Rules to play Go Fish

1. The goal in Go Fish is to collect as many books, or sets of four cards of the same rank, as possible. The person with the most books at the end of the game is the winner. An example of a book would be having all four queens in a deck the queen of hearts, the queen of spades, the queen of clubs, and the queen of diamonds. A book doesnt have to be composed of face cards. You could have a book of nines the nine of hearts, the nine of spades, the nin .....

Know how to build a book

2. Players collect complete books by taking turns asking each other for a card they need to make a set of cards complete. For example, if a player is dealt a two of clubs and a two of hearts, she will ask another player if he has a two. In this way she adds cards to the book until it is complete. .....

Know what it means to fish

3. If a player is asked for a card she has in her hand, she is obligated to hand over all cards of that rank. If she does not have the card, she replies, Go fish. The player who requested the card then fishes a card from the pile of extra cards called the draw pile. This gives her an extra chance to obtain a card for one of the books she is building.If a player receives the card she asked for or draws it from the pile, she gets another turn.If a pla .....

Understand how the game ends

4. Players continue to go around the circle, asking for cards, drawing cards and creating books, until either someone has no cards left in his or her hands or the draw pile runs out. The person with the most books is the winner. .....

Nominate a dealer

5. In Go Fish, one person starts out as the dealer, the person who distributes the first hand of cards and gets the game started. The person who had the idea to play the game usually plays the role of the dealer. The other players arrange themselves in a circle extending from both sides of the dealer.Some people like to follow certain rules to figure out who the dealer should be. For example, the dealer could be the youngest or oldest person present .....

Shuffle the deck

6. Any time youre about to start a card game, shuffle the deck to redistribute the cards from the last game. This ensures the cards arent organized in a predictable pattern and shows the other players that no cheating is involved. .....

Deal 5 cards to each player

7. Start with the deck of cards face down, so they cannot be seen by any of the players. Give the topmost card to the first player on the left, the next card to the next player in the circle, and so on. Continue dealing cards one at a time around the table until everyone has five cards.If you are playing with just two players, deal 7 cards to each player instead of 5. .....

Make a draw pile or pool

8. Place the remaining cards face down in the center of the circle or table so that they are within everyones reach. They dont have to be orderly, but they should all be face down. This is the pool from which everyone fishes. .....

Examine your cards

9. Hold the cards in a fan so that the other players cant see them, and take a look at what you were dealt. If you have two or more cards of the same rank, you may want to plan to pursue more cards of that suit to build a book. If you dont have any cards of the same rank, you may choose to pursue any of the cards in your hand. .....

Start gameplay with the player to the left of the dealer

10. This player chooses someone else, it doesnt matter who, to ask whether he or she has a card of a specific rank. For example, the player might say, Moirin, do you have any threes?If Moirin has threes, she is obligated to hand them over, and the player gets another turn.If Moirin has no threes, she says Go fish. The player then draws a card from the draw pile. If its the card he or she asked for, another turn is granted. If not, game play moves to .....

Make complete books

11. As play moves around the circle, players start collecting enough cards to make complete books. When a book is complete, the player shows the other players the book, then lays the cards in the book face down.As players ask each other for cards, try to remember which cards they asked for. When its your turn, youll have the advantage of knowing whats in their hand. For example, if you hear a player ask someone else for an eight, and youre hoping to .....

Finish the game

12. Eventually the draw pile will dwindle and the cards will run out. When this happens, each player counts his or her books. The person with the most books is the winner. .....

Ask for specific cards

13. Rather than asking for a card in the same rank, ask for a specific card. For example, if you have a jack of hearts, ask another player for a jack of diamonds, rather than just asking for a jack. This variation makes the game more difficult, and it tends to last longer this way. .....

Play with pairs instead of books

14. When you form a pair of two cards of the same rank and color, show the other players and lay the pair down. An easier variation would be to form pairs of two cards of the same rank, even if they arent the same color. .....

Disqualify players who run out of cards

15. In a typical game of Go Fish, the game is over when a player runs out of cards. Play a variation in which the game continues among the players who still have cards. .....

Scoring

16. When all the cards have been drawn and all the books collected, whoever has gathered the most books wins. .....

Variations

17. Call for cards from all players at once the game moves faster when everyone must give up the wanted cards. This also makes it a better move to ask for a card when your book lacks just one, since whoever might have drawn the fourth one must give it to you. An interesting scoring variant is to assign each book a value equal to its rank. Aces would then count 11, picture cards 10, and all other cards would be worth their face value. .....

Winning the Game

18. Once a player collects a set of all four cards of the same rank, they place them face down on the table. The game continues until a player is out of cards or the stock deck is gone. The player with the most sets is the winner. .....

Strategy

19. If, when fishing, a player draws a rank they did not have, they should ask for it on their next turn. Otherwise, they should rotate among the ranks that they already hold. In the more difficult variants, strategy often requires memorizing what cards each player possesses. Unlike many card games, Go Fish depends on the honor system; lying about the contents of ones hand is difficult to prevent. .....

Special card decks

20. Instead of using a standard 52 playing card deck, various speciality decks have been manufactured including the 169 count playing card Kids Classic Go Fish Card Game by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.. Other specialist card packs which can be used to play similar games have also been produced including the Safari Pals packs which uses animal characteristics to form the sets. .....

Variant Two Keep Playing

21. When the draw pile runs out, keep playing until all of the cards have been made into sets of four. When the draw pile is exhausted, no one says Go fish. If you ask someone for a card she doesnt have, it becomes her turn. .....