How to Play Gleek
Description
A Tudor-era gambling game for three where bold combinations and careful timing earn the pot. The player who claims the right combination at the right moment walks away with the table's money.
Objective
Score the most across four stages: bidding for better cards, betting on your best suit, declaring matching sets, and winning tricks.
Setup
Three players, using a 44-card deck (no 2s or 3s).
Deal twelve cards to each player, with the remaining eight kept face down as the stock. Turn the top stock card to set trump.
Rules
Players bid for the right to take the stock and improve their hand by discarding and drawing.
Next, players bet on who holds the strongest "ruff" — the most valuable run of cards in a single suit — with betting continuing until only one player remains, who reveals and collects.
Players then declare any gleeks (three of a kind) or mournivals (four of a kind) they hold in Aces, Kings, Queens, or Jacks, each worth a payout from every other player.
Finally, twelve tricks are played: follow suit if you can, highest trump or highest card of the suit led wins, and the winner leads the next trick.
Winning
Payouts happen throughout — from the ruff, from declared sets, and from tricks won.
Whoever accumulates the most across the whole hand comes out ahead.