Playing Go Fish with your buddies is a tonne of fun, and the Go Fish rules are simple to understand as well. Focus on obtaining 4-of-a-kind matches when playing with 2 to 6 players to be the first player to lay down all of their cards. You won’t get tired of playing this classic card game because there are several fun ways to mix up how you play each hand.
Go Fish is a well-known card game that’s popular all over the world for its easy rules and captivating gameplay.
How Do You Play Go Fish?
Before knowing the Go Fish rules, let’s first see how to play this game!
It takes two to five players to enjoy the card game Go Fish. Just like Poker, Rummy, and the majority of other games, Go Fish only requires a conventional 52-card deck without any jokers.
1. Dealing
The dealer is chosen through deck splitting. The dealer is whoever gets the highest card. However, the dealer doesn’t affect the game.
- Seven cards are dealt to each player in a two-player game of Go Fish.
- A game for 3-5 players distributes 5 cards to each participant.
After that, the remaining cards are set aside to create the draw pile. Sometimes referred to as the stock.
2. Gameplay
Go Fish’s primary gameplay is on a set of regulations that are comparable to those in other card-matching games.
First, the dealer asks each participant if they have a specific card rank (Aces-Kings). The player making the request must have at least one card from that specific level in their hand.
For instance, Player 1 may not ask another player for 9s if Player 1 does not have any 9s in his or her hand.
I’ll give you an example of a request: Does Player 1 have any nines? queries Player 2.
In this case, Player 2 will give Player 1 all of their nines. The next step is for Player 1 to approach any other player with another request.
Player 2 will shout Go Fish if they don’t have any nines.
A player who is asked to play Go Fish will pull one card from the deck. Next, the next person in clockwise order takes their turn.
3. Merging
The goal of the Go Fish card game is to assemble sets of four cards that are identical, as it is primarily a matching game.
Four cards are placed face up on the board in front of the player who completed a four-of-a-kind.
Either a request or a draw from the stock can finish a four-of-a-kind. There is no requirement for the turn to end after a set finishes.
No more cards of that rank are present in the stock or the hands once a set is complete. The option to request said rank is thus denied to players. The sets are no longer playable
How Do You Win At Go Fish?
When every card in the stock has been played and every hand has been cleared, the round is over. Each player’s round score is the sum of the sets they own as a whole.
Running Out of Playing Cards
If a player runs out of cards, he or she has the following three options:
- The player draws five cards from the remaining cards in the deck.
- The player draws all of the stock’s remaining cards if there are fewer than five left.
- Lastly, the player doesn’t continue the round if there are no more cards in the stock.
Go Fish Rules
The Go Fish rules are as follows:
- 5 cards are dealt to each player (7 in 2-player games).
- The dealer goes first and picks a player to request a specific card rank.
- The asking player must draw one card from the stock if they do not have any cards of that rank. If they do not, they instruct the player to go fish.
- The game proceeds clockwise.
- A four-of-a-kind is completed and then set face-up on the table by the player who made it.
- The game is over once every card has been melded together.
Scoring
We determine the final Go Fish score by how many four-of-a-kind sets each player possesses. The value of each set is one point.
Whoever has the most sets at the end of the round wins.
Example Play
The example hand below is from a two-player Go Fish game.
The first participant is AKQ28.
The second participant is AK225.
When it is Player 2’s turn, Player 1 asks, “Do you have any Queens?”
Player 2 does not and says, “Go Fish.” Player 1 is dealt the number five.
“Do you have any Aces?” player 2 asks as he starts his turn.”
Player 2 flips over their Ace.
Go Fish Strategy
Till now, we already know Go Fish rules, about the gameplay. Moving further to the strategies of this exciting game!
- In Go Fish strategies, reading your adversaries is crucial.
- Try to avoid asking for your cards until you are certain that other individuals have the ones you need by hiding them if at all feasible.
- Do a card count if at all possible.
- To get more pulls from the stock, keep asking for the same cards.
- Your chances of winning increase if you clear your hand as quickly as feasible.
- Maintain a poker face, especially in games with more players than four.
Summing Up
In this post, we tried to help you to know about Go Fish rules, the complete Go Fish gameplay, along with some of the strategies. If you want to play this game like a pro and win it, then this article is a must-read for you!
Also read: What is Mahjong? How To Play Mahjong?
