How to Play the Card Game Jubilee
Jubilee is a counting type card game which originated in the Czech Republic. The game is designed for two to seven players and uses a 61 card deck which can be made from two standard decks, as follows:

One full Hearts suit, two full suits of Spades, two nine-card suits of Clubs (consisting of the cards Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), and four Jokers. All other cards from the decks are unused for this game and should be set aside.

Card types in the card game Jubilee Once the special deck required for this game has been constructed using the two standard decks, seating positions and the first dealer should be determined (unless this has been previously decided). A common method to do this is for all participants to draw a card from a shuffled deck. The players then select a seat at the table in the order of ranking of the cards they have drawn, from highest to lowest. The player who draws the highest card of all becomes the first dealer.

As this is a counting/adding game, each card in the deck has a specific value which will be added or subtracted from the current running count when that card is played. Card of black suits (Clubs and Spades) add a positive amount to the ongoing count and cards of a red suit (Hearts) subtract the indicated amount from the ongoing count. The following chart shows the value to be added to or subtracted from the count for each card in the deck:

CardCount Value
AceBlack (+15), Red (-15)
Jack, Queen, KingBlack (+10), Red (-10)
2 to 10Add or Subtract Face value marked on Card
Joker0


First 18 plays in a sample game of Jubilee
Trivia: One theory on how this game got it's name is from the Jewish Biblical Year of Jubilee which was observed after 49 years (on the 50th year), in which debts were to be forgiven, release from human bondage and the land provided rest.
Once the first dealer is determined, he should thoroughly shuffle the deck and offer it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, the dealer then deals eight face-down cards to each player, one-by-one and in a clockwise direction, starting with the player to his immediate left. The dealer then places the remainder of the deck face-down in the center of the table to form the stock pile. After each hand the deal rotates around the table in a clockwise direction from player to player.

After the initial cards are dealt, the players may then pick up and examine their eight cards. The player to the dealer's immediate left has the first play.

Trivia: The final running count, at the end of each game should always calculate to exactly 189.
On his turn, each player selects any card from his hand and places it face up on the top of a play pile which will be situated next to the draw pile. When placing his card, a player must also clearly state the current ongoing count, after his card is played. After playing a card, the player then draws one card from the stock pile to replenish his hand to eight total cards. The ongoing count is never allowed to be less then zero. Thus, if a player has no legal play which would prevent the count from being a negative count, he must show his hand and then pass his current turn. Play continues in a clockwise direction around the table from player to player. Once the stock pile becomes exhausted, a player no longer draws a card at the end of his turn, but play continues using the cards in hand. The game continues in this manner until every player has played the last card in his hand.

If a player manages to bring the count to any exact multiple of 25 (i.e. 25, 50, 75, 125, etc.), they score 10 points, called a Jubilee. If a player manages to play a card which brings the total to an exact multiple of 100, they score 20 points instead. If a player plays a card that causes the count to change such that any multiple of 25 (including a count of 100) is passed, either increased or decreased past the number, he must subtract 5 points from his current score.

After the deck is exhausted and all players have played the last card in hand, the final scores are tallied. The player with the highest accumulated score is declared the winner of the game.

Variations and Similar Games

Hindernislauf (Obstacle Race): Hindernislauf, translated into English as "Obstacle Race" is a German game that was first published in 1977, described by Jürgen Göring in the card game manual Stich um Stich. It shares many similarities with the game Jubilee. This game is designed for 2 to 6 players and uses the reduced 32 card skat deck. This deck can be created from a standard deck by removing all cards lower than seven.

The designated dealer should thoroughly shuffle the deck and offer it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, he should then begin dealing the cards around the table in a clockwise direction starting with the player at his immediate left. The cards are distributed one by one and face down. The number of cards will be directly dependent on the number of participants:

Number of PlayersCards Dealt per playerNotes
215The last two cards are dealt face-up to the table
310Two cards remaining, set face-up on the table
48All cards dealt out
56Two cards remaining, set face-up on the table
65Two cards remaining, set face-up on the table

As will be noticed, in all but the four player game, there are two cards which are not dealt to the player. These two cards should thus be dealt face-up to the table and these two cards are used to start the count. The dealer should thus announce the sum total of these two cards, and the first player then plays his card, adding to this total.

The player to the immediate left of the dealer then has the turn first turn and the turns then rotate around the table in a clockwise direction. On a player's turn he plays one card to the center of the table. He should then announce the sum total of all the cards so far played to the center of the table (including the two initial cards played on the table, if any). To this end, each card in the deck thus has a summing value, as per the following chart:

CardSum Value
Ace+11
King+4
Queen+3 or -3 at option of the player of the card
Jack+2
Ten+10
Nine+9
Eight+8
Seven+7
            Summation value for cards in Hindernislauf
As noted, the player of a Queen can opt to either add three to current running total or subtract three from the current running total. In the event, for the three, five or six player game, if either or both of the original two cards set to the middle of the table were Queens, these Queens would be counted at +3 each.

If a player plays a card on his turn that causes the total to exactly equal one of the totals 55, 66, 77, 88, 99 or 111 (called the "obstacles") that player earns one point. However, if a player causes the total to skip over one of these totals (either in adding or subtracting), that player loses one point instead. If the running total from the play of cards reached or exceeds 120, the cards in the center of the table are set aside, and the next player begins a new series, starting with 0.

Once the last card has been played, whichever player has managed to earn the most points is declared the winner (or the player with the least negative score, if all players have negative scores).

                     

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