How to Play

A shedding game where all cards are dealt and players race to empty their hand by extending four suit sequences that grow up and down from the 7.

Fan Tan, also called Sevens, Dominoes, or Parliament, is a classic shedding game in which all the cards are dealt out and each player tries to empty their hand by extending four suit sequences that grow up and down from the 7. Turns are short, rules are simple, and the decisive skill is knowing when to stall a 7 to stop your opponents.

Players

Best for 4 to 6 players, but works for 3 to 8. Each player plays for themselves; there are no partnerships.

Card Deck

• Standard 52-card French-suited deck, no jokers.
• Suits are equal; no suit ranks above another.
• Within a suit the cards run Ace (low), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King (high). The 7 is the starter card for its suit: .7♠

Objective

Be the first player to play every card from your hand onto the four suit layouts on the table. Cards can only be placed if they legally extend a layout or start a new one with a 7.

Setup and Deal

1. Pick any player to shuffle and deal. The turn to deal passes left after each hand.
2. Deal all 52 cards one at a time, clockwise, face down. With 3, 5, 6, or 7 players some hands will be one card larger than others; players with a short hand receive compensation by putting one fewer chip into the pot for that deal.
3. Each player antes one chip to a central pot before looking at their hand.
4. The player to the dealer's left leads the first card of the first deal. For every later deal, the winner of the previous deal leads.

Gameplay

1. Step 1 (opening the layout): The first player who holds the 7 of diamonds must play it to the middle of the table. If the leader does not hold it, they pass and pay one chip to the pot; the turn moves left until the 7 of diamonds appears. No other card may be played until the 7 of diamonds is down.7♦
2. Step 2 (legal plays): On your turn you must do exactly one of three things if you can: (a) play any other 7 below (or beside) the 7 of diamonds to open a new suit row, (b) place the 8 of a started suit to the right of its 7 to build upward, or (c) place the 6 of a started suit to the left of its 7 to build downward. Each further card must be exactly one rank above the highest card on the right end of its row, or exactly one rank below the lowest card on the left end of its row: .6♠7♠8♠
3. Step 3 (no voluntary pass): You must play if you have any legal card. Only if none of your cards can legally extend a row or open a new 7 do you pass. Every pass costs one chip to the pot; holding a legal card and passing on purpose is penalised by three chips to the pot if detected.
4. Step 4 (turn order): Play continues clockwise. A row grows until its King is placed on the high end and its Ace on the low end; once a row is complete it is set aside.
5. Step 5 (ending the deal): The deal ends the moment one player plays their last card. That player wins the pot.

Scoring

• The winner of the deal collects the whole pot (antes plus pass penalties).
• In the common stake variant, each other player also pays the winner one chip for every card still in their hand at the end of the deal.
• If you are caught holding a playable card (failing to play when you could), pay three chips to the winner in addition to your held-card chips.
• Play a fixed number of deals (one per player as dealer is typical) and count chips to find the overall winner.

Winning

The player who sheds their last card first wins the current deal and the pot. Over a session, the player with the most chips when the agreed number of deals has been played is the overall winner. Ties are broken by counting unplayed cards in the final deal: whoever held the fewest wins the tie.

Common Variations

• Any seven starts: Some circles let any 7 open the layout rather than forcing the 7 of diamonds to lead.7♦
• Pip scoring: Instead of chips per held card, count pips at the end; number cards are face value, Jack 11, Queen 12, King 13, Ace 15. Lowest cumulative total wins.
• Sjuan (Sweden): Must lead with the 7 of hearts; all other rules as above.7♥
• Cinquillo (Spain): Uses a 40-card Spanish deck and starts from the four 5s placed simultaneously.
• Shichi Narabe (Japan): Removes all four 7s before the deal and places them centrally as fixed starters.

Tips and Strategy

• Count your 6s and 8s per suit. If you hold both the 6 and 8 of a suit and an opponent is short there, delaying the 7 can stall them while you shed other cards.
• Release cards from your shortest suit first; an isolated Ace or King in a suit you barely hold is useless until the sequence reaches it.
• Watch passes. A player who passes twice in a row on the same suit tells you they have no 6 or 8 in it; if you hold that 7, you may benefit by stalling.
• Never hold a 7 past the point your own long suit needs it. The penalty for being caught holding a playable card (three chips) usually outweighs the blocking value.

Glossary

• Ante: The chip each player pays into the pot at the start of a deal.
• Layout: The four rows of cards on the table, one per suit.
• Pass: Declaring you cannot play; costs one chip to the pot.
• Sevens / Dominoes / Parliament: Alternate names for Fan Tan.
• Shed: To play a card from your hand onto the layout.