Hand & Foot is a card game for 1+ players. The Hodges Variant has been played regularly for over 30 years by the Hodges and Moore family combined across Texas and Idaho, with tournaments between families when either visit, and near-weekly between locals in between. The basic concept of the game includes:

• Drawing and discarding regular playing cards, and sorting them

• Creating books or playing onto existing books you or your team holds

• Having enough books to end the round before the other team can

• Making the other player/teams get caught with yet-unplayed cards

• Cooperation about whether plays others make are valid or need to be corrected

Hand & Foot: Hodges Variant requires 2 more standard American playing card decks (4x=Ace,2-10,J,Q,K, & 2x=Joker) than there are players.

It would also be wise to use some kind of card organizer for this game, because you may be required to hold over 2+ dozen cards at once that are not in play yet, and sort between them at some points in the game. Our preferred device is a small block of wood with 3 slats cut into them lengthwise, each at a slight angle off of 90 degrees (uniformly), so that the cards will tilt backwards and remain visible only to the player and be freely moved/sorted.

For new players, it may be helpful to have a little notecard with the point values of the cards listed, for quick reference. The point values are, officially:

• Jokers
  • 50 points, counts exclusively as wild
• Aces (any suit color)
  • 20 points
• “2” (any suit color)
  • 20 points, counts exclusively as wild
• “3” (red suit color)
  • -100 points, always discarded
• “3” (black suit color)
  • -300 points, always discarded
• “4” through “9” (any suit color)
  • 5 points
• Tens & Royalty (Tens, Jacks, Queens, Kings * any suit color)
  • 10 points

For example, a 10, Jack, 4, 5, 6, 2, Ace, Ace, would equal 95.

The suits of cards (spades, diamonds, etc) are irrelevant to the game, but very circumstantially the color (red, black) may matter. For this reason, it is not necessary to have specifically four sets of heart-diamond-spade-clubs, but at the very least have two each of full sets of red and black, even if there are two sets of hearts/etc.

You can actually play it solo if you like, to see whether you can beat your own lowest score, but generally it is played between 2+ people to achieve the highest score.

• Even-count total players
  • Half the total players against the other half, split evenly, and player sit across from each other. In cases of 6+, three teams of 2 are allowed, but with always with alternating seating so that no 2 people on the same team are seated side by side.

• Odd-count total players
  • Every player plays for oneself with no team-up. Not recommended to play 7+ odds but possible.

In the case of teams, one person from each team will keep the played cards in front of them for all to see and verify as correctly played, whereas the other players of the same team may play onto that keeper's cards, and players from other teams may not (nor would want to).

• The main idea is to score the highest point total, across four rounds, after legally “going out” by either having played or discarded all of the cards in your possession AND meeting the minimum book requirements for going out. In the event of not meeting the minimum book requirement, play continues as normal as if the team had not gone out.

• Each player will have possession of a “hand” deck and a “foot” deck. The hand is played first until exhausted of cards, at which point the player will move onto their foot. One (nor a teammate) may not examine any of the cards of one's foot deck until it is time for that player to play it.

1 Mix all decks together by shuffling, including Jokers (2x per deck). Optionally, use the "Mary Shuffle," by turning all the cards face down on the table and hand-mix them together for a few minutes. Occasionally gather a handful in a big clump and sprinkle them around to other areas of the mix. After arbitrarily deemed shuffled enough, organize the shuffled cards into an arbitrary number of stacks around the play space so each person has at least one or two stacks near them to draw from.

2 Each player will grab a handful of cards from a draw pile, and deal out 2 stacks of 13 cards, face down, alternating between the piles 1 card each.

3 Each player will then arbitrarily decide which of the two piles will be passed to the player on their left. The pile that the player kept is their **hand**. The pile a player receives from their right, is their **foot**.

4 Each player keeps the foot face down nearby themselves, preferably on the playing surface where it can be seen by all, and no player looks at any person's foot (including one's own) until they have completed playing or discarding all cards in their hand. Looking at your foot ahead of time is considered cheating and may require the offender to be re-dealt a new foot as consequence, from a draw pile that isn't close to them. Getting a re-deal on purpose is not a valid strategy. 

5 Each player then looks at their own hand stack, and organizes however they see fit. It general, it is wise to cluster all like-cards (all jacks, all twos, all fives, etc) together. In an experienced group, the first person who has organized their hand to their liking may go first. In a beginner group, wait until all players have organized their hand so everyone observe see how play proceeds.

The person whose turn it is (arbitrarily decided who is first) draws 2 cards from any draw pile they wish, preferably from 1-2 stacks within easy reach. That person adds those 2 cards into their organized layout, and then chooses any one card in their hand to discard. Each person's turn will absolutely include drawing 2 cards maximum and minimum, and discarding 1 card maximum and minimum, unless the person has no more cards to play and is deemed out.

It is atypical, but possible, for the first person drawing, to lay down cards they wish to play. Often, there are several complete turns taken around the circle of players before anyone lays down cards. It is generally wise strategy to discard black 3's or red 3's (in that order of severity) because they are large negative points in value.

• Laying Down
  • when you have enough cards in your possession to initially put cards into play. In Round 1, the total card values you have eligible to play total at least 100 points, in the form of one or more books. If the books you have collected have a total card value of at least 100, you may lay down but placing the cards face up, clustered together so all face values are visible to all. Each following round increases by 50 points minimum to lay down (Round 2 = 150, Round 3 = 200, Round 4 = 250).
• Valid Books
  • 3 (minimum) like cards and 7 (maximum) count as a book. You may have wilds in a book, but only 1 less wild than half the total number of cards. Another way to think of it, is that you cannot have a book that is half-or-more wilds * the real cards must always outnumber wilds. For example, a book of three cards can take up to two wilds * in order to add more wilds to that book, you would need to add as many real cards to the book. A book of five cards can only take two wilds (instead of three) because the maximum number of cards in a book is 7. You can also only have one book per card face (such as only one book of all kings * suits and colors irrelevant).

A player may play as many cards as are allowed (such as in terms of valid books or adding to books), with all other players verifying by paying attention. If a player plays something illegally but no one catches it, then what's layed is played. However, another player reviewing another person's played cards to spot errors at any time retroactively can require the player with erroneously played cards to correct it immediately, with no penalty.

Once a player has discarded, their turn is over, and there are no take-backs of “oh wait I meant to” once discard has been made, and what's layed is played is told to that player. The person to the left of the person who just discarded, is next. On your next turn, you may add to your existing played books as you get the appropriate cards, without having to worry about total count. It is possible to catch players who haven't even layed down yet'' by the end of the round, so it wise to formulate your personal strategy for laying down cards with a sense of urgency, but you may delay the initial lay down strategically, at risk of being caught. * Closing Books * Books which reach a total of 7 cards become closed, and no wilds may be added to them. They are collected and stacked so only the top real card is visible. If the book contains wilds within it, use a black-suited real card from that book to indicate it contains wilds and is thus a dirty book. If the book is exclusively real cards and no wilds, put a red-suited real card on top of the stack to indicate it contains no wilds, and is thus a clean book. If you have a card that belongs in a particular book that is already closed, you do not start a new book but instead create a burn pile near you, and add those cards to it, commonly saying out loud, “five is burn,” or “kings are burn” depending. You will still be able to add those into your positive score at the end of the round. Wilds (2s or Jokers) cannot be added to burn. Once you have exhausted all the cards you had in your hand-stack, you will go to your foot by picking up the stack that was passed to you, and repeat the process of organizing them and evaluating whether they are playable. You may complete this evaluation/sorting while it is not your turn, but not play anything until it is your turn. If you are able to play everything in your hand without a discard, then it is called going straight or going direct into your foot by picking it up and actively playing onto the open books you have played already, as if it were newly your turn, but not repeating the drawing process. If you have no cards left in your hand after discarding, you are said to be going foot next time. The round is over once someone has closed 2 dirty books and 2 clean books, and has no cards left to play or discard in both hand and foot, has therefore gone out. ==== Round 1 Ends ==== —- Once someone has gone out (often by announcing “I'm out!”), everyone verifies that the player saying so does actually have the required closed books and is out, and no one else draws or takes a turn. Don't mess up your cards yet, though! There are still 3 rounds of scoring to complete, for each person. Each person gathers all the remaining cards they have left unplayed in their possession, and tally the card point-values, to make a score count against them. A score keeper will jot down each person's total “against” for the round. A common phrase is, “I have 155 against,” or “(name) has 475 against,” depending. If someone was not able to get to their foot, they were caught with their foot and must add up all of the cards point values in it to also count against. This is the urgency to get to your foot * to ensure there are no 3s in it and to be able to discard them before someone goes out or else get stuck with them to count against your score. All of the cards tallied for your against penalty are then placed into the discard pile and not included in your count. The score keeper will also visually inspect all of the closed books the player has in front of them, and score +300 for each closed dirty, +500 for each closed clean, and award +100 for being the one to go out to win the round. Since the minimum is 2 cleans and 2 dirties, the minimum score for the first one to go out each round is 1700 (500+500 +300+300 +100). For example, if someone had 5 clean and 1 dirty and didn't end the round, they would be awarded 2800 (500+500 +500+500 +500+300). This closed-book score is called your basic and is said commonly as “(name) has 2000 basic” or “I only had 800 basic” depending. Lastly, you mix all of the cards you have in play in front of you (books closed, books unclosed, and burn pile) into one stack for just you, and count out the total point value of them all. That point total will be your count, and is commonly said, “I have 610 count,” or (name) has 540 count.“ Count values will often be between 300 and 800 for single players. Counts outside of that range may get surprised reactions asking why so low or high, excuses often being “all those jokers and aces” or “I had mostly nickels.” The totals are all added, and the final score for the round is announced to all players, to see who is in the lead. It may be commonly said, “We need to catch him with his foot next time” or “it's anybody's game.” The cards are then shuffled as before, and minimum scores to lay down must be met for each increasing round as described. ==== Strategies & Styles ==== —- * If you are a low-scorer (or a thrill-seeker), it may be advantageous to never go down until you can go to your foot straight (meaning, your first laydown has nothing to discard) and you go direct** and keep playing from the cards of your foot. That may warrant oohs-and-ahhs of surprise from the other players, for risking being caught with your hand and foot both to potentially be counted against you.

• How you wish to sort your open books in play is ultimately up to you, but needs to at least show which cards are in the book, such as with the tip/corner of the card visible. Maybe you prefer to fan them with just the side sliver visible, or maybe you like to lay them so only the tops of cards are visible in tall lines, or in clusters side-to-side. As long as everyone can see and agree that you do have the appropriate cards in their books, any organization style is permissible, to a degree that your style doesn't encroach into the arbitrary territory boundary of being confused with someone else's played cards.