This page lets you play the card game
Put against your computer.
Put is a two-player game of pure bluff. It is something like backgammon with everything but the doubling cube removed, or like a very primitive form of poker.
The cards rank, from highest to lowest, 3, 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4. It is important not to forget that 3 is the highest. Suits do not count. Three tricks are played, with the winner of each leading to the next. If the trick is tied, the same player leads again. Whoever wins two out of the three tricks wins the hand. The first player to win five hands wins the game.
Instead of playing a card, either player may elect to "Put". In this case, the other player can either resign, allowing the putter to score a point, or play on. If they play on, then whoever wins the current hand also wins the entire game.
Put is a very fast game, so this page lets you play as many games as you like, in order to see whether you can defeat the computer in the long run.
You can begin a new game by clicking the Deal next hand button. Once the hand is dealt, click on a card to play it, or on the I put button to put. If the computer decides to put, your only options are to click the Play on or Resign buttons.
After the first hand, the computer will lead to the first trick in the next hand. The lead alternates in every hand after this.
Refreshing this page will reset all the scores to zero. You can collapse this box by clicking on "Information and rules" again.
Put is a two-player game of pure bluff. It is something like backgammon with everything but the doubling cube removed, or like a very primitive form of poker.
The cards rank, from highest to lowest, 3, 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4. It is important not to forget that 3 is the highest. Suits do not count. Three tricks are played, with the winner of each leading to the next. If the trick is tied, the same player leads again. Whoever wins two out of the three tricks wins the hand. The first player to win five hands wins the game.
Instead of playing a card, either player may elect to "Put". In this case, the other player can either resign, allowing the putter to score a point, or play on. If they play on, then whoever wins the current hand also wins the entire game.
Put is a very fast game, so this page lets you play as many games as you like, in order to see whether you can defeat the computer in the long run.
You can begin a new game by clicking the Deal next hand button. Once the hand is dealt, click on a card to play it, or on the I put button to put. If the computer decides to put, your only options are to click the Play on or Resign buttons.
After the first hand, the computer will lead to the first trick in the next hand. The lead alternates in every hand after this.
Refreshing this page will reset all the scores to zero. You can collapse this box by clicking on "Information and rules" again.
Put was first recorded in the 1660s and appeared in
The Compleat Gamester by Charles Cotton. It was a disreputable gambling game
and may have been the Three Card
Monte of its day. Cotton's description contains plenty of information about
how to cheat at the game. The computer always plays honestly in this version,
meaning that, for example, it doesn't know the contents of your hand when
deciding what card to play.
| You | Computer | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Games won: | |||
| Hands won in current game: | (9) | ||
| Tricks won in current hand: | (3) | ||
| Click Deal next hand to continue. | |||