Number of Players: 2 or 3. Can be played as a solitaire game, but two or three players are considered optimal.
Three Player Variation
Seventeen cards are dealt to each player, with the final remaining card in the deck placed face-up in the center of the table. This card denotes the trump suit. Player to the left of the dealer leads any card. Standard trick taking rules apply (you must follow suit if able, the trick is won by the highest trump played, or the highest card in the suit led if no trump is played). Winner of the previous trick leads to the next trick.
When all seventeen tricks have been taken, the meat (defined as the player who has taken the middle number of tricks, i.e. if one player takes 4, another takes 6, and the third takes 7, the player who took 6 tricks is "the meat") is declared the victor. In the event that two players tie (making no-one the meat), the player who has the unique number of tricks taken is declared the winner.
Two Player Variation
This is played the same as the three player variation, but one of the players is a blind dummy. The dummy is dealt to the left of the dealer, and leads a random card to the first trick. Whenever it is dummy's turn to play, a random card is selected from dummy's hand to play to the trick. The card played by dummy is valid, regardless of whether it follows the suit led. This, naturally, introduces a very random element into the game, since dummy can trump even when it is not void in the suit led. The two players must still follow suit when possible. The solitaire game is played with two dummies.
The Janitor Rule
Whenever all three players have the same number of tricks, those tricks are cleared from the table by the janitor (the last player to take a trick) in a process known as a sweep. It's not a very important rule, but all games have traditions that must be honored.
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