How to Play Newmarket

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

Newmarket is a classic British card game for three to eight players that combines a simple betting mechanism with sequential card play. Each hand is quick, the stakes are low, and the excitement comes from watching a sequence build towards a boodle card you may or may not hold.

It is a firm favourite at family gatherings and kitchen tables across the UK, accessible enough for children who can read pip cards yet engaging enough to keep adults genuinely invested. No specialist equipment is needed beyond a standard deck and a pile of counters or coins.

A little history

Newmarket is traditionally regarded as a British development of the wider family of stops games, which includes Pope Joan and Michigan. Its origins are not precisely documented, but it has been a recognised parlour and family game in Britain for well over a century, appearing in games compendiums from the Victorian era onward. The name is widely assumed to reference the famous racecourse town, reflecting the betting element at its heart, though no definitive written record confirms this connection.

Setting up

1. Take one Ace, one King, one Queen, and one Jack from a spare deck, each from a different suit. These are the boodle cards. Lay them face up in the centre of the table.
2. Agree a starting stake. Each player places one chip on each of the four boodle cards (four chips total per player) before every hand.
3. Designate a dealer. The dealer role rotates clockwise each hand.
4. The dealer pays an additional contribution to a separate central pot called the kitty: one chip per player in the game is a common convention, though house rules vary.
5. Deal the entire 52-card deck one card at a time, clockwise. It is normal to deal an extra dummy hand to the table (to the dealer's right) so that all cards are distributed, even if this means one or more players hold one fewer card than others.
6. Players pick up their cards and sort them by suit. The dummy hand is set aside face down and plays no part in the hand.

How to play

1. The player to the dealer's left starts by playing any card from their hand face up in front of them and announcing it aloud, for example 'Five of clubs'.
2. The player holding the next card up in the same suit (six of clubs in this example) must immediately play it and announce it. Play continues upward in the same suit in strict sequence.
3. If no one holds the next card in the sequence because it is in the dummy hand or has already been played, the run is stopped. The player who played the last card in that sequence then starts a new sequence by playing any card from their hand. They must switch to a different suit when starting fresh if possible; if they only have cards in the suit just stopped, they may continue in that suit.
4. Whenever a player plays a card that matches one of the four boodle cards exactly in both rank and suit, they collect all the chips sitting on that boodle card.
5. Play continues until one player empties their hand completely. That player wins the kitty.
6. Any chips remaining on boodle cards that were not matched during the hand stay in place and accumulate for the next hand, making them increasingly valuable.
7. After a player goes out, the hand ends immediately. All other players score nothing further for that hand regardless of cards remaining.
8. The deal passes one place to the left and a new round begins, with all players restaking on the boodle cards.

Winning and scoring

There is no single winning condition across a session; players accumulate chips over multiple hands. A player wins a hand's kitty by being the first to play their last card. Boodle card chips are won individually whenever the matching card is played. A session typically runs for an agreed number of hands or until a time limit is reached, at which point the player holding the most chips wins. Because unmatched boodle stakes roll over, a boodle card that goes unclaimed for several consecutive hands can hold a significant sum, creating natural climaxes within a longer session.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns a player who cannot legally start a new sequence because every card they hold is in the stopped suit. Standard ruling: they may play the next card upward in that suit regardless of the normal suit-change convention. If that card is also blocked by the dummy hand, they must pass and the player to their left takes over as the one to begin the next sequence. Some groups allow a pass in this situation; agree the rule before play begins.

A second frequent issue arises when a player fails to play a card they hold when it is required. This is called a renege. The standard penalty is that the offending player cannot win the kitty that hand and must pay one chip to each other player. If the missed card was a boodle card, the player forfeits the chips on that boodle to the pot rather than collecting them. Enforce this rule consistently; it matters because missing a required play directly benefits no one and slows the game.

How to win more often

• Prioritise holding low cards in long suits. A run that starts low and climbs is more likely to reach a boodle rank before hitting a stopper in the dummy hand.
• Track which boodle cards have been won and which are accumulating. If a heavily stacked boodle card is in your hand, manage your sequences to give yourself a clear path to play it.
• When you have the choice of which suit to open a new sequence in, choose the suit where you hold the most consecutive low cards. This maximises the chance you can keep playing without handing control to another player.
• Going out quickly wins the kitty but may leave boodle chips uncollected. If you hold a boodle card near the top of your hand, sometimes it is worth guiding play toward that suit before emptying your hand.
• With a thin hand of three or four cards at a late stage, think about sequencing carefully. Playing your stopper cards first can block opponents from running out before you reach your boodle card.

Variations

Michigan (American variant)

In Michigan, the boodle cards are fixed as the Ace of hearts, King of clubs, Queen of diamonds, and Jack of spades, and there is no dummy hand. Instead, all cards are dealt out as evenly as possible between players. The gameplay and sequence rules are otherwise identical to Newmarket. This version is widely played in North America and is often the variant described in American game references.

Variable Kitty Stake

Rather than a flat per-player kitty contribution from the dealer, some groups have each player contribute one chip to the kitty from their own stack before every hand, making the kitty proportional to player count automatically. This keeps the kitty prize meaningful regardless of the number of players at the table.

Auction Dummy

Before cards are looked at, the dealer auctions the dummy hand to the highest bidder. The winning player may swap their dealt hand for the dummy hand and discard their original cards face down. This adds a speculative element and gives a player with a weak hand a chance to recover, but requires an agreed minimum bid to stop the auction becoming trivial.

Five Boodle Cards

Some family traditions add a fifth boodle card, typically the ten of a chosen suit, to increase the number of chip-winning opportunities per hand. Each player stakes one chip on each of the five boodles at the start of a hand instead of four. This variation works well with larger player groups where hands can otherwise pass with several boodles untouched.

Newmarket: frequently asked questions