Throw Away Three
Posted on October 30th, 2007 in General, Personal Messages
So the kids and I, a long time ago, developed a card game that was intended to help us pass the time while being enjoyable for all of us. Being as we are all nerds and love to learn, we turned it into a math game. I want to share this game with you here.
How to play
The name of the game is Throw Away Three. It can be played with up to six players and requires one complete deck of standard playing cards. A person designated as “the Dealer” shuffles the cards and deals our five cards to each player starting with the player to his/her left. Each player looks at their cards and tried to make the strongest hand (see See how to Score below) they can with what they have in their hand. If the player wants to, he/she can throw away up to three of their cards in exchange for up to three new cards. After this initial round of “throwing away” the hands are tallied for scores and written down.
For the next round, the game is played in exactly the same manner with the exception of the position of “the Dealer” is now moved one place to the left. This is carried on for 10 rounds after which each players score is added up and the player with the highest score wins the game.
How to Score
Each numbered card in the deck is valued at the number shown on the card. Face cards and Aces are valued as follows:
» Jacks are worth 11 points
» Queens are worth 12 points
» Kings are worth 13 points
» Aces are worth 15 points
A hand with no doubles, triples or quadruples would be valued like this:
Hand: 3-5-7-9-K
Score: 3+5+7+9+13 = 39
Any combination of multiples cards of the same value are valued at the sum of the same cards times the number of cards that are the same. So if you have a double of a card, the score for that double would be the value of the two cards added together times two. Same goes for triples and quadruples. Here are a few more example:
Hand: 6-6-8-8-10
Score: (6+6) * 2 + (8+8) * 2 + 10 = 66
Hand: 4-4-4-8-J
Score: (4+4+4) * 3 + 8 + 11 = 55
Hand: 5-5-5-5-8
Score: (5+5+5+5) * 4 + 8 = 88
Conclusion
Throw Away Three is a great game for learning math, spending time with family and friends or just passing time having fun. I encourage you to try it with your kids and see how fast they get at simple arithmetic. And I would bet you will get a little better at the numbers as well. Enjoy.
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