The Fifth Column

The Fifth Column is a precursor of Schotten Totten played with a standard deck of cards. In the basic version each player gets a hand of six cards and two rows of nine cards each are placed on the table to start the players' columns. Two cards are discarded and the rest form a draw pile.

On a turn a player plays to one of their nine columns, claims columns if possible, and draws a card. The three-card column sets are ranked from straight flush down. A column can be claimed even if the opponent's set is incomplete if you can prove there is no way they can beat your set. If a column is completed on both sides and is tied, the player who played last loses it.

The object is to claim five columns.

Some variants are given:

• Ignore straights and straight flushes.

• Each player gets 15 cards at the start and never draws any more.

• Don't place any cards in the columns initially, as in the later game.