Thief is a rarely seen card game which allows players to steal cards won by other players. The game is usually played by two to six players. Thief is played using two standard 52 card decks shuffled together with the addition of four total Jokers.
Determination of seating positions, and first dealer can be performed using a number of different methods. One such commonly used method is a draw for high cards. Each player would thus randomly draw one card from the face-down shuffled deck. Any players drawing cards that are of equal rank should set the drawn card aside, then drawing a replacement card, and if this card is also duplicated by another player, continuing this procedure until drawing a uniquely ranked card. The player drawing the highest card has the first choice of seats at the table with the remaining players also taking their preferred seat in order of rank of card drawn. The player drawing the highest card of all is designated the first dealer. After each hand the role of dealer rotates in a clockwise direction around the table.
Once the dealer has been determined, that player should thoroughly shuffle the deck and offer it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins dealing the cards around the table in a clockwise direction, 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 three cards. The dealer then places the remainder of the deck in a face-down pile near the center of the table, as the stock pile. The dealer then turns the top card of the stock pile face-up and places it beside the stock pile as the discard pile.
The player to the immediate left of the dealer has the first turn, and the turns rotate in a clockwise direction around the table from player to player. A player's turn consists of several possible actions:
- If, amongst the three cards forming his hand, he finds a pair (two cards of the same rank), he places this pair in a face-up personal capture pile, in front of himself.
- If the player has, in his hand, a card that forms a pair with the top card of the discard pile, he may then capture the top card of the discard pile with this card, placing these cards, face-up, on the top of his capture pile.
- If the player finds that he has a card in his hand which is of the same rank as the top card of another player's capture pile, he may capture cards from that opponent's capture pile.
- If a player has a two or a Joker in hand, he may use this as a wild card to match the top card of another player's capture pile and capture some of the cards from that pile.
Each time the player manages to make a capture, he places the captured card(s) and the capturing card on top of his capture pile, but he should place these cards perpendicular to the current top cards of that pile, to distinguish these captured cards from previous captures. Thus, when able to match the top card of an opponent's capture pile (or uses a wild card to capture), the player captures all the cards on the top of the opponent's pile that were part of that player's last capture (which should be separated from the previous capture by being placed at a ninety degree angle from those cards).
However, if the player to whom the player is capturing from, has a wild card (2 or Joker) or a card of the same rank as that being captured, he may immediately re-capture the pile by adding that card to the capture and adding it back to his personal capture pile. This capture and re-capture can occur multiple times amongst the two players if those player having the appropriate cards needed to re-capture the growing set of cards in that capture.
The player may continue making additional captures on his turn (and drawing cards from the stock to replenish his hand) as long as able. However, once he has no more available captures, his turn ends.
If a player finds, at the beginning of his turn, that he is unable to make any pairs (with the top card of the discard pile, or from another player), he must discard one card from his hand, face-up to the top of the discard pile and draw a replacement card from the stock. If this card is able to make a pair with cards in that player's hand or the top of the discard pile, he may capture those cards, drawing replacement cards as able, continuing until he is no longer able to make additional pairs in this way. However, the player in this situation is never allowed to capture cards from other players.
Once the draw pile is depleted, the player drawing this last card may complete his turn, after which the game immediately ends. Cards remaining in each player's hands are discarded to the discard pile, and the players each review the cards in their capture piles to determine their score for the hand. Each card found in the discard pile has a scoring value as per the following chart:
| Card | Point Value |
|---|---|
| 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 | 5 Points Each |
| 10, Jack, Queen, King | 10 Points Each |
| Ace | 15 Points Each |
| 2 | 25 Points Each |
| Joker | 50 Points Each |
The points thus found in this capture pile should be added to an ongoing cumulative score kept by that player. The game continues until each player has exactly one opportunity to be the dealer, after which the players compare their total accumulated score over the multiple hands, and the player with the highest grand total is declared the game winner.
The designated dealer for the game begins the deal by placing a stack of four face-up cards on the table. However these cards should be placed in such a manner such that only the top card is visible or seen by any player (including himself). This stack of four cards will start the play pile used during the game. After creating this play pile, the dealer then deals each player four face-down cards, in a counter-clockwise direction around the table, starting with the player at his immediate right. The dealer then places the remainder of the deck in a face-down stack, which will be used later to replenish players' hands.