Rules for Royal Casino

Royal Casino (sometimes spelled Cassino) is a classic card game for 2-4 players (best with 2) focused on capturing cards from the table. The game likely originated in England in the late 18th century, though it's often incorrectly said to come from Italy. It's one of the few fishing games popular in the English-speaking world.

The goal is to collect as many cards as possible from the table, especially valuable scoring cards. Players capture cards by matching cards in hand with table cards, building combinations, or taking cards that sum to the same value.

Royal Casino is played with a standard 52-card deck. Cards are dealt in rounds until the deck is exhausted.

• Deal pattern: 2 cards to opponent, 2 to table, 2 to dealer
• Repeat so each player has 4 cards and 4 cards are face-up on the table
• When all cards are played, deal 4 new cards to each player (not to table)
• Continue until the entire deck is used

On the final deal, the dealer must announce 'last' to alert players.

In standard Royal Casino, cards have these values for building and capturing:

• Ace: 1 point
• Cards 2-10: Face value
• Jack, Queen, King: Can only be captured with matching cards (no numerical value)

Special cards in Nordic variant:

• ♦️10 (Big Royal Casino): 10 on table, 16 from hand
• ♠️2 (Little Royal Casino): 2 on table, 15 from hand
• Ace: 1 on table, 14 from hand

The player left of the dealer starts. On your turn, you must do one of the following:

• Capture: Take one or more cards from the table matching the card you play
• Combine: Take multiple cards that sum to the value of your played card
• Build: Place a card on another to create a sum you can capture later
• Trail: If you can't/won't capture, place a card on the table

Example: With a 9 in hand, you can capture a 9 from the table, or take a 6 and 3 that sum to 9.

Building is a key strategic element:

• Single build: Place a card on another and announce the sum (e.g., place 3 on 5 and say 'building 8')
• Multiple build: Build several sets with the same value (e.g., two sets both totaling 8)
• Increase build: Add a card to increase the value (only if you hold a card for the new value)

Important rules:

• You must have the card matching the build in your hand
• Opponents can steal or add to your builds
• Face cards cannot be used in builds (in standard version)

Sweep: When you capture all cards on the table with one play, you earn bonus points. Place the card perpendicular in your pile to mark this.

Last capture: The player making the last capture also takes any remaining table cards. This scores bonus points.

In some variants:

• ♠️5 can automatically clear the entire table
• Multiple aces can be played with different values (1 or 14) in the same round

After all cards are played, count the points:

• Most cards: 3 points (1 point in Nordic variant)
• Most spades: 1 point (2 points in Swedish variant)
• ♦️10 (Big Royal Casino): 2 points
• ♠️2 (Little Royal Casino): 1 point
• Each ace: 1 point
• Each sweep: 1 point
• Last capture: 1 point (not in all variants)

If tied for most cards or spades, neither player scores those points.

Royal Royal Casino: Face cards get numerical values (Jack=11, Queen=12, King=13) and can be used in builds. Aces can be 1 or 14.

Reverse Royal Casino: The goal is to avoid points. Players taking all cards from the table receive penalty points.

Nordic Royal Casino: Played without building. Special values for certain cards when played from hand.

Spade Royal Casino: Every spade captured scores 1 point, with ♠️J worth 2 points.

The game can be played several ways:

• Single round: Player with most points after one round wins
• To 11 points: First player to 11 points wins
• To 21 points: First player to 21 points wins (most common)

With 4 players, it's often played in partnerships, with partners sitting opposite and sharing points.

Good advice for succeeding at Royal Casino:

• Hold back face cards until the end to secure last capture
• Be careful about trailing valuable cards (aces, 10s, spades)
• Build multiple builds - they're harder to steal
• Count cards to know what remains
• Try to clear the table (sweep) when possible
• In partnership play: coordinate with partner through signals
• Watch opponents' builds - steal when you can