Sergeant Major is a fun, social card game that can be enjoyed by three players.
Try to win more tricks than the goal amount to gain an advantage and win the game!
Find the video tutorial and written explanation for how to play the card game sergeant major below.
Sergeant Major Tutorial
Needed
Three players; 52 card deck
Deal
Each player is dealt 16 cards, four cards at a time. The remaining four cards are placed in the middle.
Objective
The objective of each round is to win a certain amount of tricks. The dealer has a goal to win eight tricks, the player left of the dealer to win five tricks, and the player right of the dealer to win three tricks. If a player is able to win 12 tricks in a round, he/she wins the game!
Card Rank
Highest to lowest - A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Trump suited cards will outrank all other suited cards.
Determining Trump
The dealer chooses a trump suit. After the trump suit is announced, the dealer gets to discard four of his/her cards and replaces them with the four cards remaining from the deal.
Game Play
The game begins with the player left of the dealer leading the first trick. Each player is required to follow the lead suit whenever possible. The winner of the trick is the player with the highest ranking trump suited card. If no trump was played, the player with the highest ranking card in the lead suit wins the trick. The player that wins the trick leads the next trick.
Scoring
Players compare the amount of tricks won in the round to their trick goal amount. Players that exceed their goal are up the amount of tricks won over their goal. Players that do not reach their goal amount are down the amount of tricks they were short of their goal.
Card Exchange
Players up from the previous round will exchange a certain number of cards with the players down from the previous round. The number of cards exchanged is equal to the number up or down a player is from the previous round. The player that is up will choose any card to give to a player that is down. The player that is down has to return his/her highest ranking card in the same suit as the card received.
If a player that is down gets passed a card in a suit he/she does not have or does not have a higher ranking card in that suit, the card received is passed back.
When a dealer that is down exchanges a card with a player that is up, it is possible the dealer will pick up a higher ranking card in the middle card exchange. In this case, the dealer will show the higher ranking card to the player that was involved in the pass.
In an example where player 1 is up 1, player 2 is up 1, and player 3 is down 2 from the previous round. The player that is required to get more tricks in the upcoming round gets to trade a card first. If player 1 is the dealer, he/she would need more tricks than player 2. Player 1 would exchange a card with player 3 first.