Tonk
From Glen Cook Wiki
Tonk is a card game for two or more players, preferably played with at least three or four players. It is the favorite pastime of the Black Company; anytime the Company halts marching for fifteen minutes or more, someone starts a Tonk game. Generally the Company soldiers play for money. The game is simple and enough of it is explained in the books to enable an adaptation of the rules that fits the games played in the text.
Contents |
Setup
First, players must determine the type and value of the pay-out. This can be whatever you like, e.g. a chip, a quarter, or 10 jellybeans. This will be what you will get from the other players when you win. The pay-out amount can vary from hand to hand.
Designate one player as the dealer.
Using a standard 52 card poker deck, the dealer deals each player five cards. The remaining cards become the draw pile. The top card from the draw pile is placed face up next to the draw pile to become the discard pile.
Each card has a value. Each face card (jack, queen, or king) is worth 10. Aces are worth 1. All other cards have a value equal to their number, e.g. a Three of Spades is worth 3, a Nine of Clubs is worth 9 and so on.
Play
Immediately after the deal, all players check their hands for Tonk. A player has Tonk if the total value of the cards in their hand is 15 or less, or greater than 48, i.e. 49 or 50. A player with Tonk may call it out by saying "Tonk!" If only one player is claiming Tonk, then that player wins, and all other players owe the winner twice the pay-out amount.
It is possible for multiple players to have a Tonk. In these cases, the lowest valued Tonk wins unless all the Tonks are 49 or greater. In that case, the player with a Tonk value of 50 wins. If there is a tie of Tonk values, then the game is a draw, and there are no pay-outs (Optionally, the first caller of Tonk must pay the "pot" double the pay-out, with the next winner getting the contents of the "pot" in addition to her normal winnings).
If no players have Tonk, then normal play proceeds with the player to the left of the dealer. N.B. A player can only get Tonk immediately after cards have been dealt. Later in the game, the value of their hands may be less than 15 or greater than 48, but it isn't a Tonk.
- Jeff Warren writes:
- The strategy of the first play off the deal is pretty complex. You don't need to call Tonk if you have one in hopes of burning another player during the game or off the deal. There is a brief period of time between the deal and the first pickup for the calling of Tonk (the average time is approximately 10 seconds). This is a courtesy time alloted by the first player to the rest of the table.
Once play has begun, a player has two paths to choose from, and can choose one or the other, but not both during their current turn. The first path is called "Going Down", and it is an attempt to win the game. To go down, the player drops her cards announcing the total value of her hand. If her hand has the lowest point value, she wins, and all other players must pay her the pay-out. If, however, she doesn't have the lowest point value, then she must pay each player who has a point value that is equal or lower than her own, double the pay-out. This is called "Getting Burned." Everyone else must pay the winner(s) the normal pay-out amount.
In the second path, the player must take either the top card from the draw pile or the top card from the discard pile into her hand. Afterwards, if she has three of a kind, four of a kind, or a spread of three or more cards of the same suit in numerical order [order is Ace Two Three...Ten Jack Queen King] (like a straight flush) she may put those cards out of her hand in front of her. Cards put out in this manner no longer count towards the total value of the player's hand. Also, a player may add to any spreads already on the table at either end of the spread, even those in front of other players. A player may not add to three (or four) of a kinds already on the table, only spreads. If a player manages to get rid of all her cards during her turn, she has won the game and all other players pay her the pay-out. If any cards remain in her hand, the player must discard one card onto the discard pile. If discarding leaves the player with no cards, she wins. If she hasn't won, play proceeds to the next player.
Examples of play from the books
Example One
[Key: K = King, Q = Queen, J = Jack, A = Ace, 2-10 = number card c = clubs, d = diamonds, h = hearts, s = spades.]
After dealing we have:
- Croaker: 10s 8d 8h 5s 4c = 35
- Goblin: Kc 10c 3c 2s Ah = 26
- Elmo: Qh 8c 6d 2d 2c = 28
- discard: 5c
After Elmo deals, everyone checks for Tonk, but nobody has it. Croaker doesn't want the five of clubs (5c) on the discard pile so he draws from the draw pile getting the six of spades (6s), and discards his ten (10c). Goblin draws the Ace of clubs (Ac), and discards his king. Elmo draws the seven of spades (7s), then discards a queen (Qh). Now we have:
- Croaker: 8d 8h 6s 5s 4c = 31
- Goblin: 10c 3c 2s Ah Ac = 17
- Elmo: 8c 7s 6d 2d 2c = 25
- discard: Qh
Croaker draws the 8s, giving him three of a kind. He puts down the three 8's,and discards his 6s. Goblin grumbles at Croaker's luck, and draws a 3s. He then discards his 10c. Elmo draws the 7h, discards the 8c. We now have:
- on the table: 8h 8d 8s.
- Croaker: 5s 4c = 9
- Goblin: 3s 3c 2s Ah Ac = 10
- Elmo: 7s 7h 6d 2d 2c = 25
- discard: 8c
On his next turn, Croaker announces he is going down with 9. He wins since his total is lower than both Goblin's and Elmo's. They both pay Croaker his money.
Example Two
Here we have the following hands after a few rounds have gone by:
- Croaker: Qc 10s 9s 6h 5h = 40
- Goblin: Jc 10c 4s 4c As = 29
- Elmo: 8s 7h 5d 2d Ad = 23
- discard: Qd
Croaker draws a Js, giving him a spread of Js 10s 9s which he puts down. He discards his Qc. Goblin takes Croakers Qc from the discard pile and puts down his spread of Qc Jc 10c and discards his 4s. Elmo draws a 10h, drops his 8s onto the end of Croaker's run, then discards the 10h he just drew. Now we have:
- on the table: Js 10s 9s, Qc Jc 10c
- Croaker: 6h 5h = 11
- Goblin: 4c As = 5
- Elmo: 7h 5d 2d Ad = 15
- discard: Qd
Croaker doesn't think he can beat Goblin since he saw him discard a 4, so he draws and gets the 9h which does him no good so he discards it. On this turn, Goblin goes down and wins. Elmo curses his luck.
Credits
Rules adaptation by John P. Speno
Additional comments by Jeff Warren
