Cards.

My family didn't play cards all that much, and I've never really liked card games all that much (poker aside).

However, Diana taught me a really fun card game that she and/or her Dad made up. It's sort of a non-betting poker variant. The goal is to eventually use 30 cards (two hands of 15 each) to make 4 GOOD poker hands, and 2 BAD poker hands (30 cards total in two 15 card hands to make 6 poker hands, 5 cards/hand). The rules are as follows:

The game is played with two decks, shuffled together. Each player is dealt two hands of 12 cards each. After the hands are dealt, 8 cards are turned face up in a flower pattern, and the deck is placed in the middle.

The non-dealer goes first, starting with her left(I think)-most hand. She then draws two cards, either from the face up ones or from the deck (or one of each). She then discards ONE card, always face up (making room for the new card on the table, if necessary). Her hand has grown by one card.

Play continues clockwise, each player drawing two cards and discarding one, for three full rounds.

At this point, the players hands should have grown to 15 cards each. Each player constructs 4 good poker hands and 2 bad poker hands (no crossing cards over... strictly three poker hands per 15 cards)). High hands are compared, followed by low hands, in a "most likely to win" to "least likely to win" order. 6 points are distributed for each of the 6 comparisons (half points for ties).

At this point, the game is over. Of course, points can be tallied and the game can be continued (first one to 20, for instance).

Additional stuff: You can't look back and forth between your two hands. If I just finished playing my left-most hand, and I put it down and pick up my right most hand (while my opponent is playing), I *can't* view my left-most hand again until I've played my right one. Make sense?

Also: It is good strategy to pass cards from one hand to the next, if possible, by discarding it from one and drawing it to the other. It's easy to pass from your right hand to your left hand, since the turns are in order, but harder to pass from your left hand to your right hand, since the card must survive out on the table while your opponent goes).

Finally, for low hands: Aces are high, and straights count as high, so the best low hand is 2-3-4-5-7 non-suited.

It's really quite a brilliant game, with good elements of luck and strategy. Good hands are quite often high 4-of-a-kinds or straight flushes, while lows hands are frequently the nut low (the lowest possible) or just above that.

If you have a couple decks and are looking for something to do, try it out!