Super Babel

A great party game for a large number of players, Super Babel is the creation of Robert Abbot.
Like Haggle, it uses cards as objects to be traded.
The game can be played with a few as 6 players, but is really best for 15 or more. In addition,
one person needs to act as non playing scorekeeper and reshuffler.
The number of decks needed is approximately one-third the number of players. To begin,
shuffle together all the decks and deal them into piles of ten cards each. Its good idea to do
this in advance. The scorekeeper should also prepare a scoresheet in advance, divided into
columns. Each players name should appear at the top of one of the columns.
The rules of the game are explained to all the players, and a time limit is set, such as 20
minutes, after which the game will end. The scorekeeper the gives each player one packet of
ten cards.
Players then attempt, by trading cards with one another, to form ten-card hands that will let
them go out. Such hands must either be a combination of two poker hands are straights or
better, or they must be one of three special ten-card hands, as described in the following chart.
Each player should be given a copy of this chart to refer to during the game.

Five-Cards Hands (Two of These Are Needed To Go Out)

Hand

Point Value Description

Straight
Flush
Full House
Four of a kind
Straight flush
Royal Flush

5
7
10
15
20
21

any five cards in numerical sequence

any five cards of the same suit
three cards of one rank plus two cards of another rank
four cards of the same rank (plus one of any other card)
five cards of the same suit in numerical sequence
The ace, king, queen, jack, 10 of one suit

Ten-Card Hands (One of These is Needed To Go Out)

Hand

Point Value Description

Double straight
20
Double flush
40
Double straight flush 80

any ten cards in numerical sequence

ten cards of the same suit
ten cards of the same suit in sequence

According to the rules of the game that appeared in Abbots New Card Games (Funk &
Wagnalls, 1963), players are not allowed to turn in duplicate cards such as two queens of
clubs- as part of the same combination. Thus, Q-Q-9-3-2 of clubs was not a valid flush. This
is a good rule to follow, but the inventor has found that some players may not like the added
complexity of having to check for matching numbers in, say, a ten-card hand of all hearts. If
players prefer a slightly simpler form of the game, they can play without this restriction.

When a player goes out, the game does not end. He turns in his cards to the scorekeeper, who
records their point value by writing it in the players column on the scoresheet. The
scorekeeper then gives a new packet of ten cards to the player, who immediately rejoins the
trading action and tries to get a new set of cards to turn in. A player may turn in any number
of sets of cards during the game, as long as time allows.
There are no restrictions on the kinds of traders players may make, except that trades should
always be between equal numbers of cards (one for one, three for three, etc.) to ensure that
players will always be able to turn in ten cards. Players may call out what they have and wait
for the best offer or keep their hands secret; they may bargain in the open or move into
another room for closed-door discussions; they may form alliances or work alone.
As players turn in more and more sets of cards, the scorekeeper should start to reshuffle them
together after the scores have been recorded in order to avoid running out of new ten-card
packets to give players. Depending on the number of players and the pace of the action, it may
be a good idea for the scorekeeper to have an assistant to help with the reshuffling and
redealing.
When time is up, the scorekeeper adds up the scores of all the players to determine the winner.
The inventor has recently come up with an alternative scoring system for Super Babel, which
allows players to make trades of unequal numbers of cards. Point values are based on the
difficulty of getting each kind of hand, as measured by the average number of cards a player
needs to be randomly dealt in order to get such a holding.
Hand

Point Value

4 cards of the same rank

6 cards of the same rank
5 cards of the same suit
9 cards of the same suit
5 cards in numerical sequence
8 cards in numerical sequence
5 cards of the same suit in numerical sequence

15
50
5
40
7
30
20

In this version, a card used in one combination cannot be used in another. A player may turn
in a hand of any size, provided it contains a minimum of 20 points.