Big Two
Overview
Big Two, also called Choi Dai Di, Deuces, and Pusoy Dos, is a climbing card game for 2–4 players. Play a higher hand of the same size, or pass. The first player to empty their hand wins the deal. Over a match, the lowest penalty wins.
Objective
Empty your hand. Cards you still hold when someone goes out become penalty points, and the player with the fewest points after the agreed number of deals wins the match.
Setup
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4 players: 13 cards each.
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3 players: 17 cards each. The one card left over goes to whoever already holds the 3♦. If that leftover card is the 3♦, it goes to seat 1.
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2 players: 13 cards each. The other 26 stay face down and out of play.
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Rank, low to high: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2.
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Suits, low to high: ♦, ♣, ♥, ♠. The 3♦ is the lowest card in the deck. The 2♠ is the highest.
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The first deal is opened by the player holding the 3♦. At two players, where that card may be undealt, the lowest card that was dealt opens instead. The opening play must include that card.
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Later deals are opened the same way, by whoever holds the lowest card of the new deal.
Turn Structure
Build a hand by tapping cards, then press Play. Clear puts them back.
On your turn:
1.
Play a hand of the same size that beats the one on the table, or
You cannot pass on your own lead. Passing does not lock you out: if someone else plays before the trick clears, you may play again.
When every other player passes in a row, the table clears and the last player to play leads anything they like.
Valid Plays
A hand is one of:
Higher rank, then higher suit
Higher rank, then the higher suit in the pair
Five consecutive ranks. A 2 cannot be in a straight
Highest card, rank then suit
Five cards of one suit, not a straight
Highest card, rank then suit. Suit itself does not rank a flush
Three of one rank and two of another
Four of one rank, plus any fifth card
Highest card, rank then suit
Five-card hands beat each other by kind, low to high: straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush. A straight flush beats four aces.
You may only follow with the same number of cards. A pair does not beat a single, and a flush does not beat a pair.
Scoring
When a player goes out, the deal ends immediately. Everyone else is scored on the cards still in their hand:
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×3 if they never played a card this deal
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×2 if they played, and still hold 10 or more
The player who went out scores 0 for the deal, and takes one "deal won."
Winning
The lobby chooses a match of 1, 4, or 8 deals. The match goes to the lowest total penalty. If players tie on penalty, the one who won more deals takes it. If that is tied too, they share the win.
Digital Play
Tap a card to stage it, then press Play. The opening card of a deal has to be staged before any other. A hand of five is staged one card at a time, so the table never asks you to pick a combination out of a thousand.