Chicago

One game. Two kinds of judgement.

Make the best poker hand over three exchanges, then play five tricks. Follow suit if you can. There are no trumps.

• Pair 1 · Two pair 2 · Trips 3 · Straight 4 · Flush 5 · Full house 6 · Quads 8 or reset opponents.
• Exchange 0–4 cards each time. Exchange one for an open offer: keep it, or take one hidden card instead.
• Best hand scores after exchanges 1 and 2. Exchange 3 points wait until the tricks, and are cancelled by a Chicago call.
• At 45+, exchanging cards resets you to zero. The game asks you first.
• At 15+, call Chicago to try to win all five tricks. Win: +15. Fail: −15, first trick winner who breaks it +10. This preview ends that deal immediately, with no extra last-trick points.
• Without Chicago, the last trick pays 5, or 10 if won with a two.
• Reach 52 with the selected qualifying call to win. Without it, you are eliminated. A straight flush wins instantly without a call; a royal also zeroes opponents.

Game-wide qualification

A valid Chicago call anywhere in the current game qualifies you to win at 52 points. The call need not succeed. It remains recorded when a new deal begins or your points are reset.

House rules in this beta

A broken Chicago ends the deal after that completed trick; its winner receives the 10-point bonus. Successful Chicago pays 15 total, with no extra last-trick award. Choosing a quads reset ends the deal; taking 8 locks that combination to points. Third-exchange quads decisions wait until after ordinary tricks and are cancelled by a Chicago call.

Resets affect active opponents only. Ordinary last-trick points are awarded before the deferred final-hand points, checking for a winner after each award. A straight flush wins without a call and sets the winner's score to 52. All poker kickers count; current discards cannot be drawn back during the same exchange. Best-hand announcements reveal the winner and category, not every private card.

Independent research: Shuffle Me Up · The Festival · Pagat. This is an independent implementation, not their app or an official tournament client.