RICH MAN, POOR MAN
How To Play Rich Man, Poor Man
(Dai Hin Min / Dai Fugo)
I did not write this, it was in the Tokyopop Manga tranlation of Fruits Basket, book 2. Rich Man, Poor Man is a game they play often in the manga and anime series of Fruits Basket aka Furuba. So if you are a big fan of this show then learning to play this game should be a lot of fun. ^^
Objective
The aim is to get rid of all your cards as soon as possible..
Players and Cards
About 4 to 7 players using a standard 54 card pack with jokers. The suits are irrelevant and the cards rank, from high to low with deuces high: 2 A K Q J 9 8 7 6 5 4 3. Jokers are wild.
Deal
The game is played clockwise. All the cards are dealt out. Some players may have one more than others.
Play
The player to dealer's left starts by leading (face up) any single card or any set of cards of equal rank (for example, three fives). Each player in turn must then either pass (i.e. not play any cards), or play face up a card or set of cards which beats the previous play.
A single card is beaten by any higher single card. A set of cards can only be beaten by a higher set containing the same number of cards. So for example, if the previous player played two sixs, you can beat this with two kings, or two sevens (though you could play two of them and hang on to the third).
It is not necessary to beat the previous play just because you can -- passing is always allowed. Also passing does not prevent you from playing the next time your turn comes round.
The play continues as many times around the table as necessary until someone makes a play which everyone else passes. All the cards played are then turned face down and put to one side, and the player who played last (and highest) in the previous "trick" starts again by leading any card or set of equal cards.
For example the play might go:
Tohru leads with a pair of fours. Kyou follows with a pair of sevens. Uo passes. Hanajima follows with a pair of Tens. Tohru passes. Kyou plays a pair of Jacks. Uo passes. Hanajima passes. Tohru passes. Kyou then starts again by leading any car or set.
When a player whose turn it is to play has no more cards left, the turn passes to the next player in rotation. Therfore in the example, if the two Jacks were Kyou's last two cards, he would sit out the rest of the round and it would then be Uo's turn to play anything.
Jokers are wild and are equal in rank to whatever card they are play with.
For scoring purpose, whoever goes out first gets 2 points, second out get one point and the rest of the players get no points.
Social Status
The first player who is out of cards is dubbed the "Dai Fugo," or very rich man. Other variations on the rules call this person the President, King, or the Great Dalmuti. The last player to be left with any cards is known as the "Dai Hin Min." or very poor man. You can also use other derisive terms such as peon, beggar, scum, or a--hole. (Ongaku's Input: haha a--hole. Sounds fun. ^^;;)
While it's not part of the basic Dai Hin Min rules, many variations also give titles to the players based on their rank. So if your use "King" as your model, you might have King, Duke, Knight, Merchant, and Peon as your ranks. More importantly, the players of higher status are entitled to enjoy and generally abuse their power over the lower ranking players. You can also add to the fun by having players wear hats based on rank, with the leader wearing a crown, and the loser wearing a dunce cap.
Between hands, players move seats based on ranks. The Dai Fugo selects the most comfortable chair; second place sits to the left, and so on around to the Dai Hin Min who sits to the Dai Fugo's right, probably on a crate or packing case.
The Dai Hin Min is responsible for shiffling, dealing and clearing away the cards when necessary. As the players are now seated clockwise in order of rank, the first card is dealt to the Dai Fugo's right, and so on down.
When the deal is complete, the Dai Hin Min must give hist or her highest card to the Dai Fugo, and the Dai Fugo gives back in exchange any card that he or she does not want. Second place trades with second from last, ect. If there are an odd number of players, the middle player doesn't swap. (Variation: swap 2 cards per round)
The Dai Hin Min then leads any card or set of cards and the game continues as before.
End Of Game
If scoring, set a target scare (say 11 points). The gmes ends when someone reaches it.
Variations
Shibari
If a player follows a play with a card of the same suit, that player may declare "Shibari," or "binding," which means that all other players must follows suit in order to play. For example if Hanajima plays a seven of clubs and Tohru trumps it with a nice of clubs, she can declare shibari on clubs, and only clubs can be played. This variation can work with doubles and an eight of diamonds and an eight of of hearts. She can declare shibari or triple shibari can be declared if two of three suits match. Shibari's are only effective for the hand in which thy are played.
Revolution!
If four of a kind are played, it is called a revolution. When this happens, the rank of cards is reversed. From that point on, lower calues now trump higher values until there is another revolution.
Dai Fugo makes the rules!
Another fun variation is to let the Dai Fugo add an extra rules each round (or cancel an existing rule). The rules will likely make it easier for the Dai Fugo to keep winning or humiliating for the loser, but in Dai Hin Min, as lin life, it's not always fair. But remember Karma- what comes around goes around, and you wan't stay on top forever...
There are many other variations to Dai Hin Min and its Wester equivalents, and the rules are slightly different depending on whoever you ask, For other variations, and rules on similar fames, visit www.pagat.com, the web's leading resource for card games.