Rook - Kentucky Rook & Call Partner Rook

Introduction

Rook is the name of a group of games and of the special deck of cards for the game which was introduced by Parker Brothers in 1906. The games are popular in Eastern Kentucky, in the Mennonite communities of Southern Ontario (near Elmira / Waterloo), Manitoba, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and probably also in other parts of North America.

The Rook deck contains 57 cards. There are four suits coloured black, red, green and yellow. In each suit the cards are numbered from 1 to 14. The 57th card is the rook card, which carries a picture of the bird. Rook cards are made by Parker Brothers / Hasbro and by Winning moves. Alternatively, Rook can be played with a deck of '57 Cards', which have similar cards in four colours, but the 57th card shows a flower rather than a bird. '57 Cards' are available as a high quality 100% plastic deck or a normal plastic coated deck.

It is likely that Rook cards were at first introduced for the benefit of members of fundamentalist protestant religions, such as the Mennonites, who considered (and in some cases still consider) playing cards to be the “devil's tool.” They were forbidden to play cards; but Parker Brothers filled the void with a game that was played like cards but did not use the standard playing card deck. There are people who refuse to play any cards with a standard deck but who will happily play Rook all night every weekend. There is a close parallel here with Kvitlech cards, which were playing cards bearing numbers, made for use by Central European Jews who were also forbidden by their religion to use standard cards.

The deck normally comes with a booklet describing a number games which can be played with the cards. The main group of games are point trick games with trumps and bidding. The cards in each suit rank from 14 (high) to 1 (low) and the counting cards are generally the 14 and 10 of each suit (worth 10 points each) and the 5 (worth 5 points). The Rook card, when used, is worth 20, and is generally an extra trump. In some games the 1 is promoted to rank above the 14 and is worth 15 points.

Listed below is Kentucky Rook & Call Partner Rook, neither of which is exactly like any of the games described in the book provided with the cards.

Set Up

Four players are organized into two teams of two players each, sitting opposite each other. Players must keep their hands secret from all other players, including their teammates. The object of the game is to be the first team to reach 300 points by capturing cards with a point value in tricks. If both teams have over 300 points at the end of a round, the team with the higher point total wins.

The Deal

The 1s, the 2s, the 3s, and the 4s should be removed from the deck, and the Rook Bird card should be added, for a total of 41 cards. The dealer shuffles and cuts the deck, then deals all of the cards, one at a time. After every player has received his or her first card, the dealer places one card in the center of the table. This is repeated until there are five cards (the nest) in the middle of the table. The remaining cards are dealt normally.

Bidding

After the deal, players bid in increments of 5 points for the privilege of naming the trump suit. Bidding starts with the player to the left of the dealer and passes clockwise. The minimum bid is 70 points, and the maximum is 120 points (the number of points a team would make if they captured all the counters in the game). If a player chooses not to increase the bid, he may pass to the next player. A player that has passed may not make another bid for the round. The high bidder adds the five cards of the nest to his or her hand, then lays any five cards to the side. The high bidder then names the trump suit.

Play

After the trump suit has been named, the player to the left of the dealer places any card of any suit face-up on the center of the table. Play proceeds clockwise, with each player playing one card face-up in turn. After each player has played, the player that played the highest card of the suit of the leading card takes all of the cards played, or “takes the trick.”

A player must either follow suit (play a card of the leading suit) or play the Rook Bird card. If a player has no cards of the leading suit, he or she may play any other card, including the Rook Bird card or a card of the trump suit. The highest card of the leading suit takes the trick, unless a trump card is played, in which case the highest trump card takes the trick.

If a player reneges, or fails to follow suit when he or she could have, the error may be corrected before the next trick is taken. If it is not discovered until later, the round ends, and the team that made the error loses a number of points equal to the bid, regardless of which team made the bid. The opponents score all the counters they captured before the error was discovered.

The person who takes the trick leads in the next trick. When a trick is taken, it is placed face-down in front of the player who took it. Tricks taken may not be reviewed by any player until the end of the round. The player that takes the last trick in a round captures the nest and scores any counters in it.

The Rook Bird card

The Rook Bird card is the highest trump card in the game. It takes any trick in which it is played.

You may play the Rook Bird card at any time, even if you are able to follow suit. It is the only card that may be played this way. If the Rook Bird card is led, all other players must play a trump card, if they have one. If the trump suit is led, and you have no other trump card, you must play the Rook Bird card.

Scoring

When all possible tricks have been taken, each team adds the counters they captured. If the bidding team failed to make the number of points bid, the team loses a number of points equal to the amount of the bid, and does not make any points for counters captured in the round. The opposing team receives points for any counters they captured.

Variants

Kentucky Rook

This game is for four players in fixed partnerships, partners sitting opposite. All the twos, threes and fours are removed from the deck, leaving 45 cards including the Rook card. Ones are high in each color, so that the card ranking is 1-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5. The Rook card counts as the highest card of whatever color is trumps, ranking above the one. The card values are:

• Each 1 . . . . . . . . 15 points
• Each 14 . . . . . . . 10 points
• Each 10 . . . . . . . 10 points
• Each 5 . . . . . . . . 5 points
• The Rook . . . . . . 20 points

so that a total of 180 points are available in each deal.

Ten cards are dealt to each person, one at a time, and five cards are placed face down in the middle of the table to form the nest - the dealer adds one card to the nest after each of the first five rounds of the deal.

The players then bid to decide who will have a chance to choose trumps. Each bid is a number; the minimum bid is 100, and higher bids must be multiples of 5. The player to the left of the dealer has the first chance to bid and the turn to speak passes clockwise around the table. At your turn, you can either bid or pass. Each bid must be higher than the last, and a player who has passed cannot bid again in that hand. The bidding continues as many times around the table as necessary until three players have passed. The fourth player is the high bidder, and the high bidder's team tries to take at least the number of points mentioned in the final bid. If on the first round of bidding the first three players pass, then the dealer is forced bid 100.

The bidder must then pick up the nest cards, without showing them to the other players, to make a hand of 15 cards, and then discard five of these cards face-down to form a new nest. The bidder is not allowed to put point cards into the nest. Picking up the nest can sometimes make the your hand worse: you may acquire several weak point cards which you have to retain, discarding in their place cards that you would have liked to keep. Having discarded, the bidder chooses trumps by naming a color.

The player to the left of the high bidder leads any card to the first trick. The other players in turn must play a card of the same color if they can. If they have no card of the led color, they may play any card. The Rook card counts as a card of the trump color. When everyone has played a card, the trick is won by the player of the highest trump, or, if no trump was played, by the highest card of the color that was led. The winner of a trick leads to the next.

At the end of the play, each team counts the total value of the cards they have won in tricks. If the tricks won by bidder's team contain at least as many points as the bid, that team score the amount of card points they took. If the bidder's team take fewer card points than the bid, they score nothing for the cards they won; instead they subtract the amount of the bid from their previous score. The non-bidding team always score the total number of points taken by their team, whether the bid was successful or not.

The game ends when a team reaches 500 points or more. The team which then has the higher score is the winner.

Call Partner

Call Partner is a Rook game for four players. All 57 cards are used, and the 1 is high in each color, so that the ranking order is 1-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2. In the trump color the Rook card ranks between the 11 and the 10. The card values are:

• Each 1 . . . . . . . . . . 15 points
• Each 14 . . . . . . . . . 10 points
• Each 10 . . . . . . . . . 10 points
• Each 5 . . . . . . . . . . 5 points
• The Rook . . . . . . . . 20 points
• Last trick . . . . . . . . 20 points

So the total value of the cards in the deck is 180 points, which, together with the 20 points for winning the last trick, makes a total of 200 points at stake on each hand.

The dealer deals out the cards one at a time to the players, so that each player has 13. The first card is dealt to the player to the dealer's left; after each of the first five rounds of the deal, a card is placed face down in the center of the table. These five cards form the nest.

The players then bid to decide who will have a chance to choose trumps. Each bid is a positive number, which must be a multiple of 5. The dealer has the first chance to bid and the turn to speak passes clockwise around the table. At your turn, you can either bid or pass. Each bid must be higher than the last, and a player who has passed cannot bid again in that hand. The bidding continues as many times around the table as necessary until three players have passed. The fourth player is the high bidder, and the high bidder's team tries to take at least the number of points mentioned in the final bid.

The bidder then picks up the nest cards, without showing them to the other players, to make a hand of 18 cards, and then discards any five of these cards face-down to form a new nest. Having discarded, the bidder chooses trumps by naming a color, and also calls for a partner by naming a card. Whoever has the called card becomes the partner of the bidder. Those two players play together as a team for that hand only, and the other two players form a team playing against them. [The holder of the called card should not reveal who they are - their identity will become apparent when the called card is eventually played to a trick. If the bidder holds the called card, the bidder plays alone and the other three players form a team.]

The player to the left of the high bidder leads any card to the first trick. The other players in turn must play a card of the same color if they can. If they have no card of the led color, they may play any card. The Rook card counts as a card of the trump color. When everyone has played a card, the trick is won by the player of the highest trump, or, if no trump was played, by the highest card of the color that was led. The winner of a trick leads to the next. The winner of the last trick takes the cards which the bidder discarded into the nest.

At the end of the play, each team counts the total value of the cards they have won in tricks. Since the scores are accumulated from deal to deal but the partnerships can change for each deal, it is necessary to keep a separate score for each player. If the bidder's team took at least as many points as the bid, then each member of the bidding team scores the total amount of card points won by the team. If the bidder's team take fewer card points than the bid, they do not score anything for the cards they won; instead they subtract the amount of the bid from their previous score. The members of the non-bidding team always score the total number of points taken by their team, whether the bid was successful or not.

The game ends when a player or players reach 500 points or more. The player who then has the highest score is the winner.