Sevens Card Game Rules

Sevens is a simple card game in which players race to get rid of their cards by building four rows, one for each suit, outwards from the sevens. It is also known as Fan Tan, Parliament, Card Dominoes or Domino, and is played around the world under local names – in India it is Badaam Saat or Satti Centre, in Japan Shichi Narabe. It takes a minute to learn and works for three to eight players, yet there is real skill in choosing which card to play. This guide covers the Sevens card game rules, scoring and staking, the main variations, and what a simple blocking strategy is worth.

Sevens Rules at a Glance

How to Play Sevens

1. Deal everything. Shuffle and deal the whole pack one card at a time, clockwise from the dealer’s left. It does not matter if some players get an extra card.
2. Open with the 7 of hearts. Whoever holds the 7 of hearts plays it face up in the middle of the table. Play then passes clockwise.
3. Play one card per turn. On your turn you may play either any 7, which starts a new row for its suit, or a card that is next in sequence to a card already in a row: the 6 or 8 of that suit, then the 5 or 9, and so on.
4. Build both ways. Each row grows down from the 7 to the 2 on one side and up from the 7 to the Ace on the other. To save space, many players pile the low cards on the 6 and the high cards on the 8.
5. Play if you can. If you hold a card that can be played, you must play one – but you choose which. If you cannot play, you pass, sometimes by knocking on the table.
6. Go out. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins. Many groups play on to decide second and third place.

Scoring and Staking

For a quick game, the first player out simply wins. For a longer session, use one of these:

• Points. When someone goes out, every other player scores one point per card left in their hand. Play until someone reaches 100; the lowest total wins. Some groups count card values instead – number cards at face value, picture cards 10 and Aces 15 – so that being caught with high cards costs more.
• Counters (Fan Tan). Everyone puts one counter in a pool before the deal, and a player with fewer cards adds one more. Every time you pass, you add a counter. When someone goes out, the others pay one counter per card left, and the winner takes the pool.
• Penalties. In the Fan Tan rules, a player who passes when they could have played pays three counters, plus five more to the holders of the 6 and 8 if they held back a 7.

Sevens Around the World

The same layout game is played almost everywhere, with small local twists:

Other house rules

• Who starts: some groups let the player on the dealer’s left start with any 7, or start with the 7 of diamonds.
• Aces low: the Ace sits below the 2 instead of above the King.
• Equal hands: deal everyone the same number of cards and turn the leftovers face up for anyone to use.
• Eight before six: in each suit the 8 must be played before the 6.

Sevens Strategy

You must play if you can, but you choose which card – and that choice decides most games. The idea is simple: play cards that open the way for your own cards, and hold back cards that would only help your opponents.

• Sit on 7s, 6s and 8s you don’t need. If you hold the 7 of clubs but no other clubs, playing it only lets everyone else unload their clubs. Keep it until you have nothing else to play.
• Open your long suits. If you hold the 8, 10 and Queen of hearts, playing the 8 starts a path you will use yourself.
• Get rid of end cards when you can. Low 2s and 3s and high Kings and Aces can only go down late, so play them as soon as they become legal.
• Watch who passes. A player who knocks is stuck in the suits that are open; keep those gaps closed if you can.

The effect is large. In 30,000 simulated four-player games, a player using this blocking approach against three players choosing their card at random went out first 49% of the time – nearly double the fair share of 25%. Turn it round, and a random player against three blockers won only 10%.

Sevens Odds

• The extra card is a handicap. When the 7 of hearts starts, being dealt one card more than the others costs you. With three players and random play, the 18-card hand went out first 25% of the time against 38% and 37% for the 17-card hands; with five players, each 11-card hand won 14% against 23–25% for the 10-card hands. Passing the deal round the table evens this out over a session.
• Sevens in your hand. With four players (13 cards each), you hold at least one 7 70% of the time; all four 7s about once in 379 deals.
• Passing. In random four-player games, each player passes about 1.4 times a game; against blockers, a random player passes 2.6 times.

More Card Games

If you enjoy Sevens, try Newmarket, another game of playing cards in suit order, or Switch, President, Go Fish and Rummy.

Another easy shedding game: Crazy Eights, where you match suit or rank and the eights are wild.

Prefer real dominoes? Try Mexican Train, where every player builds a train out from the centre.

Sevens card game: frequently asked questions