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Rules
Tiến Lên is a card game for 4 players. There are many rules that differ among play groups; these are the rules my family uses. The object of the game is to get rid of all of the cards in your hand.
Tiến Lên uses a standard, 52-card deck. The cards are ranked, from low to high: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2. The cards are also ranked based on suits, from low to high: spades (♠), clubs (♣), diamonds (♦), hearts (♥). Thus, the 3♠ is the lowest ranked card in the game, and the 2♥ is the highest ranked card in the game. When ranking cards, rank takes priority over suit: a 3♥ is higher than a 3♦, but a 4♠ is higher than both of them.
For the first game, the player with the 3♠ starts, and must start play using the 3♠. For every game after, the winner of the previous game starts, with no restrictions on their starting play. Play then continues counter-clockwise from whoever started.
The starting player starts a round by playing from their hand some combination of cards to the center of the table. There are 4 standard types of combinations:
- single - a single card (ex. 6♦)
- pair - two cards of the same rank (ex. 5♠ 5♦)
- triple - three cards of the same rank (ex. 8♠ 8♦ 8♥)
- straight - at least three cards of consecutive rank (9♠ 10♥ J♦ Q♦); 2's cannot be included in straights
The next player can then play a combination that beats the combination in the center, or pass.
A combination can only be beat by a combination of the same type with a higher highest-ranked card in the combination. For example, the pair 7♠ 7♥ beats the pair 7♣ 7♦, because the highest card of the former pair (7♥) is higher than the highest card of the latter pair (7♦).
For straights, the number of cards in the straight is part of the kind of combination, so a 5-card straight can only be beaten by another 5-card straight.
If a player cannot or does not want to beat the combination in the center, they may pass. When a player passes, they may not play any more cards until a new round begins; play will simply skip over them as it goes around the table.
When every player has passed in a round except for one, that remaining player may tiến lên (go forward) by playing 1 or more combinations to the center that beat the combination currently in the center. When a player is in tiến lên, other players may not play any cards. For example, if player A is the last remaining player in a round, with the pair 6♦ 6♥ in the middle, player A may play the pair 8♠ 8♥ and then the pair 10♠ 10♦ and stay in tiến lên, so no player may attempt to beat either of those pairs. Note that player A could not play those pairs in the opposite order and stay in tiến lên: if player A played the pair 10♠ 10♦ first, then the pair 8♠ 8♥ does not beat the combination currently in the center (10♠ 10♦) and could not be played while staying in tiến lên.
Whether the remaining player plays any cards in tiến lên, that player will then start a new round of play by playing some combination of cards to the center.
Chops are special combinations of cards that beat 2's, the highest cards in the game. There are 3 types of chops:
- 3 consecutive pairs - three pairs of cards, with the pairs being of consecutive rank (ex. 6♦ 6♥ 7♦ 7♥ 8♠ 8♦); beats any single 2
- 4 of a kind - four cards of the same rank (ex. 5♠ 5♣ 5♦ 5♥), beats any single 2
- 4 consecutive pairs - four pairs of cards, with the pairs being of consecutive rank (ex. 6♦ 6♥ 7♦ 7♥ 8♠ 8♦ 9♣ 9♦), beats any single 2 or any pair of 2's
Chops can only be played to beat a 2 (or pair of 2's, for 4 consecutive pairs) or to start a round. Therefore, during a round of single cards, a chop can be played to beat a 2♠, but not an A♥.
Chops can be beaten like any other combination, following the identical same type, highest card rule.
When a player runs out of cards in their hand, they win. When a player wins, other players continue play as normal, essentially skipping that player during play. If the player finished during tiến lên or all other players pass the final combination that player played, the next player counter-clockwise starts a new round.
The game continues until there is only one player left with cards in their hand. Rankings are based on when players run out of cards in their hand compared to the others; i.e. the first player to run out of cards is first place for that game, the second player to do so is second, the third is third, and the player with cards remaining at the end of the game is fourth.
## Miscellaneous Typically players do not have to disclose how many cards they have in their hand at any point, but players may agree to be honest beforehand. Traditionally the fourth-placed player of each game shuffles and deals for the next game. Some of the terminology in these rules (notably, _combination_, _round_, _center_) are used for clarity in these rules, but are not normally used in describing/playing. Some traditional terminology used in my family not mentioned in these rules: * _trash_ - cards in a hand that do not fit into a multi-card combination * _winner_ - the player who places first in a game, may be said to have _won_ * _loser_ - the player who places fourth in a game, may be said to have _lost_