How to Play All Fours

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

All Fours is a traditional trick-taking card game played with a standard 52-card deck. It is suited to 2 to 4 players and runs at a brisk pace, making it a favourite for kitchen-table play. The game revolves around four scoring categories: High, Low, Jack, and Game, which give it its name and drive every decision from the deal onwards.

Players love All Fours for its balance of luck and judgement. The trump-turning mechanic creates genuine tension before a single trick is played, and the compact scoring system means each hand is meaningful. It is commonly played in the Caribbean, parts of North America, and the United Kingdom, often as a two-handed contest but equally entertaining with four playing in partnerships.

A little history

All Fours is one of the older English card games on record. It appears in Charles Cotton's The Compleat Gamester of 1674, where it is described as a game then popular among the lower orders in Kent. From England it spread to the American colonies and subsequently to the Caribbean, where regional variants flourished. Beyond these documented milestones, the deeper origins of the game are unclear.

Setting up

1. Remove jokers. Use the full 52-card deck with cards ranked Ace (high) down to 2 (low) within each suit.
2. Choose a dealer by any agreed method, such as cutting for the highest card.
3. The dealer shuffles and the player to their right cuts the deck.
4. Deal six cards to each player, one at a time, starting with the player to the dealer's left.
5. Once all hands are dealt, turn the next card from the remaining deck face up to propose the trump suit. This card is called the turn-up.

How to play

1. The non-dealer looks at the turn-up and decides whether to 'stand' (accept that suit as trumps) or 'beg' (ask the dealer to change the trump suit).
2. If the non-dealer stands, the trump suit is set and play begins immediately. The dealer takes the turn-up card into their hand if it is a trump they can use, but this does not affect hand size rules.
3. If the non-dealer begs, the dealer may 'give gift' (accept the request, score 1 point for the non-dealer, and confirm the suit as trumps) or 'run the cards' (deal three more cards to each player and turn a new card for trumps).
4. If the new turn-up is the same suit as the original, the dealer must run the cards again. This repeats until a different suit appears or the deck is exhausted. If the deck runs out without a new suit appearing, the hand is abandoned and the deal passes.
5. In a four-player partnership game, partners sit opposite each other. The player to the dealer's left is the first non-dealer respondent; the begging and gift rules apply the same way.
6. Once trumps are set, each player reduces their hand to six cards if running the cards left them with more, discarding face down.
7. The player to the dealer's left leads to the first trick. Any card may be led.
8. Players must follow suit if they can. If they cannot follow suit they may play any card, including a trump.
9. A trick is won by the highest trump played to it, or, if no trump was played, by the highest card of the suit led.
10. The winner of each trick leads to the next trick.
11. Play continues until all six tricks have been played, then scoring is applied to that hand.
12. The deal passes to the left after each hand. Play continues until one player or team reaches or passes 11 points.

Winning and scoring

The game is won by the first player or partnership to reach 11 points across multiple hands. Each hand awards up to four points, one for each of the following categories: High (1 point to whoever holds the highest trump in play), Low (1 point to whoever holds the lowest trump in play, awarded to the player who was originally dealt it regardless of who wins it in a trick), Jack (1 point to whoever wins the trick containing the Jack of trumps, if it is in play), and Game (1 point to whoever accumulates the highest total pip value in won tricks, counting Ace as 4, King as 3, Queen as 2, Jack as 1, and Ten as 10). If two players or teams tie on Game pip count, neither scores that point. If a player reaches 11 points during scoring and so does their opponent, the points are counted in the order High, Low, Jack, Game, and the first to reach 11 in that sequence wins.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns the Low point. Low is awarded to the player who was dealt the lowest trump, not to the player who captures it in a trick. This is firmly the standard ruling, and it means a player can score Low without winning any tricks at all. If the lowest trump is never played to a trick, it still scores for its original holder at the end of the hand. Only trumps that are actually in play count: if no player was dealt the Two of trumps but the Three was dealt, then the Three is Low.

A second frequent question is what happens if the Jack of trumps is never played or is not dealt to either player. In that case, the Jack point simply is not awarded for that hand; the maximum available drops to three points. On the question of leading to a trick: there is no obligation to lead trumps at any point, and a player who holds only trumps and must follow suit is permitted to play any trump they choose. In partnership play, signalling conventions are a matter of house agreement; no signals are built into the standard rules.

How to win more often

• Count your trumps before deciding to stand or beg. Holding three or more trumps, particularly the Ace or Jack, generally favours standing and controlling the hand yourself.
• The Ten of trumps is the single most valuable pip card for the Game point, worth 10. Winning it in a trick, or protecting your own Ten from capture, can decide a close hand.
• If you hold the Jack of trumps, plan its protection carefully. Losing the Jack point to an opponent is costly because it both denies you a point and gives them one.
• Track which trumps have fallen. Knowing whether the Two, Three, or other low trumps have been played tells you whether your Low is safe or whether an opponent may still hold a lower one.
• In partnership play, use your trump leads to draw out opponents' trumps early when you hold strength, preserving your partner's plain-suit winners for the Game pip count later.

Variations

Seven Up (California Jack predecessor)

In Seven Up, the target score is reduced from 11 points to 7 points. This shortens the game considerably and is a common choice when time is limited or when introducing new players. All other rules, including the four scoring categories, remain identical.

Partnership All Fours

With four players, partners sit opposite each other and their individual scores are combined. The begging decision belongs to the player seated to the dealer's left, but the entire partnership benefits or suffers from the outcome. Partnership play adds a layer of cooperative card management, particularly around protecting the Jack and pooling pip cards for the Game point.

Pitch (Blind All Fours)

In Pitch, there is no turn-up to set trumps. Instead, each player bids a number of points they expect to score, and the highest bidder names trumps by leading any card of their chosen suit. The bidder must meet their bid or is set back by the bid amount. This variant is traditionally popular in North America and places greater weight on hand evaluation before a card is played.

Don (Five Points All Fours)

Don adds a fifth scoring category to the standard four. The Don is the highest trump not in the original turn-up suit, or by some regional rules the second-highest trump overall. Winning the trick that contains the Don scores an additional point, raising the complexity of each hand and extending the typical game length. This variant is traditionally associated with Trinidad and other parts of the Caribbean.

All Fours: frequently asked questions