Call an Ace
In a called-ace game the picker chooses their own partner. After taking the blind, the picker names a fail ace they do not hold, and whoever holds that ace is on their side. It gives the picker far more control than the jack of diamonds game, and it costs them the secrecy: the whole table hears the call.
The rule, and its two strings
Naming the ace is the easy half. Two constraints come with it, and they are what make the variant work:
- The picker must keep a card of the called suit, meaning they cannot throw it away on somebody else's trick. Without this the picker could void themselves, the called ace would never be dragged out, and the partnership would never resolve. They may lead it whenever they like: leading the suit forces the ace out, which answers the call rather than dodging it.
- The partner must play the called ace when that suit is led. They cannot hold it back for a better moment. When the suit comes, the ace goes.
The result is a partnership on a timer. Everyone knows the suit, so everyone knows roughly when the reveal is coming, and the play becomes a fight over who gets to choose the moment.
Going alone
The picker may decline to call at all and take on the whole table by themselves for higher stakes. With a strong enough hand that is simply the better bet, and it is a normal part of the called-ace game rather than a stunt.
When there is no ace to call
Twice in a few hundred hands the picker holds a hand that breaks the rule above, and most players go years without meeting either case. Both are house rules a table switches on, and neither exists in the jack-of-diamonds game, which never asks the picker to name anything.
Call a ten
The picker holds all three fail aces, so there is no ace left to name. A ten stands in for one, with a catch that matters: the picker's ace of that suit is held back. It must be played on the first lead of the called suit, and it cannot take that trick. Unless somebody trumps, the ten wins it and the lead comes back to the picker. Without that rule the picker would be holding the one card that beats their own partner's, and the call would find nothing.
Card under
The picker holds the ace of every fail suit they have cards in. They may call an ace in a suit they are void in, and lay one card face down as the “under” card. That card is committed: it is what they must play when the called suit is led, and it stops belonging to the suit it came from, so being led that suit no longer drags it out. It counts as a card of the called suit, so the picker may also lead it, which pulls the called ace out on their own terms. It can never take a trick.
Rather than take our word for it, deal yourself one: a hand that forces call a ten · a hand that forces card under. Both open a practice table with the hand already dealt. Press Pick and the situation is in front of you.
Play it here
Call an ace runs as a standing table on this site, and call a ten and card under are both dealt correctly when they come up, which is rarer than most players realize. Set either on a private table for your own group. The variants page has the full list of what we support.