Cards rank (from low to high): 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2, Black Joker, Red Joker.
Choose a dealer by whichever means.
Shuffle and deal 17 cards to each player. Place the remaining 3 cards aside face-down for later.
The players enter an auction and bid to determine who the landlord will be. You're bidding for how strong you think your hand is.
The possible bids are 1, 2, and 3. The dealer starts the bid, or may pass, and continues counter-clockwise until 2 players pass, or 1 player bids 3. If all 3 players pass, re-deal.
The winner of the auction is the landlord, and add the 3 cards that were set aside to their hand. The two other players are the tenants.
The landlord begins by playing a single card, or a legal combination. Each subsequent player, going counter-clockwise, much either pass, or play a higher rank in the same combination of cards. For example, a pair of 6s can be followed by a pair of 7s, but not a pair of 5s (or a triplet of 8s, etc.)
There are two exceptions to this:
If either a bomb or a rocket, the bid is doubled.
When 2 players pass consecutively, then the player who played cards last may lead with a new combination. Play continues until 1 player has discarded all their cards.
If the landlord wins, the tenants must each pay the landlord the bid amount. If either tenant wins, the landlord pays each tenant the bid amount.
The combinations of cards are as follows, ordered by their strength:
| Combination | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Rocket | A Pair of Jokers | Red Joker-Black Joker |
| Bomb | Four cards of the same rank | 7-7-7-7 |
| Big Wings | An Airplane, plus 2 Pairs | 4-4-4-5-5-5-J-J |
| Small Wings | An Airplane, plus 2 Single cards | Q-Q-Q-K-K-K-A-A-A-4-7 |
| Airplane | 2 or more consecutive Triplets | K-K-K-A-A-A |
| Sisters | 3 or more consecutive Pairs | 8-8-9-9-10-10 |
| Chain | 5 or more consecutive cards | 4-5-6-7-8-9 |
| Full House | A Triplet, plus a Pair | K-K-K-2-2 |
| Part House | A Triplet, plus a Single | 6-6-6-5 |
| Triplet | Three cards of the same rank | 7-7-7 |
| Pair | Two cards of the same rank | 5-5 |
| Single | Any single card | 3 |
Note: 2's and Jokers cannot be used in any consecutive combination. A higher-ranked Bomb can beat a lower-ranked Bomb.