Big Two

Big Two uses one standard 52-card deck with no jokers and no wild cards. Shuffle and deal all the cards: each of the four players gets 13 cards. There is no kitty and no bidding.

Ranks run from low to high: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2. The two is the highest rank, which is where the name comes from.

Suits also have an order: diamonds < clubs < hearts < spades. Suits only matter when ranks are equal, so the 3 of diamonds is the lowest card in the deck and the 2 of spades is the highest.

The player holding the 3 of diamonds leads, and the first play of the game must include the 3 of diamonds. It can go out as a single, or inside a pair, a triple or a five-card hand, for example the 3 of diamonds with the 3 of clubs as a pair, or a straight that starts with it. The first player cannot pass.

After that, play goes around the table in seat order.

Every play in Big Two is one card, two cards, three cards or five cards:

• Single: any one card. Compare rank first, then suit, so the king of hearts beats the king of clubs.
• Pair: two cards of the same rank. Compare rank first; with equal ranks, the pair holding the higher suit wins, so 9♠ 9♦ beats 9♥ 9♣.
• Triple: three cards of the same rank, compared by rank only.
• Straight: five cards in sequence that are not all the same suit.
• Flush: five cards of one suit that are not in sequence.
• Full house: a triple plus a pair, such as 8-8-8 with J-J, compared by the rank of the triple.
• Four of a kind: four cards of the same rank plus any single card, compared by the rank of the four.
• Straight flush: five cards in sequence, all of one suit.

You can never play four cards. Four of a kind has to go out with one extra card as a five-card hand, and two pairs cannot be played together.

There are ten possible straights, and straight flushes use the same ten sequences. From lowest to highest:

A-2-3-4-5 < 2-3-4-5-6 < 3-4-5-6-7 < 4-5-6-7-8 < … < 10-J-Q-K-A

• A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest straight and counts its top card as the 5; 2-3-4-5-6 counts its top card as the 6.
• 10-J-Q-K-A is the highest straight.
• J-Q-K-A-2, Q-K-A-2-3 and K-A-2-3-4 are not straights and cannot be played.

Two straights are compared by the rank of their top card, then by the suit of that top card. Straight flushes are compared the same way.

A play must always have the same number of cards as the play it follows. Singles, pairs and triples can only be beaten by the same kind of hand. Five-card hands can beat each other across types, in this order:

straight < flush < full house < four of a kind < straight flush

So if the last play was a straight, you can answer with a higher straight or with any flush, full house, four of a kind or straight flush. Within one type:

• Straights and straight flushes: top card rank, then top card suit.
• Flushes: suit first, so a spade flush beats a heart flush; with the same suit, compare the highest card.
• Full house and four of a kind: the rank of the triple or of the four.

There are no bombs in Big Two. Four of a kind and straight flushes are the strongest hands, but they can only beat other five-card plays, never a single or a pair, and they do not double the score.

When it is your turn to follow, you may play a higher hand or pass. Big Two does not force you to beat: you may pass even when you could play. Passing is not final either. If the round comes back to you, you can still play.

When the other three players pass in a row, the round ends. The last player who played starts a new round and may lead any legal hand. The leader cannot pass.

The game ends as soon as one player has played all 13 cards. That player wins, and each of the other three pays according to the cards left in hand:

The winner collects the total from all three, so the four scores add up to zero. The result panel lists every player's cards left, tier and payment, so you can check the arithmetic yourself.

Big Two is the English name for a game known as 锄大地 in Cantonese-speaking regions and 大老二 in Taiwan. English players also call it Deuces or Big Deuce, and in Southeast Asia it is widely played as Pusoy Dos in the Philippines and Capsa in Indonesia. The core is the same everywhere: four players each play for themselves, with no partners, and the first to shed all 13 cards wins.

Compared with other climbing games such as Dou Di Zhu or Pao De Kuai, Big Two stands out for two things: suits have a rank and five-card hands borrowed from poker. Two cards of the same rank can still be separated by suit, and straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kind and straight flushes all compete with one another. A good five-card hand gets rid of a lot of cards at once and is often the best way to win back the lead.

The game opens straight in your browser with no download and no sign-up, and it works in portrait or landscape on a phone as well as on a computer. You sit at the bottom with three computer opponents on your left, across and right. Choose Easy, Medium or Hard difficulty.

• Opening lead: the table shows who holds the 3 of diamonds, and when you lead first that card is highlighted.
• Hint: tap Hint to see one legal play. Hints follow the rule that the first play must include the 3 of diamonds.
• Clear reasons for illegal plays: for example the hand is not a valid combination, has the wrong number of cards, does not beat the last play, or leaves out the 3 of diamonds. An illegal play never changes the game, and your selected cards stay selected so you can adjust.
• Hand labels: straights, flushes, full houses, four of a kind and straight flushes are labelled where they land, so you always know what you need to beat.
• Last-card warning: when a player is down to one card, their seat keeps showing a warning.
• Card counter: tracks which of the 52 cards have not appeared yet.
• Skip and fast-forward: skip the deal animation, and fast-forward while the three computer players take their turns.
• Autosave: reload the page, rotate your phone or enter and leave full screen, and the game continues from the same position.

There is no undo, because every card you play has already been seen by the other three players. Every game is a fresh deal, and whoever holds the 3 of diamonds leads.

Plan your five-card hands first. Look for straights, flushes and full houses as soon as you see your hand. One five-card play sheds five cards at once, much faster than breaking them into singles and pairs. The same cards can often be grouped in several ways, so choose the grouping that gives your loose low cards somewhere to go.

Get rid of low cards early. Small singles such as the 3 of diamonds or the 4 of clubs are the hardest to shed, because they only go out when you lead. When you win the lead, fold them into a combination or lead them as singles.

Twos and spades are control. The two is the highest rank and the 2 of spades is the highest single in the game. Do not spend a two in the first round; keep it to win back the lead or to stop an opponent who is close to going out.

Passing is a real option. Big Two never forces you to beat. You can pass on a small pair and save your good cards for a more important round, and you can still play if the round comes back to you.

Watch the player with fewest cards. When someone is down to one card, stop leading small singles that let them go out; lead pairs or five-card hands instead, or cover their single with a high one. At the same time, remember that holding ten or more cards doubles what you pay per card, so even in a bad game try to shed enough to get below ten.