How to play 3-2-5

The cards

3-2-5 uses a pack of 30 cards. From a standard pack, keep the A, K, Q, J, 10, 9 and 8 of all four suits, which makes 28 cards, and add the seven of hearts and the seven of spades. The sevens of diamonds and clubs, and every card from six down to two, are left out.

Aces are high. In every suit the cards rank:

A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7

(Only hearts and spades have a 7.)

Three players, three quotas

Every deal gives each player a quota: the number of tricks they are expected to take. It depends on where they sit.

Seat	Quota
The dealer	2 tricks
The player on the dealer’s left	5 tricks, and this player chooses trumps
The third player	3 tricks

Ten cards each means ten tricks, and 2 + 3 + 5 is exactly ten, so every trick counts towards somebody’s quota. Teen Do Paanch is simply 3-2-5 said in Hindi.

The deal and trumps

The dealer gives each player ten cards in three rounds, going clockwise: five cards each, then three, then two.

After the first round of five, the player on the dealer’s left looks at those five cards and names the trump suit. Only then does the dealer give out the rest of the cards. The player with the biggest quota gets to choose trumps, but has to do it on half a hand.

Playing the tricks

The player who named trumps leads to the first trick, and play goes clockwise.

• Follow the suit led if you can.
• If you cannot, play any card: a trump or anything else.
• The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump is played, the highest card of the suit led wins.
• The winner of each trick leads to the next.

Scoring

At the end of the deal, each player compares the tricks they took with their quota:

• Each trick over the quota scores plus 1.
• Each trick short of it scores minus 1.
• Making the quota exactly scores 0.

For example, if the trump maker takes 6 tricks, the third player 3 and the dealer 1, they score plus 1, 0 and minus 1. Because the quotas use up all ten tricks, the three scores in a deal always add up to zero. Keep a running total for each player.

Passing the deal

After every deal, the deal passes to the next player in turn, and the quotas move round the table with it. In any three deals in a row, each player holds each quota once.

Winning the game

Agree before you start how many deals to play. A multiple of three keeps it even, because every player then holds each quota equally often; six deals gives everyone each role twice. After the last deal, the player with the highest total wins. If the top totals are level, the game is a draw.

Variants

• Anticlockwise play. Some tables deal and play anticlockwise, the direction recorded as the Indian custom. The roles still follow the deal: the player after the dealer, now on the dealer’s right, owes 5 tricks and picks trumps.
• Trumps from the full hand. Some tables let the trump maker see all ten cards before naming trumps.
• Pulling (khainchna). Some tables carry each result into the next deal. In the following deal, a player who took extra tricks draws one card, unseen, from a player who fell short for each extra trick, and hands back cards they do not want. Tables that play it agree the details first, such as who pulls from whom when more than one player is over or short, what is handed back, and whether pulled cards are shown.

Quick reference

• 3 players, each playing alone.
• 30 cards: A to 8 in every suit, plus 7♥ and 7♠. Ten cards each, dealt 5, 3 and 2.
• Quotas: dealer 2, the player on the dealer’s left 5, the third player 3.
• The 5-trick player names trumps after seeing five cards, then leads.
• Follow suit if you can; otherwise play anything.
• Each deal, score tricks taken minus quota.
• The deal moves one place each time; the highest total after the agreed deals wins.