Helpful Hints & Tips

Don’t lead with Fiasco

If you lead by playing a Fiasco card and everyone else plays a card lower than 5, then you win the trick. You also win the Fiasco card and lose a card from your collection pile. Not good.

Don’t lead with a King

Even though the King is the highest card, playing it too early can do more harm than good. Leading with a King gives other players the opportunity to strike you with Fiasco cards. Remember, you lose one collection card for every Fiasco in the pot. So if you lead a King, and the three other players all play Fiasco then you loose your King as well as two other cards from your collection pile.  Not good.

Lead with a 4 card

This is the safest lead because you cannot win any Fiasco’s, but still have the opportunity of winning lower cards. Leading with a 4 is a very defensive way of playing, you probably won’t come in last but chances are, you won’t win the game either.

Strike the leader with Fiasco

Don’t let the leader get too far ahead, so save your Fiasco cards for the leader.  When the leader is winning the trick, it is a perfect time to play Fiasco. Ganging up on the leader is accepted, allowed, and encouraged. Fiasco himself would approve.

Team Play

4 or 6 players in teams of 2, sitting across from your partner. Each player collects his/her own suit as usual. However, points from both partners are added together to get a team score during the counting round. Therefore, it is legal for one player to try to give cards to his/her partner for points. Points are scored as in the traditional rules.

Optional 2 Player Game

To speed up play, remove two suits and play with four suits instead of the usual six. You may also remove 2 Fiasco and 2 King cards if desired. As an alternate suggestion, each player may collect 2 suits each. Points are scored as in the traditional rules.

Tournament Rules

In order to create a swift, competitive game, players are limited to 10 seconds to decide which card they will play. Failing to do so permits the player on your right from selecting a random card from your hand to bring into play.  Optimal Tournament play is with four players or more.

Lure the person on your left so you can play last

Since it is beneficial to play last, you can play cards that give the person on your left the incentive to win the trick. When the person on your left wins, they lead and you can play last.  But beware of giving too many cards to the person on your left because they may end up winning the game due to your outrageous generosity.

Keep other players from collecting cards

If the person on your right has already played a low card, it is an ideal time to play a card that they are collecting.  This way, it is almost guaranteed that the player on your right won’t win the trick or the card they are collecting.  Another strategy is to wait until the player on your right plays a King.  You can now play a card that the person on your left is collecting, with a guarantee that the player on your right will win the trick. But beware of Ties-for-High with Kings. That’s when things get really exciting!

Click here to see the Rules of the game                                                   <top>