JubMoo+ Rules by Underdogs for Home of the Underdogs http://www.the-underdogs.org/ Introduction Jub Moo (Thai for "catch the pig") is one of the most popular card games in Thailand, next to Slave (which you can also find on the site). It's called catch the pig because pig in Thailand is a slang to mean either "cheapskate" or "walkover" when referred to a person. Sort of a mild derogatory term to describe a "loser" I suppose ;) This PC version by Kasamsun is probably the best computer version of the game ever made. While the help file is in English (you can read by clicking on "H" icon in the game), it doesn't include rules of the card game itself. So this is what this manual is all about. Number of players Every game must have 4 players, each of whom will be given 13 random cards at the start of the game. One deck, jokers are not used. In the computer version, you can play solo against computer players by dragging the boy's head in the Settings menu (click on "S") to the number "1" on the board. This is an undocumented feature that the Help screen omits. Order of play There's no rule on which player goes first. It's usually whoever ends up being the pig in the last round, or whoever shuffles. In the computer game, this is random as well. The order of play usually goes either counterclockwise or clockwise from the first player. Rules The first player deals any card from his/her hand face up onto the table. The next player must deal a card in the same suit as the first player's card. For example, if the first player deals a 2 of Hearts, the second player must deal a Hearts as well (can be any number). If a player has no more card in that suit, he/she can deal a card in any other suit (but everyone must deal one card per round - skipping or passing is now allowed). After all 4 players deal their cards, whoever deals the card with the highest score in the same suit as the first dealer will win all 4 cards dealt in that round into his/her personal "scored stack." The winner will also deal the first card of the next round. Ending The round ends when all players run out of cards to play. The game ends with the first player who reaches the score determined at the start of game - usually it's either -500 (minus five hundred), -1,000 or lower. That person is called "pig" and the game ends. Scoring Each card has the following scores: J Diamond (Jack in Diamond suit only): 100 10 Clover (10 in Clover suit only): 50 - if it's with other cards, it also acts as 2x multiplier Q Spades (Queen in Spades suit only): -100 The other cards are scored as follow (regardless of suit): Ace -50 King -40 Queen -30 (except Q Spades which is = -100) Jack -20 (except J Diamond which is = 100) 10 -10 (except 10 Clover which is = 50) 9 -9 ... ... 2 -2 Special scoring: 1. Any player who win no cards at the end of the game gets -50 points 2. Any player who wins every hand in the round (i.e. gets all the cards everyone deals) is called "Big Chuan" and gets 1,000 points regardless of cards won. 3. Any player who wins every card in Hearts suit is called "Chuan" - all the Hearts cards will turn into positive scores (e.g. -3 turns into 3). Playing tips As you can see, the only cards with positive scores are the J Diamond and 10 Clover. This means one of the most common strategies is to keep the 10 Clover and J Diamond for as long as possible, because it hurts you if you win a round by using them to attract high-negative-score cards such as the King and Ace. It's better to win the round with your J Diamond and other players playing low cards like 2 or 3. A game round is relatively quick since each player starts out with 13 cards which cannot be replenished (the scored cards are kept in a separate stack). This means memory is essential to winning the game - you'll have to keep track of which player does what, so you can best guess the cards they have remaining and plan your strategy accordingly. Undocumented features of the computer game 1. As mentioned earlier, you have to drag the boy's head to the "1" box in order to play solo against the computer. 2. On the Help screen (press "H"), you can click on cards in the "Score Tester" section to make it face up (i.e. won) or down (i.e. didn't win) in order to see what the score is for that particular scored stack. This will familiarize you with how JubMoo scoring works. Have fun with this popular game in my country! -Underdogs August 29, 2002
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