Khanhoo

Khanhoo is a non-partnership ""draw-and-discard" card game which was adapted to Western taste by British diplomat William Henry Wilkinson and published by the London cardmaker Charles Goodall in 1891. The Chinese game from which Wilkinson got his inspiration was called Kanhu and seems to have been widespread in China in the second half of the nineteenth century. In China, it was played with four 30-card decks of "money cards" also called ''gun pai'', or "stick cards".
As many Chinese card games, Kanhu belongs to the same family as Mahjong and the mid-nineteenth century Mexican game Cunquian, Conquian, ''Cooncan'', ''Kon Khin'', the earliest known Rummy game in the western world - played at least since the 1880's; first described as "Coon Can" 1887 and as "Conquián" in 1897.
The suits are: first, ''tsín'', Chinese coins, of the lower denomination, called by the slang name of "ping" or "cakes", from one to nine; second, strings of one hundred each of these same Chinese coins, called ''sok'', "strings", from one to nine; and third, of ''mám'' or "ten thousands of strings" of one thousand coins, ''kún'', from one to nine, called ''mám'', ten thousands. The three extra cards, which correspond more or less closely with the joker of our Euchre pack, are called ''hung fá'', "red flower", ''pák fá'', "white flower", and ''ló tsín'', "old thousand".

As it is a card game of the Rummy family, the object of the game is to get rid of all cards by melding them. The first player to do so is granted 5 points and the first to reach 50 wins the match, which can be achieved in two, three or four rounds of games.

It was first brought to England prior to 1895 by Sir William Henry Wilkinson , a British Sinologist who served as British consul in China and Korea and who wrote many articles and books on Chinese games such as A Manual of Chinese Chess , Chinese Origin Of Playing Cards , The Game of Khanhoo and Bridge Maxims .

In 1891 Wilkinson induced the cardmaker Charles Goodall to issue a special pack of cards with accompanying booklet of rules to play Khanhoo. The deck contained two sets each of Ace through Nine of Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds, with two specially-designed Jacks, Queens and Kings standing in for the "extra cards".

As the years passed, his passion for the game became so great that in his last books he was designated as William Khanhoo Wilkinson, as published in a collection of fascicles issued in Portugal and Brazil cc. 1997 by Ediciones Altaya, Barcelona, in cooperation with Naipes Heraclio Fournier, Vitoria, Spain.

The usual game, known to the Chinese laborers as ''Káan ú'', is played by two or more persons with one complete pack of one hundred and twenty cards. In this game the following triplets are called ''ngán'', "eyes":

*1, 2 and 3 of "cakes"
*Red flower, old thousand and 9 of strings
*White flower, 9 of ten thousands and 8 of strings
*1 of ten thousand, 1 of strings and 9 of "cakes"
*2 of ten thousands, 2 of strings and 8 of "cakes"
*3 of strings, 2 of ten thousands and 8 of "cakes"
*3 of strings, 3 of ten thousands and 7 of "cakes"

A winning hand must contain at least one of these "eyes" and the remaining cards must be disposed in one or more of the following combinations called ''pát tsz'', "boys". These are a sequence of three or more cards of the same suits from one to nine, or three cards of the same denomination belonging to three different suits. The ones or aces of each of the three suits and the red flower, white flower, and old thousand have extraordinary powers and may be added to the "eyes", or to the sequences or triplets called ''pát tsz'' to form a winning hand

The Deck

The ''kun p'ai'' pack can be adapted from two English 52-card decks, removing all cards ?, except for the J's ?, Q's ? and K's ?, the 10's, J's, Q's, K's ? ? ?. Add one Joker and you will have formed a Khanhoo 61-card deck.

The Play

Distribute 15 cards in one hand to each player and stock the remaining cards face down to the table to form a stock pile. In turn, the first player draws, melds if possible and discards one face up to the table to form a waste pile. Then the next player draws, melds if possible and discards one to the table.

If a discarded card suits any of the players, it must be immediately melded so that all the other players can see why that player needed that card. But if a player draws a card from the stock pile, it needs not to be shown until he is is able to lay all his cards at once.

Melding

Features

*There are only three suits in the deck: nine cards from Ace through Nine, six Courts and one Joker, which can replace any card.
*Only the 7 ?, 8 ? and the 9 ? with their respective Court can be used to form a Royal Group.
*In a game for three or four players, any discarded card may be requested by any of the players, having "preference" the one sitting next to the player who discarded that card.
*The game moves clockwise.

Strategy

Evaluation

*Consider if you have too many white cards to go for a quick knock or if you have top ones like the 7 ?, 8 ?, 9 ?, A ?, 2 ?, 3 ?, enough Courts or even the Joker to take the game further.

Memorization

*Remember the cards that have already been played, so that you know which combinations cannot be formed anymore.

Analysis

*Take into account that during the play many top cards may be drawn from the stock pile or discarded by the other players, changing the course of your strategy. This will force you to decide which cards should be discarded and the implication of your decision.
*Note that whomever knocks is granted 5 points and that may be crucial for the advantage in the game.

Variation

A variation of the game can be played by using three English 52-card decks and one Joker to form a new sequence of meldings.