7/12/2015

TongitsWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Tongits
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Tongitsisa3playerrummytypeofgamethatgained
popularityinthe1990sinLuzon,[1]thelargestislandof
thePhilippines.
Thisgameisplayedusingthestandarddeckof52cards.Its
originremainsunknown[2]butthegamerulesandthevery
namecanbeassociatedwiththeAmericancard
game,Tonk.[1]

Tongits
Origin

Philippines

Players

Skill(s)required

Strategy

Deck

AngloAmerican

Randomchance

Medium

Relatedgames
Tonk

Contents[hide]
1Rules
1.1Objectiveofthegame
1.2HowtoPlay
1.3Meld(Bahay)
2EndingtheGame
2.1"Tongits"
2.2Draw
2.3Deckpilerunsout
2.4WinningthePot
3CardPoints
4References
5Externallinks

Rules

[edit]

Note:Likemanypopularcardgames,therearevariationstotheserules.Ruleswithvariationsarenoted
wherepossible.

Objectiveofthegame

[edit]

Theobjectiveofthegameistoemptyyourhandofallcardsorminimizethecountandthescoresof
unmatchedcardsthatarestillontheplayershandbyformingcardsets(melds,alsocalleda"Bahay"
(pronouncedBaHi),or"Buo"insomedialects),dumpingcardsandcallingadraw.Theplayerwhogetsrid
ofallthecardsorhastheleastnumberoftotalpointsattheendofthegame(whenthecentralstackis
empty)winsthegame.[3][4]

HowtoPlay

[edit]

Eachplayerisdealt12cardswhilethedealergets13andtherestofthecardsareleftasacentralstack.
Thegamebeginswhenthedealerdumpsacard.Thenextpersoncaneitherpickupthedisposedcardor
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getonefromthecentralstack.Collecthandcombinationsanddumpunnecessarycards.Thepickingand
discardingofcardsgoesonuntilsomeonewinsbyTongits,callsadraworuntilthecentralstackrunsout
ofcards.Ifthishappens,theplayerstallythepointsofthecardstheyhaveathandandtheonewiththe
lowestwins.Incaseofadrawthelastpersontotakeacardfromthecentraldeckwins..[3][4]

Meld(Bahay)

[edit]

Meld(Bahay)isasetofmatchingcardsaplayerneedstocollectinordertowinthegame.Whenaplayer
collectsameld,hehastheoptiontoeitherlayitdown,orkeepit.However,aplayermustexposeatleast
onemeldtocallorchallengeadrawunlesstheplayerhasa"Secret"or"Sagasa"inwhichcasehecan
challenge(butnotcall).Ifaplayerfailstolaydownameldanddoesnothaveeitherspecialmeldswhen
thegameends,theplayerisconsideredBurnedandwillneitherbeabletochallengeadraw(ifoneis
called)noreligibletowinintheendtallycount(ifthecentralstackrunsout).[4][5]
Threeofakind:threeequallyrankedcards(777)
Fourofakind:fourcardsofthesamerank/number,openedorheldatthesametime.isalsocalled
Secretor"Special"(JJJJ)
Fourofakind:fourcardsofthesamerank/number,openedasathreeofakind,thenthefourthcardof
samerank/numberisaddedbythesamepersonwhendisplayedandthefourthcardisdrawnfromthe
deck.Thisiscalled"Sagasa".Otherwisethiscanbecomea"Secret"or"Special"
StraightFlush:atleastthreesequentialcardsofthesamesuit(345)(8910JQ)
Straightflushcomposedof4ormorecardsisalsocalledaEscalera."[5]

EndingtheGame
"Tongits"

[edit]

[edit]

Iftheplayerisabletouseallofhisorhercardsincombinations,byconnectingtoopponentsorthe
exposedcardsets(sapaw),oriftheplayergetsridofallhiscards,thentheplayerwinsbyTongits.A
personcandiscardofhiscardsbyformingmeldsandlayingitdownormakinga"sapaw"ononeofthe
otherplayers'laiddownmeld.Ameldconsistsofatleastthreecards(threeofakindorstraightflush)and
asapawwouldbethefourthofthosethree,orthecontinuationofthatstraightflush.[6]

Draw

[edit]

Aplayerwithatleastoneexposedmeldandhaslowpointscancalladrawbeforehisturngiventhatno
otherplayersconnectedtohisexposedmeldbeforethat.Otherwise,theplayerwillhavetowaitforhisnext
turntocalladraw.[6]
Onceaplayercallsforadrawtheopponentscaneitherfoldorchallengethedraw.Onlyplayerswhohave
exposedmeldsaregiventhisopportunity.Aplayercannotcallforadrawifhisexposedhand(s)hasbeen
melded(sapaw)byanyopponentwithintheround.Playerswithnocardsetsexposedareautomatically
folded.Whenadrawhasbeencalled,thepointsarecomputedandtallied.Thepersonwiththelowest
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pointswins.Ifatieoccurs,thechallengerwins.Intheeventofathreewaytie,theplayertotherightofthe
challengerwins.[6]

Deckpilerunsout

[edit]

Whenthecentralstackrunsoutofcards,thegameends.Aplayerwithnoexposedmeldsautomatically
loses.Theplayerwiththelowestpointsintotalwins.Ifthereisatiefortheleastpoints,theplayerthat
picksupthelastcardfromthedeckwins.[4][6]
AplayerwhodoesnotexposeanymeldsbeforeanopponentcallsTongitsorDrawisconsideredburnt
orsung.Burntplayersattheendofthegameautomaticallylose.[6]

WinningthePot

[edit]

Betsareaddedtoapot.Thewinnerwhowinstwoconsecutivegamescollectthepotmoney.Thiscanalso
bechangedto3consecutivegameswhereinuponthesecondwintheplayergetsanadditionalpayment.

CardPoints

[edit]

Allthecardshavecorrespondingpoints.TheRankgoes:
Ace2345678910JackQueenKing.
Aceisconsideredonepoint.
AlltheJacksQueensandKingsare10pointseach.
Alltheothercards(namely,2345678910)matchtheirvalue.[5]

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