How to Play Golf Card Game (6 Cards)

When you think of golf, you’re probably not thinking of a card game. However, the 6 card golf game is actually a very popular game. This game also goes by several other names, including Hara Kiri, Crazy Nines, and Polish poker. Unlike other card games, you don’t want to get the highest score.

There are quite a few variations to this game. The game can change drastically depending on how many people are playing and which variation you have chosen to play. Therefore, the good thing about this game is that you can find some variation that works for everyone in your family, so that you can enjoy a fun activity together.

6 Card Golf Objective

Much like the regular game of golf, the goal is to get the least amount of points. The way to do this is by swapping your cards for ones with a lesser value to them or pairing them up with other cards of the same rank to get the lowest score after 9 rounds.

Six Card Golf Tutorial

Certainly, there are many different variations hence different 6 card golf rules! Here is how to play this version of the game plus a few variations.

Setup

1. The standard version starts off with using a typical, 52 card deck (plus the Jokers).
2. The dealer deals out 6 cards to each player.
3. The cards are dealt face down to the player.
4. Each player’s cards should be face down in 2 rows of 3.
5. The remainder of the cards are face down.
6. Flip the top card upwards to start the discard pile.
7. All other cards must stay face down and can’t be looked at yet.

How to Play 6 Card Golf

1. The first player to go is the one to the left of the dealer.
2. Players begin taking turns drawing cards from either the discard pile or the stock pile (the pile with the cards facing down).
3. Look for cards that you can pair up or trade your cards that are a higher value for lower ones in the pile.
4. The card drawn from the piles can either be swapped in for one (you can’t have more than 6 cards in your hand) or discarded.
5. If a player chooses to swap in the card for one of theirs, the card swapped in needs to remain face up.
6. Each round ends when all of the cards in the players’ hands are face up.
   • Each game is 9 “holes” (rounds/deals).
7. The person with the lowest score wins.

6 Card Golf Scoring

Here is a simplified version of scoring as some people find scoring confusing:

• Aces = 1 point
• Numerical cards’ values are based on their face value.
• Jacks and Queens = 10 points
• Kings = 0 points
• Pairs = 0 points
• Joker = -3

6 Card Golf Variations

Some variations use a standard 52 card deck plus the jokers while there are other variations that use 2 standard decks and the jokers.

One variation is the 4 card golf, where the cards are placed in front of the player in a 2×2 grid formation with the cards face down. In this variation, the players are not to look at their cards. The player can choose to look at one of their cards, though this takes a stroke (meaning you get 1 point added to your score). The regular portion of this game continues as it does in 6 card golf with the exception of one person can choose to knock rather than draw a card. When this happens, have the chance to improve their scores before points are counted.

6 card golf can accommodate quite a few players, perfect for larger gatherings and families. There are so many different variations to this game that you will be able to find something that works for you. Variations come in the form of house rules or through different number of cards in the hands. There are even different rules for scoring depending on the variation.

6 Card Golf Video Tutorial