User:Moooob~enwiki/304

304 (pronounced three-nought-four) is a card game popular in Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra in the Indian sub continent. The game is played by two teams of two using a subset (7 through Ace of all suits) of the 52 standard Playing cards.

Preface

Of the common card games in the western world, 304 is most similar to Contract Bridge, though it is more intuitive and less tactical than Bridge. Four people are required to play, and they are split into two teams of two people each. As in Bridge, the object is two-fold. First the object is to win individual games, and second, to win enough individual games to secure a "rubber" or set of wins.

Basic Rules of 304

Card Value and Precedence

304 uses a standard deck of cards excluding the jokers and cards 2 through 6 in all suites. So the 304 playing deck consists of 32 cards, 7 through A in all suites. Each card in a suite has a defined value (or points) as given below.

Card Values
Card	Points
J	30
9	20
A	11
10	10
K	3
Q	2
8	0
7	0

As can be seen from the table, the order of value of the cards is not intuitive to newcomers to the game, and it would be useful to get used to the above order as soon as possible.

During game play, when someone plays a card, it can be beaten only by a card in the same suite with more points (or by a trump card, see below). So, unlike in Bridge, in 304 a J would beat an A in the same suite! The object of the game is to accumulate a target number of points within a team, i.e. between your partner and yourself.

A quick calculation will reveal that the total number of points in the 32 card playing deck is 304, hence the name of the game.

The teammates sit face to face with each other.

Dealing

The game begins with the dealer shuffling and dealing out the cards.

The cards are dealt four at a time to each player
They are dealt in a counter clockwise direction, starting with the first player to the dealer's right.

Before the cards are dealt and after they are shuffled, the first player to the dealer's left, may cut the deck if s/he so chooses.

Once each player has been dealt four cards, the players may look at the cards. Starting with the first player to the dealer's right, each player can place a bid, as to how many points he expects his team to get, where he is allowed to choose the trump.

Once the highest bidder has been established, the remaining cards are dealt, again four at a time to all the players.

The dealer is rotated, also in a counter clockwise direction, after every game.

Bidding

Four card bid

When the dealer has dealt four cards to each player, the bidding process starts as described above. The person with the highest bid is allowed to choose the suite that would be the trump for that game. This person will be referred to as 'the trumper' in this doc. A bid is your estimate of the number of points you and your partner will get, assuming you get to choose the trumps. If at the end of the game you meet or exceed your bid, you will be rewarded for it, and if you do not, you will be punished (charged) for it. The charge, if you do not meet a bid, is always bigger than the payoff for meeting it.

The rules of bidding with four cards are as follows:

bids must be in multiples of 10 points
bids must be higher than half the total number of points; so the minimum bid is 160
you may not overbid your partner, unless someone else has overbid your partner before you
you may bid only once
You may pass and not make a bid when it is your turn. However, this will still count as one "bid" as far as the above rules are concerned.
bidding typically goes in a counter clockwise direction starting with the person to the immediate right of the dealer. However any player may ask his partner to bid in his turn, providing he himself is not bidding in that turn. In this case it is counted as one bid for both the player and his partner.
if none submits a bid, the game is declared over and the next person deals for a new game.

The payoff and charge for meeting/not meeting the bids are as follows

Bid Payoff Charge 160 - 190 1 token 2 tokens 200 - 240 2 tokens 3 tokens 250 - 300 3 tokens 4 tokens

At the end of the game, the team that had the highest bid for that game, either collects its winnings from or pays out its charges to the opposing team based on whether the bid was met or not.

A note on terminology: by convention it is common to the drop the "1" from 160 when making a bid of "160", "170" etc. and merely say "60" or "70". Whereas bids from 200 to 240 are refered as "100" to "140". This is very common with those who have played the game in Sri Lanka, especially in northern Lanka.

It is common in some parts of Lanka to allow bids in multiples of 5, providing the total bid is 200 or more. This is actually not allowed by the generally accepted rules of 304.

Rejection of cards

The player to the dealer's immediate right may reject the cards dealt out and ask for a reshuffle and redeal if the total value of the four cards he received is less than 15. This has to be done before the first bid is made. Passing on one's turn is also considered a 'bid' as far as this rule is concerned.

Eight Card Bid

Once everyone has seen all eight cards dealt to them, but before the first card in the first trick is played, another round of bidding is allowed. The trumper is given the first chance at an eight card bid, and bidding progresses in a counter clockwise direction from there. Any bids made during the four card bid phase have no bearing once an eight card bid has been made; whoever was the trumper based on the four card bid is no longer the trumper and he has to return The Trump Card to his hand. A new Trump Card will be chosen by the winner of the eight card bid.

The rules for an eight card bid are as follows

the minimum bid is either 250 or the current four card bid amount, whichever is higher
you may not overbid your partner, unless he did his bid in the first round of bidding.
you may not bid more than once

If no eight card bids are made, the game proceeds with the result of the four card bid. If an eight card bid is made, the new highest bidder becomes the trumper. He can choose The Trump Card from the eight cards in his hand. The payout is similar to the payout for four card bids.

2.4 The Trump

The trump is a suite chosen by the player who had the highest bid. A card in the trump suite will beat any card in any other suite, however the trump may be played only if the player does not have any cards in the calling suite. When a trump is played to beat a card in a different suite, that action is called 'cutting' (similar to ruffing in Bridge). If two players attempt to cut a given card, the player who used the higher valued trump card wins.

The trump should be chosen from the first four cards that are dealt to the player with the highest bid. He may not look at the rest of his cards, until he has chosen the trump. He has to choose his trump from the suites he has available in the four cards in his hand. Once he has decided on the trump suite, he has to pick a card in that suite from the four cards in his hand, and place that card face down on the table. This closed card will be referred to as 'The Trump Card' in this document.

The trumper should not announce the trump to the other players.*

Once The Trump Card has been placed face down on the table, the trumper may pick up his remaining four cards. The Trump Card may not be used during normal game play. The circumstances in which it may be played are described below.

2.5 Game Play

The player to the immediate right of the dealer starts the game play. Once he has played a card, play proceeds in a counter clockwise direction. The next player has to play a card in the same suite as the first card (this suite is referred to as the calling suite). Whoever has the highest card in the calling suite after all four players have played, wins all the cards that were played. These four cards are collectively known as a 'trick'. These cards may not be used again in the game, and should be kept separate from the players hand. In general, these cards may not be looked at until the end of the game. However, a player is allowed to refer to the four cards in the last trick that was played out.

The player who won the current trick plays the first card for the next trick.

It is important to note that the number of tricks won is

irrelevant. What matters is the _number of points_ in the cards that are in the tricks won*.

The objective of the team that kept the trump is to get enough points to deliver on their bid, while the objective of the other team is to get enough points to prevent the other team from delivering on their bid.

2.5.1 Cutting

When a certain card is played on the table if the next player does not have a card of the same suite, he has two options - he may attempt to cut - he may play some other card which is neither the calling suite nor a

 trump

Unless this player is the trumper, he would not know what the trump is. So he has to *guess* what the trump might be. Once he has made a guess, he has to pick a card from his hand which belongs to the guessed trump suite and play it _face down_ on the table.

If he chooses the second option and decides to play some other card, he still has to play it face down. When a card is played face down, it tells the other players, that an attempt is being made to either cut the current trick or to play another suite. The rest of the players then play their cards.

If the trumper does not have a card in the calling suite and he chooses to cut, he has to cut with The Trump Card if it is currently unplayed. He may not cut using any other card from the trump suite, while The Trump Card is still unplayed. If he chooses not to cut, the trumper may play a card face down. This card may not be a trump.

Viz. If the trumper plays a card face down from his hand, then it means he is definitely not cutting. If on the other hand he plays The Trump Card face down, then his is definitely cutting.

After all four players have played for the current trick, the trumper, will examine the cards that were played face down without disclosing those cards to any of the other players.

Upon examining the card(s) played face down, the trumper will announce whether any of the face down cards are of the trump suite or not. If any of them are of the trump suite, the cut was successful. The face down card that successfully cut the trick is turned face up and shown to all the players. Any other card that was played face down in that trick, with the exception of a card that may have been played face down by the trumper himself, should also be turned face up at this point. In addition, The Trump Card should also be turned face up, irrespective of whether it was played or not.

If The Trump Card was not played in the trick where a successful cut was executed, it should now be picked up by the trumper and returned to his hand. It is no longer considered The Trump Card, and the special rules regarding The Trump Card no longer apply to it.

In the event of multiple players guessing the trump correctly, the player playing the highest valued trump wins the trick.

In the event of none of the players guessing the trump correctly, the trumper will announce that noone succeeded. All cards played face down will remain face down. These cards may not be looked at by a player choosing to refer to the last trick.

Once a successful cut has been made by any player, the trump suite is known to all players. At this point the trump is said to be 'open'. Once the trump is open, cards should not be played face down in any circumstances (i.e. all cards should be played face up).

2.5.2 Special Rules for Playing Trumps

- Playing The Trump Card: the trumper may play the trump card if and only if he is cutting. Even in the case where the calling suite is the trump suite, and the trumper has no further cards left in his hand in the trump suite, he may not play The Trump Card. (In this case he would have to play a card of a different suite face down). The only time the trumper is allowed to play the Trump Card in a situation in which he is not cutting, is when he no longer has *any* cards left in his hand, and the current trick is essentially the last trick of the game.

- Open Trump game: Upon receiving all eight cards and before the first card has been played, the trumper may decide to play an open trump game. This is a game in which the trump is known to all the players. Before the first card is played, the trumper should announce he is playing an open trump game and turn The Trump Card face up. Once everyone has seen the Trump Card, it is returned to the trumper's hand and is no longer considered The Trump Card.

Tactical Note: There are certain situations when an open trump game is desirable, for example if the game strategy requires your partner to cut the first trick. However, in general a closed trump game is more advantageous to the trumper.

- Playing trumps in the first trick: If the trumper happens to be the player to the immediate right of the dealer, then he has to play the first card to begin the game. In a closed trump game, the trumper may not play trumps in this situation. If he wishes to begin the game playing trumps, he has to play an open trump game.

Viz. in such a situation in a closed trump game, the possible trump suites are narrowed down from four to three, for the other players trying to guess the trump.

- Playing Exhausted Trumps: A situation in which the trumper has all the remaining trumps in the game is called Exhausted Trumps. If the trumper is playing first in a trick, and he begins the trick by playing trumps when they are exhausted, none of the other players will be able to respond with trumps. If this occurs the trumper has to keep playing trumps until he himself has no further trumps in his hand. Thus it is very important for the trumper to keep track of the number of trumps outside his control.

- Spoilt Trumps: Once all eight cards have been picked up by the players and play commences, it may turn out that all eight trumps were split between the trumper and his partner. In effect, the opposing team never had any trumps in this game. Such a game is called a 'spoilt game' or 'spoilt trump game'. It is declared invalid, and no payout is made. All the cards are collected by the dealer and the game is restarted. It is up to the team opposing the trumper to call a spoilt trump game. If they are unable to spot a spoilt trump game, the trumper's team may either call a spoilt trump game or continue to play and collect their winnings at the end. A spoilt trump game has to be called before the last card in the last trick is played.

2.6.1. Special Rules for bids of 250 or higher

For games with a bid of 250 or higher, certain special rules apply. If the trumper chooses to play a closed trump game, only the first trick is played as a closed trump game. At the end of the first trick, the Trump Card is turned face up and shown to all the players. It is then returned to the trumper's hand and no longer considered the Trump Card.

Viz. in a closed trump game with a bid of 250 or higher, the trumps are unknown only for the first trick.

3.0 Deciding the result of a game

Once all eight tricks are played out, the total points of all the cards won by the trumper's team are calculated. If this is found to be equal to or higher than the bid amount, the trumper's team is declared the winner and wins the payoff. If not, the other team is the winner and wins the charge. In either case, the margin by which the bid is exceeded or missed is of no relevance and winnings are calculated based only on the payoff/charge table above. The winning team is paid its winnings by the losing team.

It is customary to start the game with 11 tokens per team. The object of the game is to win all your opposing team's tokens.

In other versions of 304 the losing team pays out its losses to a neutral 'bank', and no winnings are collected. The first team to lose all its tokens loses the set. This is increasingly popular, because it finishes a set of games sooner than the traditional rules do.

4.0 Comprehensive Rules

The following are rules and special situations, not strictly observed or encountered by beginners but still very much a part of the game.

4.1 Communication

No verbal, signed or any such communication is allowed between players during a game, other than what is possible by the playing of the cards and stating of bids. At the conclusion of a game and before the cards are dealt for the next game, communication is allowed.

4.2 Rule Violations

Violation of any of the rules results in the opposing team being awarded the current game with its winnings plus two more tokens. This includes incorrectly calling spoilt games, or otherwise inadvertantly breaking the rules.

4.3 Caps

Winning all eight tricks in the game is called Caps, similar to a Slam in Bridge. (This is the only situation where tricks and not the number of points matters in 304). Even if the winning team wins all 304 points but loses a trick, it is not considered Caps.

If a team executes Caps in a game, it is awarded the winnings based on the bid, plus one more token. However, to execute Caps in a game, it is not sufficient to win all eight tricks. In addition to this,

The winning team must call Caps as soon as it is evident to any one

player in the team that they can win all tricks in the current game,

and

that player states the exact order in which the rest of his/her cards should be played to execute Caps

and

Caps is called before the first card in the seventh trick is played.*

- when calling Caps one is not allowed to assume any intelligence on the part of any of the other players, including one's partner. So to call Caps, the player must rely on his play and only that the other players will follow the rules.

Viz. it is possible that assuming some intelligence in your partner's play, at some point it becomes evident to you that you are going to win all the tricks in the current game, but you cannot do it on your own. This is not sufficient grounds to call Caps.

Viz2. it is possible that based on your play alone, at some point it is evident to you that you will win all the tricks in the current game, but you are still not sure of the exact order in which you have to play your cards, since that depends on some other player's response. This is not sufficient grounds to call Caps.

- If Caps is called too late or too early (or not at all when it

 should have been), that is referred to as Wrong Caps.  The team that
 called late/early is penalised as described below.

- If a Wrong Caps is called, but the team that called it does win all

 eight tricks, it is penalized two tokens.  It may not collect any
 winnings for that game based on its bid.

- If Caps is called at any point but the team calling Caps actually

 loses a trick in that game, it is penalized five tokens and it may not
 collect any winnings for that game based on its bid.

- If at some point a team realises it should have called Caps earlier,

 (and therefore is in Wrong Caps) it may not attempt to intentionally
 lose a trick to hide its failing.  If this is spotted by the
 opposing team, the Wrong Caps penalty will apply.

- Even if it is not possible to call Caps before the first card in the

 seventh trick is played, the above rules still apply.  However, the
 extra token for calling and executing Caps correctly may not be
 collected in this case.  Only the normal winnings for delivering on
 the bid are paid out.

Tactical Note: As can be seen, Caps is a way of balancing out a game that for some reason has become highly skewed in one team's favor. When facing a Caps situation, it serves the losing team to play in a 'bad' and confusing manner, thus making it difficult for the winning team to call Caps at the right time.

Conventional Note: A situation where the team opposing the trumper correctly executes Caps is referred to as External Caps. In some versions of 304, execution of External Caps is awarded eight tokens including the winnings for the current game. This is an older version of the game and not generally followed today.

4.3.1 Partner Close Caps

In the eight card bidding stage an additional bid is allowed which is referred to as Partner Close Caps. This is the highest bid possible, and the first person to call it automatically becomes the trumper.

The trumper's partner does not take part in a Partner Close game. The trumper always plays first in a Partner Close game, and play proceeds counter clockwise, skipping the trumper's partner. No other player may look at the trumper's partner's cards until the game is over. All the other rules for a 250+ bid game apply to a Partner Close game, with the following exceptions: - it is not necessary to call Caps in such a game. To correctly deliver on the bid, it is sufficient to win all eight tricks. - the Exhausted Trump Rule does not apply

If Partner Close Caps is correctly executed, the payoff is four tokens, while the charge for not doing so is five tokens.

4.4 Shuffling Rules

A frequent complaint of beginners to 304 is that there seems to be some blatant manipulation of cards during shuffling. The rules governing shuffling are: - the dealer may not look at the face of any of the cards while

 shuffling or dealing

- the dealer may not arrange cards in a certain way before the shuffle - the dealer may not count out cards or attempt to move cards on an

 individual basis during the shuffle

- the deck should not be split between shuffles -- after each shuffle,

 the deck must be a homogenous whole

- the shuffling and dealing must be done in such a way that it is

 clearly visible to all the players

What is not required is that the cards be shuffled thoroughly. Thus an attempt is sometimes made to shuffle the cards minimally, or in whatever way that is perceived to give the dealer an advantage. It is fair to say, that any advantage that may be achieved by this can easily be nullified by intelligently cutting the deck before it is dealt. All the rules of shuffling apply to cutting as well.

Hints and Leads

A note on reasonable bidding: Since the above bids are made with only four out of eight cards in hand, it is very difficult to predict how many points you will get at the end of the game. The following two guidelines should help. - No matter what the circumstances, any bid greater than 210 that is based only on four cards would take an extraordinary amount of luck to deliver on. - On the other hand, given four reasonable cards, a bid of 160 can be delivered upon around 80% of the time.

eight card bidding: A note on reasonable bidding: the average trick is worth 38 points. This means to deliver a bid of 250, you need to be confident of winning at least seven of the eight tricks in a game.