Nertz
Nertz (also known as
Nerts,
Pounce,
Solitaire Frenzy,
Racing Demon,
Peanuts, and
Squeal) is a
real-time card game similar to both
Spit and
Solitaire. It is an extremely fast paced version of Solitaire, with multiple players each having a separate deck of cards.
Each player must have his or her own (clearly differentiated) standard deck of 52 playing cards, sans the
jokers. Any number of players can (theoretically) play, though most games have 2 to 8 players. The game requires a large center area, such as a table. There are two playing areas: the central area and each player's personal area. The personal area can only be played on by the individual; the center area anyone can play on.
Starting out, players count out 13 cards face down, and turn the topmost card up. This is referred to as the Bone Pile. Then each player puts five cards face up next to the
Bone Pile, like
Solitaire. These cards are referred to as starting cards, because they begin the five separate, playable card stacks. In Nertz, there can never be more than five starter cards per each individual's personal area. Players then move the cards in numeric sequence, according to alternating colour. For example, a player has these five cards to begin with:
King Red,
Queen Black,
Jack (playing card) Red, 5 Black, 6 Red. The client can reduce these five piles to two, with the jack placed directly underneath the queen and the queen placed underneath the king. The five can be played on the six.
Once that is accomplished, a player can then move three cards off his/her Bone Pile to replace the three missing starter cards. Unlike Solitaire, any card can begin a new pile within a player's personal playing area, not just a king. Any card that is playable on the Bone Pile can (and should) be played in any way possible.
Players with aces available to play put these aces out in the center playing area. Anyone can play on card piles in the center area. Aces always begin the center piles. From there, depending on whether you are playing Standard Nertz or a variation, either a 2 or a king of the same suit goes on. In Standard Nertz, if an ace of hearts is played, a 2 of hearts can be played thereon, and then a 3 of hearts, and so on. In the center area, all cards must follow what has been previously played both in suit and in numeric sequence.
Like Solitaire, each player flips over a predetermined set of cards from their remaining deck (generally one card or three cards) in search of playable cards. This is known as the turn deck. If the amount flipped is 3, then that means the player can only play the topmost of three cards within the personal playing area or the central playing area. If the third topmost card cannot be played, the next three cards are flipped, with the topmost again being the only playable card, and so on until the deck is gone through. At the very end of the deck, the bottommost card can be played regardless of whether it is the third card or not. Then the deck is turned over and the flipping begins again.
While playing on one's own five card row (which no one else can play on) can aid eliminating the bone pile, in Nertz no points are gained in this manner. To gain points, you must play on the center piles. This naturally results in a very fast-paced game, as players naturally try to play on the center piles as much as possible. Whatever player lays his/her card down first on a sequence is awarded the play. When making a play, a person may only lift one card at a time and place it on the ongoing sequence. If there are two valid plays that the person has, the person may lay the two cards down one at a time.
The point of the game is to get rid of the Bone Pile as quickly as you can. One must get rid of the Bone Pile for a gaming round to end. Who ever eliminates the Bone Pile may (but does not have to) yell "Nertz!", and all game play must cease immediately. If a person is in the middle of making a play in the center area when Nertz is called, the player only gets points provided the card has left the player's hand before the call. If the player still holds the card and Nertz is called, the play is void and the player gets no points. Naturally, this only applies to plays made in the center game area. Anytime after a player eliminates his Bone Pile he may call "Nertz!"
If Nertz is called in error (which has a large scoring ramification; for more info see below), the player who falsely called Nertz takes back the original card from his Bone Pile, as well as taking three more cards from his deck. These cards are taken from his the top of his turn deck, regardless whether he has flipped over numerous cards. The three additional cards added to the Bone Pile are not taken from cards already turned over. If the turn deck only has one or two non-turned cards, the remaining cards are flipped over and the top one or two cards fill the remaining quota.
Once Nertz is called and verified, the cards in the center area are returned to their respective decks. This is why it is important to play with highly distinguishable decks, so the points are awarded accurately and each deck's playing integrity is maintained. players play one card at a timein the central area is given a predetermined value (in Standard Nertz each point card has the value of 10 points). The cards left in the bone pile count as a negative value against you, equal to the value assigned to the point cards (generally 10). So if a player has 15 cards played in the central area and has 10 cards in his Bone Pile, he is awarded 150 points, but is penalized 100 points for the remaining 10 in his Bone Pile. In some Nertz games, Aces are given the point value of 20, while all other cards are worth 10. In this version of the game,
Aces are double the predetermined value assigned other cards. Some scoring variations include awarding a preset point value to the person who calls Nertz.
If Nertz is called incorrectly, all other players are awarded 10 points, and the total amount of players times ten is taken away from the player who called it incorrectly. For example, if four people are playing, and one calls Nertz incorrectly, that player is charged 30 points, 10 points being awarded to each of the other players. In the variation where Aces are worth 20 and one of the three cards added to the player's Bone Pile is an Ace, the points awarded to the other players is upped to 20. In this instance, the three players are each up 20 points, and the incorrect player is automatically penalized â€"60. Who ever calls Nertz correctly once it has been called incorrectly gets an additional 25 points. If the player who incorrectly called Nertz actually gets rid of his Bone Pile legitimately, he suffers no penalties.
Players decide on an ending total (generally 500), so whoever reaches that total first wins the game. It is highly possible to never call Nertz in an entire game and still win.
Lotto Scoring
Some Nertz variations include
Lotto Scoring. In Lotto Scoring, if points are taken away due to penalties, the next hand these are in lotto, and whoever scores the most gets the additional points. For example, if one player is minus 60 on Round 1, Round 2 has a lotto of 60 points. Whoever scores the highest on Round 2 gets the additional 60 points. You can also score it whoever calls Nertz gets some of the lotto points as well. However, if a player is 60 in the hole and he gets 70 points, he comes out 10 ahead, and nothing goes into lotto.
Face Cards or Low Cards Worth More
It is generally not recommended, unless in variation games such as Swinging Door Nertz, to give face cards a higher value, because other than Aces face cards are not played often in the central playing area, and if face cards are in the Bone Pile their full value is subtracted from points won. If full value is not assigned for face cards in the Bone Pile, then giving face cards higher levels result in more interesting
gaming strategies. Some play that Ace through 5 is worth more.
Cards Represent Face Value
For scoring, cards can be assigned face value. 2 is 2 points, 3 is 3 points, etc. The face cards (10 through Ace) can either be 15 each with Aces 20, or Jack 11, Queen 12, King 13, and Ace either 1 or 14.
1. Turn
Deck: the cards the players turn over looking to play in their personal play area or the common play area. The cards already turned over is the Waste Pile.
2. Starter Card: Aces in the common play area; anything can be a starter card in the personal play area. A Starter Card in the personal play area must be followed sequentially downward and alternate by colour. Only five starter cards may be present in the personal play area at any time. Aces in the common play area must follow suit. The sequence motion is determined by what variation you are playing.
3. Personal Play Area: the five starter decks next to a player's bone pile that only they can play on.
4. Common Play Area: the area where aces are the starter cards and anyone can play. It is only in the common play area that points can be scored.
5. Bone Pile: The pile of 13 cards that determine score. If all 13 cards are gotten rid of, Nertz is signalled and that round of play ends.
Swinging Door Nertz
In the Swinging Door Nertz, Aces are again always the starter cards. However, once the ace is played in the central area, either a king or two of the same suit can be played. Once a two or king has been played, the trend has been established, and the players must go either up in the numeric sequence if the 2 is played, or down numerically if the king is played.
In Swinging Door Nertz, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten are given the value of 15 points. Aces are 20. Cards 2 through 9 are worth 10. How this scoring really makes the game interesting is these values also apply to the Bone Pile. If the Bone Pile has three remaining cards after Nertz has been called and verified, and the cards are Ace, Queen, and 9, the player is penalized 45 points.
Double Swinging Door Nertz
This variation is where the card sequence in the center playing area can go either upward or downward. If there is a 3 in play, a person may either lay a 2 or a 4 on top. If a 4 is on top, then a 3 or a 5 is a valid play. The only exception to this is Ace. Aces can only be played as a Starter Card. Some play where if a 2 is in play, the two valid plays existing is King and 3, as Aces only be Starter Cards. Aces are given that status to always ensure the game will not get in limbo for lack of starter cards.
Starter 9 Nertz
The starter card in the common play area is 9. You can go either up or down numerically. The object is to get to 3. Whoever manages to play the three card, whether it is from the 4 or the 2, is given an additional 40 points. Once 3 is reached, that pile is dead and can no longer be played on. If you reach 3 going from 9 up, you are given 60 points extra.
Evil Jacks (Bastard Jacks)
Same as Starter 9 Nertz. However, if three is reached on the pile and the sequence has gone up from 9, whoever played the jack is penalized 15 points per player. All other players get an additional 15 points. The person who played the three still gets 40 points on top of the 15. If the person who played the jack also played the 3, then that person gets 100 points, and 5 points are taken away from all other players. There is an additional Evil Jack variation concerning
one-eyed Jacks. If the Jack in question is a one-eyed Jack, and the person who played it did not play the three, then 15 points is taken away from all other players, and the sum of the points taken is awarded to the person who played the one eyed Jack. If the person plays both the one-eyed Jack and the three, he is given 150 points, and all other players are penalized 25 points. The variation on the variation is where instead of being awarded 15 points for playing the one-eyed Jack and not the three the player is penalized 15 points per player, and each player gets that 15 points.
Hoorah!
Hoorah is essentially the same as Nertz, with a few minor variations. Four piles are used in the personal play area instead of five. The word to end a round is "Hoorah" instead of "Nertz." The same follows for all such name variations (Pounce, Squeal, etc.). To score, at the end of a round each player adds one point for each card played in the genral area and subtracts two points for each left in the Bone pile. Playing to a point value such as 100 is common. This variation is native to
Central Michigan University.
Dutch Blitz
Nertz bears a strong similarity to
Dutch Blitz, a card game developed and sold by the
Pennsylvania Dutch. It has been speculated that the Pennsylvania Dutch developed this variation because they found the images on standard face cards offensive
[http://www.pagat.com/patience/nerts.html]. Nertz and Solitaire Frenzy are versions that can be purchased prepackaged.
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