How to Play the Queen of Spades Card Game

If you're sitting around on a rainy afternoon, try playing the Queen of Spades card game. The game is ideal for a group of 4 to 10 people; the more players you have to participate in the game, the better the game will go. With its clear objective, slight level of difficulty and requirement for concentration and competitive thinking, the Queen of Spades card game is an especially good game if you have a very energetic group of players.

State that the objective of the game is to be the first to get to 2,000 points so that each person in the game knows what he is playing for.

Split the group into two teams, either randomly or by choice. Have teammates sit so that they are not next to each other, but spaced so that someone from the other team is in between them.

Decide on one person to be the team's "bank."

Determine who will be the dealer. Have the dealer shuffle the three decks of cards and then cut the deck randomly.

Hand out 13 cards to each player from the deck that you cut, if you are the dealer. If you, as the dealer, manages to get exactly 13 cards to each player with no cards left, your team starts off with 100 points. In this case, write on the paper that your team has acquired 100 points.

Place the deck in the middle of the table or game surface so that it is face down and flip the top card over. From here, the person to the left of the dealer goes first, and the game continues on in a clockwise fashion.

Grab the top card off of the deck that is face down on the table when it is your turn. Or, if you already have two of the same card as the one that is facing up on the table, you may take that one. The objective of your turn is to get three of a kind and place it in your "bank." Twos are wild cards. Jokers are automatically placed in the bank. If you take this top card, you have to take the entire pile of cards.

Give your bank all of your three-of-a-kind cards to finish your turn. Give your bank any Jokers that you have as well. You may also discard certain cards onto the pile: if you have a 2, your bank can put it in a pile that does not have a 2 in it, and if you have a card that is already three-of-a-kind in your bank, you can place it in the same pile.

Repeat Step 7 with each player until the first player is out of the game by no longer having any cards.

The bank adds up all of the total points. Cards 3 through 10 are each 5 points. Jacks, Queens and Kings are all 10 points each, aside from the Queen of Spades, which is 100 points. Aces and 2s are 20 points. Whichever team wins the hand adds the points to its score. The losing team of that hand adds up the amount of points that it is still holding in its players' hands and then detracts that from its total score.

Hands continue to be played until the first team reaches 2,000 points.