How to Play Commerce

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

Commerce is a fast, sociable three-card comparing game for three to ten players. The goal is simple: trade your way to the strongest possible hand before the showdown, then beat everyone else at the table. Because every player can see trading happening in real time, the game rewards reading your opponents as much as it rewards the cards you hold.

Its mix of luck, light strategy, and direct player interaction makes it a firm favourite at family gatherings, kitchen-table sessions, and informal card nights. No specialist equipment is needed beyond a standard deck and a supply of chips or coins, which means it travels well and sets up in minutes.

A little history

Commerce is traditionally regarded as a precursor to or close relative of several European three-card games, and similar games under various names appear in French and Italian card-game literature from the eighteenth century. A game called 'Commerce' is referenced in early nineteenth-century English gaming guides as a popular drawing-room pastime. Beyond that broad outline, its precise origins are unclear, and confident claims about a single country or inventor are not supported by the documented record.

Setting up

1. Agree a starting stake: each player puts an equal number of chips into the pot before any cards are dealt.
2. Choose a dealer by any agreed method; the deal passes clockwise after each hand.
3. The dealer shuffles and offers the deck to the player on their right to cut.
4. Deal three cards face down to each player, one at a time, starting with the player to the dealer's left.
5. Place the remaining cards face down in the centre of the table as the stock. Turn the top card of the stock face up beside it to start the discard pile.
6. Players look at their cards without showing them to others.

How to play

1. Play begins with the player to the dealer's left and continues clockwise.
2. On your turn you must take exactly one action: (a) swap one card from your hand with the top face-up discard, (b) take the top face-down card from the stock and either keep it (discarding one of your current cards face up) or discard it immediately face up without adding it to your hand, or (c) if the group agrees this option at the start, you may trade a card directly with another willing player.
3. After taking your action your turn ends and play passes to the left.
4. If the stock runs out, shuffle the discard pile (except its top card) to form a new stock.
5. Any player who is satisfied with their hand may knock instead of trading on their turn. Knocking costs that player one chip paid into the pot and signals the final round.
6. After a knock, every other player gets exactly one more turn to improve their hand, then the showdown occurs.
7. Alternatively, if all players pass in succession without trading, a showdown is called immediately.
8. At the showdown all players reveal their hands. The player with the lowest-ranked hand pays one chip into the pot. If two or more players tie for lowest, each of them pays one chip. The pot carries over to the next hand and grows until one player holds it all, or until the group agrees a final hand.

Winning and scoring

Hand rankings from highest to lowest are: Tricon (three of a kind, three aces being the best), Sequence (three consecutive cards of the same suit, ace-high being the best), Flush (three cards of the same suit, ranked by highest card then second, then third), Pair (two cards of the same rank, the higher pair wins; if equal, the highest odd card decides), and High Card (no combination, decided by highest card, then second, then third). A player wins the entire accumulated pot when all other players have been eliminated by running out of chips, or when the group has agreed to play a set number of hands and that player holds the most chips at the end.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns the knock rule: once a player knocks they cannot un-knock, even if a later player reveals a stronger hand during the same final round. The knock is binding. If two players wish to knock on the same turn, only the first knock (in clockwise order from the dealer's left) stands; the second player must take a normal turn instead. A second dispute arises over the stock running dry: the discard pile must be reshuffled before anyone draws, and the top card of the old discard pile stays as the new discard face up. Players may not look at the discard pile before it is reshuffled.

On the question of direct trading between players: this option is popular but must be agreed before play starts, as it is not universally included. If included, both players must agree to the swap; neither player may be compelled to trade. A refused trade still counts as that player's turn.

How to win more often

• Count what has been discarded. If you need a specific card to complete a flush or sequence and it has already appeared in the discard pile, abandon that hand and aim for a pair or high card instead.
• Knock early if you hold a tricon or strong sequence. Waiting to improve an already strong hand only gives opponents more chances to catch you.
• Pay attention to which face-up cards opponents pick up: it tells you exactly what suit or rank they are chasing, and you can withhold those cards or take them to block.
• Manage your chip stack relative to others. If you are close to elimination, a well-timed knock on a decent hand is safer than gambling on hitting a top combination.
• In larger games (seven or more players), pairs and even flushes lose frequently. Weight your trading decisions toward tricons and sequences when the table is large.

Variations

Dead knock

In this variant, a player may only knock if they hold a hand they believe is the strongest at the table, rather than at any point they choose. A player who knocks and does not have the best hand at showdown pays a penalty of two chips into the pot rather than one. This sharpens the tension around the knock decision considerably.

Open trading

All direct player-to-player card swaps are permitted freely on any player's turn, provided both parties agree. This version produces more lively negotiation and is well suited to larger groups who enjoy the social element of bargaining over cards.

Fixed rounds

Instead of playing until one player holds all the chips, the group agrees a set number of hands in advance. At the end of the final hand, the player with the most chips wins. This variant works well when time is limited, as it guarantees a definite finish time.

Three-stake pot

Each pot is divided into three equal portions, one awarded for the best tricon, one for the best sequence or flush, and one for the best pair or high card. Every hand therefore has three winners. Players contribute three chips at the start of each hand, one to each mini-pot. This variant reduces the swingy all-or-nothing feel and keeps more players competitive across a session.

Commerce: frequently asked questions