Golf rules

How a hand works

1. 1

   Deal six cards

   Each player gets six cards face down in two rows of three. Turn any two of your cards face up. Put the rest of the deck down as the stock and flip one card to start the discard pile.

2. 2

   Draw one card

   On your turn, take the top card of the stock or the discard pile.

3. 3

   Swap or discard

   Swap it for any one of your six cards (face up or down) and discard the card you replaced, face up. If you drew from the stock you may simply discard it instead (many tables then turn one of your face-down cards up).

4. 4

   Match columns

   Two cards of the same rank in the same column (one above the other) cancel out and score 0.

5. 5

   End the hole

   When one player has all six cards face up, everyone else gets one more turn. Then everyone flips any face-down cards and scores.

Card values

• Ace1
• 2−2
• 3 – 10Face value
• Jack, Queen10
• King0
• Matching pair in a column0

Because 2s are minus 2, a hole can score below zero — Roundfello accepts minus scores for Golf.

Winning tips

• Kings are gold — keep them.
• Grab 2s whenever you see them.
• Watch the discard pile: don't hand your opponent the card that completes their pair.

Popular house rules

• Four-card Golf: a 2×2 grid, look at your bottom two cards once at the start.
• Some tables score Jokers −2 or −5, or Jacks 0.
• Some tables play 'golf rules' where matched pairs of 2s score −4 instead of 0.