Card games: Try `Kissing Missing` this Diwali!

New Delhi: The traditional `teen patti` wins hands down when it comes to card games on Diwali, but experimentation is the new buzzword! This festive season, try your luck with interesting variations - AK47, 1942 A Love Story and Kissing Missing - they have caught the fancy of the young and old alike.

The pre-Diwali card parties are already on a roll. Classic `teen patti` or flash, involving three playing cards, has been around for years, and brings friends and family together for the occasion. In this traditional game, each person puts in a fixed amount of money for the first chance. People win on the basis of a trail, pure sequence, impure sequence, colour, pair or highest card. The stakes may vary from game-to-game and people-to-people - with some playing with Rs.5 or Rs.50, and some putting Rs.1, 000 or even Rs.10, 000. But now there are more options to choose from and IANS takes a rundown on the `hatke` `teen patti` games: AK47: Ace, King, 4 and 7 become the jokers in this variation. If a player has any of these cards, they can be used as a substitute for a missing colour or number to make a competitive sequence. Muflis: In the usual `teen patti`, the highest card owner wins, but it`s the opposite in Muflis. A person with the lowest cards, walks away with the moolah. Discard one: Instead of three, the players are dealt four cards in this variation. Simply keep the best three to play, and like the name of the game, discard one! Kissing Missing: The name is definitely catchy, but the game is a little complicated. Each player gets five cards. If you get a pair, you consider it as one joker, and it is called `kiss`. And for `miss`, any two alternate numbers in a sequence (for example 6 and 8) will together be considered one joker. You have to discard one extra card out of the five, and play the game. Matha: This one totally works on guess work! Each player just gets one card. Without seeing your card, you have to put the card on top of your forehead (matha), in a way that all other players can see your card. Then you look at others` cards, and take a guess if your card is lower or higher. The suspense makes this game enjoyable. Lallan Kallan: One odd colour in your pack of three will be the joker in Lallan Kallan. If you have two red cards and one black card, the `kallan` will be considered the joker. And this works vice-versa too. By chance if all your cards are of the same colour, you are out. Blackjack: The sum of all three cards that you get, must be 21 or below. Anything above 21, is considered `bust` or disqualified. Picture cards carry 10 points, aces carry one point or 11 points, and all other cards carry points as per their face value. The player, whose cards add up closest to 21, wins the game. 1942 A Love Story: Here, 1, 9, 4, 2 are all jokers, and the catch is that you can`t speak in English during this game! Stick to Hindi, or you`ll be out! IANS