Lie 21

Introduction

The card game Lie 21 is a trick-taking card game played between 2 players, where the objective is to get as high of a score as possible by winning tricks containing scoring cards. It uses a 42-card deck, equivalent to a traditional 52-card deck with the 8s, 9s, and 10s removed, and two suit-less Joker cards added.

Lie 21 is a bluffing game, where each hand starts with some of the cards played by one player as unknown to the other player.

The game is a mix between Bisca, Poker, and Blackjack.

Players and Deck

Lie 21 is played between two players, with a 42-card deck, including two Jokers.

The cards in the deck have two different values associated with them: their score and their count. The score is used to determine the winner of a game, while the count is used to determine the winner of each hand during a game.

The players may talk during a game, but they may not reveal the cards in their hand or the face-down cards they've already played to the other player, though they may speculate about their opponent's cards at will. The players may comment on the strength of their own cards, as long as no concrete information that would allow the other player to determine their hand or played cards is given out.

The Deal

Before the start of the game, the deck must be thoroughly shuffled by one of the players, selected at random. Then, the other player cuts the deck, and the player that shuffled then deals the cards.

Six cards are dealt, face down, to each player, with the first six being dealt to the dealer. The players may pick up and see their own cards, but not the other player's.

Then, the last card in the deck is flipped up and placed under the deck, perpendicular to it, so as to allow the card to be easily viewed by both players. The suit of this card is the trump suit for the duration of the game.

The deck should be placed to the left of the dealer, roughly halfway between the dealer and the other player, so as to allow for easy access to the deck for both players.

If a match is being played, the dealing responsibilities alternate between the players, each game.

The Play

The dealing player always makes the first move in the first hand, after which the other player makes their move.

The first move of a hand is called The Lie, and the opposing player may Forfeit or Challenge the hand as their move. The player that makes the first move (The Lie) in a hand is called The Liar, while the opposing player is called The Judge.

The Lie are three cards, selected by The Liar and put on the table in view of The Judge. Two of the cards must be face-down, while one of the cards must be face-up.

To Forfeit a hand, The Judge selects three cards from their hand and places them face-down on the table in view of The Liar. In this case, the hand is won by The Liar, and all six cards on the table are collected, face-down, and stored for later scoring near the winning player. Those cards are thenceforth ineligible for play. When a hand is Forfeit, the stored cards may not be turned up by either player until the game is done, for any reason.

To Challenge a hand, The Judge selects three cards from their hand and places them face-up on the table in view of The Liar. Then, the latter turns up their two face-down cards. At this point, the hands are evaluated according to the counting rules and a winning player is decided. The winning player may then collect all six cards on the table, face-down, and store them for later scoring near their person. After being stored, the cards may not be turned up by either player, for any reason. Those cards are thenceforth ineligible for play.

The winner of a hand then draws three cards, followed by the loser of the hand doing the same. The winner of the previous hand is The Liar in the following hand.

When no cards are left in the deck, play continues as normal without drawing cards.

When both players have no cards left, the game is complete, and scoring is done to determine the game's winner. The highest scoring player wins the game. If both players score 60, the game is a tie.

Counting Rules

The counting rules are used to determine the winner of a hand, according to the count of each card in the moves, the trump suit, and the role of each player.

Except for the sevens (7), all number cards' count is their face-value. For the remaining cards, their count is summarized in the following table:

Card Count
Aces 1 or 11
Sevens (7) 10
Kings 9
Jacks 8
Queens 7
Jokers 0

The first step is to sum the count of all cards in each player's move. The Aces are counted as 11 up to a sum of 21, after which they're counted as 1. The winner of a hand is determined based on the following precedence:

  • If one player's sum is higher than 21, while the other player's sum is lower than or equal to 21, the player's whose sum is lower than or equal to 21 wins the hand.
  • If both player's sums are lower than or equal to 21, the player whose sum is closest to 21 wins the hand.

If both players' sums are equal or if both players' sums are higher than 21, the hand is evaluated according to the following precedence:

  • The player with the most trump cards in their move wins the hand.
  • If both players have the same number of trump cards in their moves, the player with the highest-count trump card wins the hand.
  • If both players have no trump cards in their moves, The Liar wins the hand.

Scoring

Scoring is done after every hand is played and the deck is empty. Each player goes through the hands they won during the game and adds up their score.

All cards have a score of 0, other than the scoring cards, whose scores are summarized in the following table:

Card Score
Aces 11
Sevens (7) 10
Kings 4
Jacks 3
Queens 2

The player with the highest score wins. In case both players have a score of 60, the game is a tie.

Set Matches

When playing set matches of Lie 21, a score of 90 is worth two wins, while a score of 120 is a sweep (the match is immediately won by the sweeping player).

Edit
Pub: 15 Feb 2025 20:39 UTC
Edit: 15 Feb 2025 22:43 UTC
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