One & Thirty

Number of players: 2+
Type of game: Cards
Period: 15th Century

One and Thirty (also written 31 or Trente-et-un) is one of the oldest card games we know of. Each player holds three cards and swaps them one at a time, trying to build a hand of one suit worth as close to 31 as possible. It is one of the many ancestors of modern Blackjack.

History of One and Thirty

• Earliest Mention: One and Thirty is among the games condemned by Bernardine of Siena in an anti-gambling sermon of 1440.

• Family: It is one of the many ancestors of modern Blackjack, alongside Bone Ace and the third stake of Bragg.

• Later History: The game was still popular in Spain and Ireland in the 18th century, and it developed into Twenty-one.

• Rules Source: These rules are adapted from the card games booklet published by MacGregor Historic Games (historicgames.com).

Rules of One and Thirty

Setup

• Deck: A standard 52 card deck.

• Stakes: Agree a stake and have each player put it into the pot.

• Deal: The dealer deals three cards face down to each player, starting on their left. The rest of the deck is placed face down as the stock.

Card Values

• Only cards of the same suit add together. The best possible hand is 31: an Ace and two ten-point cards of one suit.

• Three of a kind (three cards of the same rank, which must be of mixed suits) counts as 30½.

Objective

• Finish with the hand closest to 31.

Gameplay

1. Starting with the eldest hand, on the dealer’s left, each player in turn may discard one card face up and replace it with either the top card of the stock or the top card of the discard pile.

2. Play carries on round the table, one card at a time.

3. When a player thinks they have a good enough hand, they knock twice on the table.

4. After a knock, every other player may discard and replace one last time.

5. All hands are then shown.

Victory Conditions

• The hand closest to 31 wins the pot.

• A player who reaches exactly 31 wins at once, and does not need to knock to stop the swapping.

Optional and House Rules

1. Knocker Loses Ties

• If the knocker ties with another player, the other player wins. This stops players knocking too early.

2. “Fire” Round

• After knocking, if someone reveals exactly 31, they may call “Fire” and double the stakes.

3. Life System

• Each player starts with 3 lives (represented by tokens or coins). The lowest hand each round loses a life. The last player standing wins the game.

Summary Table

• Game
• Period

• Cards