How to Play Commerce
Commerce is a French card game which was very popular in the 19th century. Newer games such as Thirty-One and Stop the Bus appear to be originally derived from the game Commerce and it's variants. It is thought the game was originally created by the Brocielski family of Poland but spread quickly to other areas such as France, becoming highly popular there.

Commerce is designed to be played by 3 to 10 players using one standard 52 card deck. The ranking of the cards in the deck are as follows (from high to low); Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

Initial setup for Commerce Before the game begins, each player should be provided three tokens which he places on the table in front of himself. Determination of the first dealer and seating positions can be performed in a variety of methods, with drawing for high cards a common method. The player would each draw a card from the face-down shuffled deck and take seats at the table in the order of ranking of cards drawn. The player drawing the highest card of all would be set as the first dealer, and thereafter the deal passes in a clockwise rotation around the table. If two or more players draw cards of the same denomination, those players should draw again, continuing to draw until they draw a card which is of a unique denomination to all other cards drawn.

Once the first dealer has been determined he should thoroughly shuffle the pack and offer it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins dealing the cards, one at a time in a clockwise rotation, starting with the player to his immediate left. He continues in this way until each player has three face-down cards. He then deals the next three cards from the top of the remainder of the deck and places them face-up on the table as the widow.

Before the dealer looks at his own hand, he may elect to trade some of the cards from his hand with those in the widow without looking at his own hand. The dealer is not obligated to trade any cards from his hand in this way, but has the option to. In this game, if a player trades all three cards from his hand with those in the center on the same turn, he may no longer make trades for the rest of that hand, passing on each subsequent turn until the end of the hand. Similarly, if the dealer opts to do this at this time, he must pass for the remainder of the hand.

Once the dealer has accepted or declined to trade any cards from his hand, sight unseen, all players may then pick up their hands and the player to the immediate left of the dealer has the first turn, with the turn rotating in a clockwise rotation around the table.

On his turn a player may elect to trade one, two or three cards from his hand with the same number of cards from the three face-up widow cards on the table. A player is not obligated to make a trade and may also pass, however once a player passes he must pass on every remaining turn during the current hand. As indicated, however, if a player elects to trade all three cards on the same turn, he may no longer trade any cards for the remainder of the hand, passing on each subsequent turn. When trading cards on his turn, player puts his own card or cards face-up in place of the cards he elects to take from the center of the table, adding the traded cards into his hand. The players trade the cards in an attempt to get the highest combination of three cards (see the chart below).

Each complete rotation around the table (in which each player gets one turn) is called a round, and there are a number of rounds of trading equal to the number of active players in the hand. After each round is completed, a new card is dealt face up by the dealer from the unused deck onto the table, adding to the widow cards currently found on the table.

The hand ends after a number of hands equal to the number of players in the game. Alternatively, once two players have knocked the hand ends. At this point, the hands are shown and compared to determine which player has the highest hand and wins the hand. The following chart shows the ranking of the various combinations of cards that might be in a player's hand (from highest to lowest):
RankingNameDescriptionExample
1TriconThree cards of the exact same rank. Amongst Tricons, a Tricon of higher ranked cards is considered higher than a Tricon of three lower ranked cards.Tricon
2SequenceThree cards of the same suit in direct sequential order. The lowest card allowed in a sequence is a 2 and the highest in any Sequence is an Ace. For comparing two Sequences, the sequence containing the highest ranked top card is considered the highest.Commerce Sequence
3FlushThree cards of the same suit, but not in sequential order. For comparing two flushes, the one containing the highest ranked card in the sequence is considered the highest.Commerce Flush
4PairTwo cards of the same exact denomination. The third card in the hand can be any other card. For comparing pairs, the pair of highest ranked card is considered the highest. If the paired cards are of the same rank, the denomination of the odd card is then compared.Commerce Pair
5PointA hand which does not fit into any of the previous categories. For comparison of two or more Point hands, the total value of all cards in the hand are totaled, and the player with the highest point total is set as the winner. For this purpose, Aces count 11, Face cards 10 each, and all other cards count as the value marked on the card.Commerce Hand Point
The hands are then compared, and the player who has the overall highest ranked hand during the current hand collects one token from the player with the lowest ranked hand in this hand. If a player runs out of tokens in this way, he must drop from the game. The game can continue until one player has all the tokens, or alternatively can be played for a set number of rounds (say 15) with the player having the most total tokens at that time declared the winner.
Variations and Optional Rules

Pounce Commerce Pounce Commerce: Pounce Commerce was once the most popular version of Commerce played. It is very similar to the standard game with one key difference.

If a player currently has a Tricon in hand and the fourth card of that same denomination appears on the table (whether discard in an exchange by another player or added from the stock pile after a round), the player having the Tricon of the same denomination players may shout Pounce and immediately take the card into his hand. He may do this even if not currently his turn, simply taking the card and adding it to his current hand. This gives him a four card hand, which is considered higher than any three card hand. The only hand considered higher would be another four card hand of a higher denomination that another player might obtain by also Pouncing. Immediately after the player calls Pounce and takes the card, another card is added from the stock pile to the center of the pile, and the game resumes as before the player called Pounce.

No Pair or Point: In some of the earliest versions of the game, the Pair and Point categories are not used. As such, only the categories Tricon, Sequence and Flush are recognized in the game. If a player does not have a hand which fulfills that category, they can never win the hand.

Trade and Barter: Trade and Barter is a variation of Commerce which hails from England. This variant has several differences from the standard game, as follows:
Paiute: Paiute is a Hawaiian game in which players draw and discard in an attempt to be the first player to form their hand into the highest legal combination.

Paiute is designed for play by 2 to 5 players using one standard 52 card deck. The ranking of the cards in this deck as follows (from highest to lowest): Ace, King Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. For purposes of Straight Flush combinations, an Ace can be considered high (above the King), or low (before the two).

Determination of the first dealer and seating positions can be determined using a variety of methods, with the most common method being a cut for high card. Using this method, each player would randomly cut a card from the shuffled deck. If two or more players cut a card of the same denomination as that already cut by another player, they would cut a new card, continuing until cutting a card not previously cut by any other player. The players would then take seats at the table in order of preference from highest card cut to lowest. The player cutting the highest ranked card would also be set as the first dealer, and after each hand the role of dealer rotates to the next player in a clockwise direction.

The designated dealer then thoroughly shuffles the deck and offers it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, he then begins dealing the cards in a clockwise direction around the table, starting with the player at his left. He deals the cards one-at-a-time and face-down continuing until each player has a total of five cards. After each player has the requisite five cards, he then deals the next card face-up to the center of the table, and places the remainder of the deck partially covering the dealt card, as the stock. All cards of the same rank as the dealt face-up card are considered wild cards during the hand and can thus be used to replace any other card in the deck in forming combinations. After the stock has been set, the dealer then removes the top card from the face-down stock pile, placing that card face-up beside the stock, to start the discard pile.

The turns rotate in a clockwise direction around the table, with the player to the immediate left of the dealer having the first turn. Each turn begins with a player first drawing a card. The player may either draw the top, face-down card from the stock pile or the top face-up card in the discard pile.

After drawing a card, the player may, if he has a valid combination elect to Call. In order to so Call, the player must have one of the valid winning combinations in the game. A player is never obligated to Call if having such a combination, and may continue normal play, without calling, in an attempt to get a higher ranked combination. The following are the valid combinations in this game, shown from lowest ranked combination to highest:

Valid CombinationDescription/NotesExample
Two/Two/Two (Paiute)This combination consists of three individual pairs of cards. This combination can only be called after a player's first turn of the hand. After each player has had their first turn, this is no longer considered a legal combination. If multiple players have such a combination, these combinations can be ranked by first comparing the highest pair, and if these are of equal rank, comparing the second highest rank, and if these are also of equal rank, then comparing the lowest pair.Two/Two/Two
Three/ThreeThis combination consists of two sets of three cards of the same rank. If comparing multiple such combinations, the highest ranking three of a kind of each player is compared to determine which is higher. If these are of the same rank, the lower three of a kind if compared amongst these players.Three/Three
Four/TwoThis combination consists of four cards, all of the same rank, combined with a pair of two cards of the same rank. In comparing two such combinations, the highest is that which consists of the highest four of a kind.Four/Two
Straight FlushThis combination consists of five cards in direct sequential order, all of the same suit. In comparing multiple Straight Flush combinations, the straight flush consisting of the highest top card is considered the higher.Straight Flush Example
Royal FlushThis combination consists of an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 all in the same suit.Royal Flush Example
Five of a KindThis combination consists of five cards all of the same suit. As there are only four of every natural ranked card in the deck, this combination will, by necessity, contain at least one wild card. If multiple players have this combination, the highest would be that in which the five cards are of the highest ranked cards.Five of a kind (Threes wild)

These are the only combinations that are recognized in the game. A player that calls, then immediately places his hand face-up on the table. If the combination contains six cards, the player does not need to discard, however if the combination is one of the five card combinations, the player must discard one card to the top of the discard pile.

If the dealer was the player that called, the game immediately ends and the dealer wins the hand. However, if it was a player other than the dealer whom called, each other remaining player, in a clockwise direction up to the dealer has one more turn to attempt to improve their hand. If a player, on that last turn has a higher or equally ranked combination as the highest combination played to the table can also Call, placing their hand face-up on the table for comparison. The last player to call with the highest ranked hand is the winner of that hand. If the highest ranked hand is tied by one or more other such hands, these players tie as the winners of that hand.

If a player does not Call on his turn, he then discards one card from his hand, face-up, to the top of the discard pile. If the player drew the top card from the discard pile, he may never discard this same card back onto the discard pile.

As mentioned above, the game continues until one or more player Calls, with the highest Call winning the hand. If the stock pile runs out before any player calls, all cards under the top card of the discard pile are gathered up, shuffled and turned over to start a new stock pile.
                     
Copyright © 2015 CatsAtCards.com. All rights reserved.
[Main][Site Map][Glossary][Copyright Page]