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--Games
unique
to this site!-
Skarney-- John Scarne’s scoring rummy
Skarney Gin-- Scarne’s gin rummy
Sequence Gin-- gin rummy variant
The Big Game-- 42 with 11 tricks
42 variations-- we’ve got them all
Yukon-- unique trick-taking game from the 1898 gold rush.
Quinto-- unusual fun game from 1900
Marjolet-- one-deck Bezique from France
Jo-Jotte-- complex Bridge-like game for two
Domino Euchre-- Euchre with dominoes
Call-Ace Domino Euchre-- variant
Iceberg-- unique scoring rummy
Arlington Hts-- our own invention
Fortune Rummy-- lost since the 1940s
Teeko-- “lost” board game
Ringo - unusual board game
--42 family
Dominoes--
42 -- the parent game
The Big Game -- 42 with 11 tricks instead of 7
42 Variations -- including 80, 88, 84, 79, Nello, Plunge, and Sevens
Moon -- 3 player relative to 42
Partnership Moon -- 4 player Moon
---Cuban
Games---
Cubilete -- Great Cuban dice game
Domino Cubano --
Dominoes, Cuban-
style
---Dice
Games--
Farkle-- Among the best dice games, it dates back hundreds of years
Cubilete -- Great Cuban dice game
More dice games
--Games by
John Scarne-
Skarney Gin-- Takes Gin Rummy to a whole new level
Skarney-- The most sophisticated scoring rummy.
Scarney Dice games
Teeko-- board game
Scarne’s Bio
---Download
FREE game
books!---
A to Z of Dice Games -- rules for many great dice games (55 pages)
American Hoyle by Trumps 1894 (540 pages)
Foster’s Hoyle 1897 (625 pages)
Pirate Bridge -- great 3-person Bridge variant from 1917 (190 pages)
Conquian -- ancestor to modern rummy 1913 (90 pages)
---Scoring
Rummies---
500 Rummy
500 Partnership
Persian Rummy
Fortune Rummy
Arlington
Arlington Hghts
Skarney
---Gins---
Oklahoma Gin
Sequence Gin
Skarney Gin
--Bezique
Family--
Marjolet -- 2 players with 32 cards
Bezique -- 64 cards
Polish Bezique -- 64 card variant
Rubicon Bezique -- 128 cards
Chinese Bezique --
192 cards for Bezique-mania!
Zetema -- a long lost related game
BBC rules for all
forms of Bezique
--Rare Card
Games--
Bridgette -- Best two-handed Bridge variant. Compare it to Jo-Jotte
Bid Whist -- Unique whist variant popular among African Americans.
Eleusis Express -- famous unique inductive logic game.
--Historic
Card
Games--
Historic British Card Games-- rules for 12 once-popular games no longer played.
Medieval and Renaissance card and dice games.
--Fascinating
Profiles---
Ely Culbertson--
He made Contract Bridge famous.
Al Sobel on the invention of Jo-Jotte
John Scarne--
Houdini’s friend, card magician, author, games inventor.
The rather odd and interesting story of the United States Playing Card company.
Joseph Wergin--
Skat should have been it, not Contract Bridge!
R.F. Foster--
Biggest game book author from the 1880s to the 1930s
Stewart Culin--
Invented the modern science of ethnography - based on games!
-- Original
card,
dice &
domino
games--
Parlett’s games
Pips web site
Pagat web site
--Hundreds
more
games!--
The Card Games Web Site
Domino Game Rules
A - Z of Dice Games
BoardGameGeek - all board games
---Computer
Games--
Products to which we have no commercial ties but recommend:
Ringo (free)
Teeko (free)
Curtis Cameron offers fine 42 and Moon programs.
Cardmaster offers 25 games including Zetema, Bezique, Klabberjass, and Bid Whist.
Here’s Bid Whist online or on your PC.
--Domino
Games--
Domino Euchre--the card game played with dominoes!
Call-Ace Euchre-- domino Euchre variant
42 -- the parent game
The Big Game -- 42 with 11 tricks instead of 7
42 Variations -- including 80, 88, 84, 79, Nello, Plunge, and Sevens
Moon -- 3 player relative to 42
Partnership Moon -- 4 player Moon
---Favorite
Sites---
The Card Games site has the most card games rules anywhere
Playing Cards site has playing card history and pictorial examples.
House of Cards has a nice mix of rules, PC games, handheld games, and books.
Kadon Enterprises sells beautiful quality board games
Find hundreds of chess variants here
The Life of Games is an online games magazine
DominoLinks site links to many domino sites
David Parlett invents great card & board games!
BoardGameGeek covers all board games
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--- Board Games --- also see our Ringo page
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John Scarne was a magician and world-class gambling expert who invented many games, including the card games Scarney and Scarney Gin, dice games, and even an abstract strategy game called Teeko. This is one of only a handful of pages on the web devoted to Teeko.
Mr. Scarne worked on Teeko intermittently from the late 1930’s to the early 1960’s. Though he published best-selling game books, and entertained everyone from mobsters to Presidents with his card tricks, he felt Teeko would be his lasting legacy to the world. This was not to be, and the game faded from public view. Nevertheless, Teeko remains an intriguing strategy game for two players that offers innumerable variations and provides lots of enjoyment even today.
The Teeko Board --
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Make your own Teeko game!
Click here.
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How to Play Teeko --
The basic rules of “Standard Teeko” are simple. Each player has four pieces or markers of his own color. In Phase I, players alternately place one of their pieces on any board position. In Phase II, they move any one of their own pieces to an adjacent position. The object of the game is for either player to win by having his markers situated in a straight line (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal) or a square of four adjacent spaces.
Alternate Rules --
Scarne’s definitive book on Teeko lists numerous variations on standard Teeko, including Alternate Teeko and Advanced Teeko. This original rules booklet and this one give the standard rules and major variations. (These rules reproductions are courtesy of the BoardGameGeek, an excellent website on board games.) If you get serious about Teeko, you can usually find copies of the definitive 265-page book Scarne on Teeko at online outlets or used bookstores. A photo of the book cover appears at the bottom of this web page.
Mr. Scarne frequently revised Teeko rules and invented innumerable variations. You might find different rules for the game depending on the source you use -- the rules even varied among different releases of the game from Scarne’s company. The Teeko book is considered the “ultimate authority.”
What Ever Happened to Teeko?
Mr. Scarne was a self-made man who rose to fame and fortune through dint of hard work, serious study, and industrious self-promotion. But his efforts didn’t pan out with Teeko. Though he stated that he sold over one hundred thousand Teeko sets in the period 1952 to 1955, the game had faded from view by the mid-1960’s. Teeko was manufacturered by John Scarne Games Inc. of Fairview, New Jersey, and you might still find a used game online today. Or click here to make your own Teeko board and game set.
The Famous “Teeko Challenge” --
As part of his promotional effort for Teeko, Mr. Scarne held Teeko tournaments in New York and New Jersey during the 1950’s. The most famous match was at New York’s well-known 21 Club in March 1955, when he played ten simultaneous games and offered $1,000 to any opponent who beat him. Players included celebrities of the day such as Steve Allen, Frances Langford, Judy Holliday, Jinx Falkenberg, and Walter Slezak. Some of the tougher opponents were chess champion Larry Evans, checkers champion Tommy Wiswell, and bridge and backgammon expert John Crawford. Fortunately for Scarne, he didn’t lose a game!
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Photograph courtesy of “The Odds Against Me” by J. Scarne (1966)
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Teeko Was “Solved” by Computer--
Computer scientist Guy Steele “solved” Teeko by computer in 1998. That is, his computer program proved that in the standard game neither player can force a win if both players play optimally and without error. Of the 16 Advanced Teeko games, 14 would be won by Black and two would be draws, again assuming both players play optimally.
Teeko -- The Opera --
Composer Mark Owen created a short opera based on Teeko which he named “Teeko.” The work included such songs as “Why Do You Recommend Teeko for the Sick?” and “Teeko Is Rapidly Sweeping the World.” The only recorded performance of the score was at Trinity College, Cambridge, in January 1991. It lasted about thirty minutes.
You can download the score here, along with its cover art.
Scarney --
Mr. Scarne developed and marketed several other games through his Fairview, New Jersey games company. Scarney was a similar strategy game to Teeko, and like Teeko, Mr. Scarne sold different versions of the game over the years. This publicity photo from 1961 shows Scarne playing his newly-introduced version of Scarney. Note the similarity of board and playing pieces to Teeko --
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Photograph courtesy of “The Odds Against Me” by J. Scarne (1966)
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Teeko on your Computer --
Mihailo Despotovic wrote a Teeko game as part of an advanced computer science research project to demonstrate how computers can learn strategies and then pass on that knowledge to humans via e-learning. What this means to us is that we have a fun, free Teeko game that runs on virtually any computer.
As shown below, the game has several special features. It can suggest moves for either, both, or none of the players. The program uses an heuristic algorithm and a “moves database” to decide upon which move to recommend. The program log tracks all plays and provides a game history. Here’s an example game in progress --
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You can run by the game by clicking on the TeekoTeacher link on this web page. The game is written in Java, which means it will run on virtually any computer -- as long as Java is installed. Click the link and try running the game. If it doesn’t work, download and install the Java runtime environment for Windows from here, or for any operating system from Sun Microsystems here.
Another Teeko game comes from Zillions of Games. They offer a free download of Teeko to play on your Windows computer -- but you must purchase their games engine to run it on.
BoardGameGeek has a feature where you can play Teeko and other board games online in real time.
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More on Scarne and Teeko --
Read our own biography of the fascinating Mr. Orlando Carmelo Scarnnechia (aka John Scarne) here. This article originally published in the Washington Post tells more about Mr. Scarne and the history of Teeko.
Photos of original Teeko rules are here and here, with the Advanced game rules here. These are courtesy of the BoardGameGeek web site, an excellent resource on all board games (including even obscure ones like Teeko).
If you like board games, see our page on the obscure but fun game Ringo here.
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Book cover jacket from the first edition 1955 by Crown Publishers
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