How to Play Gleek


Gleek used to be a very popular card game in coffee houses -- about 375 years ago! The few words written about it at the time don't give us a lot to go by, but this should give you a taste of card-playing time-travel. Here's how to play:

Number of players: Three

Object: To make the highest scores.

The cards: A 44-card deck made by removing all 2s and 3s from a regular pack. Also, give each player an equal quantity of chips.

Card Term Glossary
Here's a quick reference for some of the card language you will find in this article.

Bid: A spoken declaration to win a specified number of tricks or points; also, to make such a declaration.

Face value: The numerical value of a card.

Follow suit: To play a card of the suit led.

Trick: A round of cards played, one from each player's hand.

Trump: A suit designated to be higher ranking than any other suit; any card in that suit. Also, to play a trump card on a trick.

For a complete listing of card terminology, click here.
To play: Deal 12 cards to each player. Turn up the next card to determine the trump suit. Leave the seven remaining cards, or stock, in a face-down pile.

Each deal has four parts:
  • Bidding for the stock
  • Vying for Ruff (the best suit)
  • Claiming bonuses for mournivals (4 of a kind) and gleeks (3 of a kind)
  • Play of the cards
Bidding for the stock: Player at left of dealer automatically begins the bid at 10 chips. In turn, players increase the bidding by two chips at a time, or else drop out of the bidding. The high bidder pays each opponent half the bid amount. Without revealing any cards, the high bidder then discards seven cards from his or her hand and replaces them with the stock cards.

Ruff: All players toss two chips in a pool. Starting with the high bidder, players vie for who has the best suit (i.e., the highest card value in a single suit, determined by adding up the cards in that suit): Ace counts 11, kings, queens, and jacks 10, and all others their face value. Starting with high bidder, either pass or vie for Ruff by betting two chips. Players may pass or see the vie by putting in two chips. They may also revie by adding two chips more. Other players must see the vies or revies or pass. Once all vies and revies are seen, the suits are shown, and whoever has the highest count in one suit wins the chips in the pool.

Mournival and gleek: If a player holds any of the following mournivals or gleeks, every other player must pay him the indicated number of chips:
  • Mournivals (4 of a kind): aces, 8 chips; kings, 6 chips; queens, 4 chips; jacks, 2 chips
  • Gleeks (3 of a kind): aces, 4 chips; kings, 3 chips; queens, 2 chips; jacks, 1 chip
Trick play: The high bidder leads to the first trick. Follow suit if possible, otherwise play any card. A trick is won by the highest trump played, or else by the highest card of the suit led. Winner of each trick leads to the next.

Scoring: Score three points per trick won, plus bonuses for winning the following cards:
  • Ace of trumps -- 15 points
  • Jack of trumps -- 9 points
  • King and queen of trumps -- 3 points each
By tradition, if the trump card turned up at the beginning is one of these honors, add it to dealer's score. Now, subtract 22 points from each player's score. This will give you the number of chips each player wins and loses.

Variations: It is common for the player having tiddie (the 4 of trumps) to claim two chips from each player. Tiddie can be claimed at any phase of the hand, and if tiddie happens to be the card turned up at the beginning, dealer claims the chip reward immediately.

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