Back when I was little, the cool thing to do (to pass the time) was play cards. So as a kid, I always had a deck handy. It never really got boring because there were so many different games we all knew how to play - Kemps, Trumps, Speed, Frustration, Rich Man / Poor Man, B.S. – it was just one of those things we all learned growing up.
So I was really surprised when I went over to play cards with some friends at Brian’s house that no one knew half the games I was talking about! And the one they did know how to play (B.S.) they were playing INCORRECTLY!
See, THIS is how you play:
- The deck is dealt out so each player has an equal number of cards.
- Whoever has the 2 of Clubs goes first. - The first player puts down some cards (face down) and claims that they’re 1 or more of the same rank of cards. (ex. “I put down two 7s”)
- Every other player then has to put down cards either of the same rank (7s in this case) or bluff and just say they are.
- this can go on for a while. (Ex. There can be up to 52 claimed “7s” in a pile if no one calls “B.S.”)
- If one player thinks another one is lying on their last claim, they can call “B.S.” on it.
- if they lied, they have to take the whole pile of cards up until that point into their hand
- if they told the truth, the person who called “B.S.” has to take all the cards.
- Object of the game is to get rid of all your cards without anyone calling “B.S.” on you.
But everyone there had this crazy idea that every player had to claim a different rank when they put down cards. - Ex. If I claimed “two 7s,” the next player would have to claim (at least) “one 8,” and then “9s,” etc. etc.
SO CRAZY, AMIRITE??
But I went on Wikipedia to look it up and apparently there are variations on how the game is played. Wikipedia calls the way I play it – “the Hawaiian version.”
If you ask me – my variation on the game is WAAAY more fun.
Then I tried looking up the other games I knew – but they weren’t there. I can’t believe no one else knows how to play Rich Man / Poor Man, Trumps, or Frustration.
Frustration my favorite to play as a kid!
So to end this post, I’m gonna write out how to play in hopes of ‘keeping it alive’:
HOW TO PLAY "FRUSTRATION"
DEALING CARDS:
- 2 person “card-shedding” game of speed.
- Each player is dealt half the deck evenly and keeps it in their hand without looking at it.
- To end up with the least amount of cards in your hand by the end of the game.
HOW TO PLAY:
- Both players line up facing each other, mirroring each other, and each put down 4 cards in a row face-up. (so there’s two rows of 4 cards)
- Whenever either player sees a pair of cards of the same rank (i.e. “two jacks”) in these rows, they have to place another card on top to “cover them”
- Both players can’t cover the same card. Whoever puts a card there first gets to keep it there.
- This continues until a player has no more cards left in his hand this player yells “Frustration” and gathers all the cards in their row up to form a new hand.
- Repeat (indefinitely?) until both players decide someone has a significantly smaller hand than the other. This person is the winner.
STRATEGY / HINTS:
- It’s helpful to look for pairs that are both in your opponents row because you will get rid of more cards that way.
ANYONE ELSE HEARD OF THESE GAMES?? WHAT (CARD) GAMES DID YOU PLAY AS A KID??
