How to Play

Femkort is a sharp Swedish pot game where each player gets five cards and only the fifth trick matters. Win the last trick and the pot is yours.

Femkort, meaning 'five cards' in Swedish, is a small, sharp trick-taking pot game first recorded in 17th-century Sweden. Every hand is exactly five tricks long, but only the final trick matters: whichever player sweeps the fifth trick takes the entire pot. The first four tricks exist only to set up that moment, and the catch is that a player who wins a trick is locked in as a live contender for the last trick, while anyone who loses their fifth card before the fifth trick falls out of contention altogether. Because the last-trick twist makes the game deliberately counter-intuitive, Femkort is both quick to teach and endlessly replayable.

Players

Femkort works for 3 to 8 players around one table. Three to five players is ideal; with six or more the pot grows fatter and each player's chance of reaching the decisive last trick shrinks. Two-player versions exist but the tension of the last-trick rule largely disappears, so the classic game assumes at least three.

Card Deck

Use a standard 52-card French-suited deck with no Jokers. Cards rank in the natural order within each suit: A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (low). There is no trump suit. Suits are equal and the only thing that matters at each trick is the rank of the cards that follow the led suit.

Objective

Win the fifth and final trick of the hand. Doing so sweeps the pot. Winning any of the first four tricks gives you no direct points but keeps you alive to contest the fifth; losing all five cards without winning the last trick simply means you paid into the pot for nothing this hand.

Setup and Deal

1. Agree on the ante (for example one chip per player) and the match length (often first to three pots).
2. Choose a first dealer by cutting for high card. The deal rotates clockwise after each hand.
3. Every player antes one chip into the pot before the deal.
4. The dealer shuffles and deals 5 cards to each player, one at a time clockwise, face-down.
5. Set the remaining deck aside; it is not used this hand.
6. The player to the dealer's left (forehand) leads to the first trick.

Gameplay

1. On your turn, play exactly one card face-up to the centre of the table. Cards stay in the trick until it is complete.
2. Follow suit: You must play a card of the suit that was led if you hold one. Only if you are void (hold no cards of the led suit) may you play any card from your hand.
3. Heading the trick: If you can, you must play a card of the led suit that is higher than every card already played to the trick. This is called heading the trick and it is mandatory whenever possible. If you cannot head the trick but can still follow suit, play any card of that suit.
4. Winning the trick: The trick is won by the highest card of the led suit. Because there is no trump, off-suit cards can never win. The winner gathers the trick face-down and leads to the next trick.A♠K♠Q♠J♠
5. Tricks one to four: Winning these tricks carries no points. Their only function is to keep you alive as a contender. A player who runs out of cards (by playing their fifth card on an earlier trick than the fifth) is not eligible to win the pot even if they win that trick; make sure at least one card remains in hand going into the last trick.
6. The last trick: Whoever wins the fifth trick sweeps the pot. Pay out immediately before the next deal.

Scoring

• The winner of the fifth trick takes the whole pot. Earlier tricks pay zero points, even if you won them.
• If the hand ends with every player holding zero cards and no one has won the fifth trick in the proper way (a rare edge case from a misdeal), redeal and everyone adds one more chip to the pot.
• In a match format, play continues until one player has won an agreed number of pots (often three) or the session time runs out; the winner is whoever has collected the most chips.

Winning

You win a single hand by taking the fifth trick. You win a match by being the first player to collect the agreed number of pots, or by holding the most chips when the group stops playing. Ties within a match are resolved by a one-hand tiebreaker between the tied players.

Common Variations

• Request a redeal: Before the first card is led, any player may ask for better cards. If every player agrees, the dealer collects the hands, reshuffles, and deals again; otherwise play proceeds as dealt.
• Best-of-three pots: First player to win three pots takes the entire stake for the session, rather than counting chips.
• Follow-without-head: Drop the must-head-the-trick rule; players need only follow suit. This produces longer, less predictable last-trick fights.
• Stake escalation: If no one takes the pot in a given hand (through misdeal), the next hand's ante doubles.
• Trumped Femkort: Turn the dealer's last card face-up to set a trump suit; highest trump wins the trick. A modern variation that softens the no-trump rigor.

Tips and Strategy

• Count cards already played, not just tricks won. Since the last trick decides everything, knowing which Aces and Kings are dead tells you whether your strongest card is safe.
• Lose your fifth card deliberately on trick five, never earlier. A player who goes empty-handed on tricks one to four is ineligible to win the pot, so retain at least two cards entering trick four.
• Lead your weakest card of your longest suit in trick one. You want to draw out opponents' high cards while keeping a defender for the fifth trick.
• Heading the trick is mandatory, so high cards get spent whether you like it or not. Reserve one suit where you hold the top card as long as possible; that is your last-trick weapon.
• Watch who still has cards. If only two players enter trick five and you hold the higher card, simply follow suit and win. If three or more remain, the gamble on rank becomes genuine.

Glossary

• Trick: One round of play in which every active player contributes exactly one card; won by the highest card of the led suit.
• Lead: To play the first card of a trick, which sets the suit that others must follow.
• Follow suit: To play a card of the same suit as the card that was led.
• Void: Holding no cards of a particular suit; only then may a player play off-suit.
• Head the trick: Play a card of the led suit higher than any card so far played to the trick. Mandatory in Femkort when possible.
• Forehand: The player immediately to the dealer's left, who leads the first trick.
• Sweep the pot: Take the entire accumulated pot of chips by winning the fifth and final trick.
• Ante: The fixed chip contribution every player puts in the pot before the deal.