second, the numbered cards are worth their number in points, aces are 1 point, and the face cards are all worth 10 points. Last, the numbered cards are worth the face value, aces are 1 point but the jacks are worth 11 points, the queens 12 and the kings will cost you 13 points.

The winner is either the player with the lowest score after a set amount of rounds. Or you can play until one player reaches a score of 100. The player with the lowest score when this happens is the winner.

There is one more rule change. This is that when one player shed’s their last card, everyone else gets one more turn.

Chips

You can play Sevens with poker chips, bingo markers or small candies. To start, each player puts one chip in the middle. On your turn if you are unable to play, you place a chip into the middle. At the end of the round, the winner gets all the chips in the middle and one from each player for each card they still have in their hand. For example, if you have three cards left in your hand, you need to play the winner three chips.

Can’t Play

There is a rule variation that says that if you can’t play on your turn, you get a card from the player on your left. The twist is that they choose what card you get.

Wild Jokers

In this game, you shuffle in the jokers. They are wild and can be used for any card. However, this makes the card that they are taking the place as a dead card, or unplayable. When you have this card left in your hand, it will count against you. This could get interesting when playing for points.

Double Deck Sevens Card Game

To make the game more interesting or to play with more players, you could shuffle two decks together. For this game, the first player to the dealer’s left who has the 7 of diamonds goes first. You could also play that the player on the left goes first even if they don’t have the 7 of diamonds. You could play that any 7 opens the game or that they have to pay a chip into the pot.

5 or 9

Our last variation of the Sevens cards game is actually called 5 or 9. Instead of using the 7 of diamonds to start, a player needs to open with either a 5 or a 9. Cards then go up or down from there. When a 5 is used to open a game, then all other piles need to start with a 5. The same goes for when you open with a 9, the rest of the piles need to start with a nine.

Fun For Everyone

The Sevens card game is one that is a heavily luck game but it has enough strategy in it to make it interesting and one that teens and adults will enjoy as much as the younger kids.

If you’re looking for more card games try out Play or Pay, Canadian Salad, and the Peanuts card game. Be sure to visit our Family Game Shelf shop where you’ll find tons of fun with our original and seasonal games, including our mini golf dice game Whacky Putt.