Casino Card Game Rules: How to Play Cassino at Home

These casino card game rules cover the classic fishing game for 2 to 4 players, also spelled cassino. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with gambling: it is a friendly matching game where you capture cards from the table by pairing them or adding them up, and you can set up builds to grab several cards at once. It is a great family game for teaching quick addition, and adults enjoy the planning behind a good build. Here are the standard rules, the 11-point scoring system, and the most common variations.

Quick rules

• Goal: capture cards from the table to score points for most cards, most spades, aces and two special cards.
• Deal 4 cards to each player and 4 face up to the table. Later deals give 4 more cards to each player only.
• On your turn, play one card to capture, build or trail.
• Capture by pairing a card of the same rank, or by matching the total of two or more table cards.
• Number cards count their face value and aces count 1. Jacks, queens and kings can only be captured by pairing.
• Scoring each deal: most cards 3, most spades 1, big casino (10 of diamonds) 2, little casino (2 of spades) 1, each ace 1, each sweep 1.
• First to 21 points wins.

What you need

• One standard 52-card deck with no jokers.
• Paper and pencil, or our scoreboard.
• 2 players for the classic game; 3 players play alone; 4 players play as two partnerships sitting opposite.

Setup

1. Cut for the deal; the lowest card deals.
2. Deal two cards to each player, two face up to the table, then two more to each player and two more to the table. Everyone now has 4 cards and there are 4 cards face up on the table.
3. Put the rest of the deck aside. When all players have used their 4 cards, the same dealer deals 4 more to each player, but none to the table.
4. With 2 players there are six deals in all; with 3 players, four deals; with 4 players, three deals. Announce "last deal" when it comes.

How to play

Starting with the player to the dealer's left, each player plays exactly one card per turn and must do one of three things.

1. Capture

1. Pairing: play a card of the same rank as a table card and take both. A 7 takes a 7. With number cards you may take every matching card at once.
2. Combining: play a card equal to the sum of two or more table cards and take them all. A 9 can take a 5 and a 4. You can take several combinations at once: a 9 could take 5 and 4 and also 6 and 3, plus any 9 on the table.
3. Face cards: jacks, queens and kings have no number value. They capture only by pairing, and under standard rules a face card takes only one matching face card at a time.
4. Captured cards go face down in a pile in front of you.

2. Build

1. Play a card onto a table card to create a total that you can capture next turn with a card in your hand. Holding an 8, you could put a 3 on a table 5 and announce "building eight".
2. You must hold the capturing card. Your opponent may capture your build if they also hold that card.
3. Raising a build: a player may add a card to a single build to raise it, as long as they hold a card for the new total. Builds can never go above 10.
4. Multiple builds: you can stack several groups of the same value, such as a 5 and 3 next to an 8, all "building eight". A multiple build cannot be raised.
5. While you own a build on the table, you may not trail. You must capture, build or add to a build.

3. Trail

If you cannot or do not want to capture or build, lay one card face up on the table. It becomes a table card that anyone can capture later.

Sweeps and the end of a deal

If a capture clears every card from the table, it is a sweep, worth 1 point. Mark it by turning one captured card face up in your pile. After the last card of the last deal is played, any cards left on the table go to the player who made the last capture. This does not count as a sweep.

Scoring

There are 11 points in each deal plus sweeps. If cards are tied at 26 each, nobody scores the 3 points. Some rule sets do not count sweeps at all, so agree on this before starting.

How to win

Play deal after deal and add the scores. The first player or partnership to reach 21 points wins. If both pass 21 in the same deal, count points in the order shown in the table (cards, spades, big casino, little casino, aces, sweeps) and the first to reach 21 wins.

Variations

• Royal casino: face cards get values (jack 11, queen 12, king 13, ace 1 or 14), so they can be used in builds and combinations.
• Spade casino: every spade scores 1 point, with the jack of spades and little casino worth 2.
• Play by deals: instead of playing to 21, play a fixed number of full rounds and the highest score wins.
• Face card triples: a popular house rule lets a face card capture all matching face cards at once.

Tips and strategy

• Track the 10 of diamonds and 2 of spades. They are worth 3 points between them.
• Count spades as they are captured; that 1 point often decides a close game.
• Avoid trailing cards that let your opponent make an easy sum, such as a 5 when the table already shows a 5.
• Build when you hold a pair. If you hold two 8s, building eight leaves you a spare 8 for later.
• On the last deal, try to make the final capture, since it collects every card left.

Common mistakes

• Trailing while you own a build. This is not allowed.
• Building without holding the card to capture it.
• Using face cards in sums. In standard casino they have no number value.
• Scoring the final pick-up as a sweep.

Enjoy matching games? Try cribbage, rummy or browse more card games for two.