How to play Thirteen (Tiến Lên Miền Nam)

GENERAL RULES

Thirteen (Tiến Lên Miền Nam) is a card game played with a standard 52-card deck. You can play with 2 to 4 players. Each player gets 13 cards.

The goal is to be the first to get rid of all your cards. The game can end when one player finishes first or when only one player is left with cards, depending on the game mode.

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RANKING OF CARDS

The cards are ranked from lowest to highest: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, and 2.

If two cards have the same rank, their suits decide which is higher. The suits are ranked from lowest to highest as follows: Spades ♠, Clubs ♣, Diamonds ♦, Hearts ♥ (highest).

GAMEPLAY

(Please note there are many different variations of the game rules. These are the rules that we think work best for our game and player base.)

• The player with the 3♠ starts the game if there is no previous winner at the table.

• If there are fewer than 4 players and no one has the 3♠, a player is chosen at random to start.

• In subsequent games, the previous game's winner starts.

• The first player can play any valid combination of cards. Each player must then play a higher combination or pass. Players can choose to pass even if they have higher cards, often for strategic reasons.

• The round continues until no one can beat the last played combination. The player who played that combination clears the table and starts a new round with any valid combination.

• Only a higher combination of the same type and number of cards can beat a combination.

• If you don’t have any playable combinations, you can pass. However, you cannot play again until someone wins the round.

• A sequence (run) can only be beaten by a higher sequence. In this case, the suits don’t matter; only the highest card in each sequence matters.

• The first person to run out of cards wins the game.

PLAYABLE COMBINATIONS (NORMAL)

Single: one card. The smallest is a 3♠, and the higest is a 2♥.

Pair: two cards with the same rank.

Triple: three cards with the same rank.

Run: three or more cards of consecutive ranks. 2s cannot be used.

PLAYABLE COMBINATIONS (SPECIAL)

Three Pair Bomb: a combination of three pairs in sequence.

Four-of-a-kind

Four Pair Bomb: a combination of four pairs in sequence.

These special combinations are called CHOPs/BOMBs. They can stop the strongest cards in the game, the 2s. CHOPs/BOMBs can also defeat each other.

AUTOMATIC WINS

There are a few ways to instantly win the game. After an auto-win, the player with the Three of Spades (3♠) will go first in the next game. The following hands will reward an auto-win:

On the first hand where the 3♠ has to go first, these special combinations are automatic wins.

Dragon Run: from 3 to A.

Six Pairs (any).

Four-of-a-kind: 2s

Five Consecutive Pairs (any)

Three Consecutive Triples (any)

OTHER SPECIAL SITUATIONS

Locked: A player loses double if they did not play a single card before another player finishes their hand.