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How to Play the Card Game Pitty Pat

Skip Bo is a card game played with a special deck containing numbered cards and Skip Bo wild cards.
deck of cards image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com

Pitty Pat is a very simple matching game where suits are irrelevant and play is solely based on the rank of the cards. Most any player, from young to old, will easily pick up the rules of this card game since all you’ll need to do is match the topmost card on the pile with one from your hand. If you’re unable to play, you still have one more chance to get rid of a card by flipping over a new card from the stock deck. Most hands take only a few minutes to play, so you’ll easily be able to squeeze a game of Pitty Pat in on any given night.

Deal out the deck until each player has a total of 5 cards in his hand. The rest of the deck is placed toward the center with the top card flipped over and placed next to the deck. For the sake of explanation, this pile will be referred to as the discard pile.

Play a card on the discard pile if you have a card of the same rank as the one shown—suit is irrelevant in the game of Pitty Pat. After playing this card, lay another card on top of it. This will determine the rank of the card to be played by the next player. Refer to the next step if you are unable to play a card.

Draw a card from the deck and place it face up on the discard pile only when you do not possess a card of the same rank as the top card on the discard pile. If you now have a card of the same rank as the newly drawn card, you may place it on the discard pile at this time, followed by another card that will determine the rank of the card to be played by the next player.

Continue to play the round until one player rids his hand of cards. This player will earn 1 point towards his overall score.

Win the game of Pitty Pat by being the first player to hit 5 points.

Things You'll Need:

  • Deck of cards
  • Pad of paper
  • Pen or pencil

Tip

To determine the order of play, deal out the cards face up until on player is dealt a jack. This player will act as the first dealer. Play will move to his left in a clockwise direction around the table. Subsequent deals will follow this same path.

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