Printable Tonk rules

Tonk in one page

2–4 players · 1 deck, no jokers · chips or score pad

Each player gets 5 cards. On your turn you either drop, showing your hand and claiming the lowest count, or you draw a card, lay down or add to spreads, and discard. The hand ends when someone drops, runs out of cards, or the stock runs out, and the winner collects a stake from every other player.

In brief

• Deal 5 each; flip 1 for discard; rest is stock
• Ace = 1, 2–10 = face value, J Q K = 10
• 49 or 50 on the deal = tonk: 2× from everyone
• Turn: drop, or draw, spread, hit, discard
• Spread: 3–4 of a rank, or 3+ in a row in one suit
• Aces low only: A-2-3 yes, Q-K-A no
• Hit any spread on the table, yours or not
• Tonk out (no final discard) = 2× from everyone
• Go out on a discard = 1× from everyone
• Drop and lowest = 1×; tie or beaten = pay 2× each
• Stock gone: lowest count gets 1× from everyone

Setup

1. Use one 52-card deck without jokers. Aces count 1, face cards count 10, and every other card counts its number.
2. Agree on the basic stake: the amount each other player pays the winner of a normal hand. It can be chips, coins, or points on paper.
3. Cut for deal; high card deals. The dealer gives 5 cards to each player, one at a time, clockwise.
4. Turn the next card face up to start the discard pile and put the rest face down as the stock.
5. Anyone whose 5 cards total 49 or 50 must say so at once and show the hand. That's a tonk, and it wins double the basic stake from every other player. If two or more players have one, the hand is thrown in with no payment.

On your turn

1. The player to the dealer's left goes first, and play moves clockwise.
2. At the start of your turn you may drop: lay all your cards face up, claiming the lowest count at the table. Everyone else then shows their hands and the hand is settled.
3. If you don't drop, draw one card, either the top of the stock or the top of the discard pile. You may only see the top discard, not the cards underneath.
4. Lay down any spreads you have. A spread is a book of 3 or 4 cards of the same rank, or a run of 3 or more consecutive cards in one suit. Aces are low only, so A-2-3 works but Q-K-A doesn't.
5. Hit if you can: add cards to any spread on the table, yours or another player's. With 5♣-6♣-7♣ down, you could add the 4♣ or 8♣.
6. Discard one card face up. If you got rid of your last card by spreading or hitting, you don't discard, and you've tonked out.

Scoring

Winning

Each hand has its own winner, and players settle the stakes before the next deal. The rules don't set an end point for a session. Play for an agreed number of hands or until an agreed time, and whoever has won the most chips or points is ahead.