Western Kentuckian here. We did not pull out those cards unless we had company who preferred to play that way. I was always told they pulled them out because it was a "politer" way to play, which makes sense culturally. By removing the low cards, you remove the possibility that someone could just wind up with a really crap hand & unable to take any books. Removing the low cards basically kept one person from beating the snot out of everyone & you were considered hardcore/a more competitive person if you left them in.
We play with top card in kitty(which we call the Widow) turned up. We discard 2,3,4s. Rook highest trump. 180 is number points available. Person who wins the Widow calls trumps and plays first. I live in east central Alabama.
Here in Eastern TN, we pull all the 2s,3s,and 4s, except the red 2. It is valued at 20 points and the 2nd highest trump to the rook. The 1s are 15, the 10s are 10, 14s are 10, and the 5s are 5. So we have 10 cards each and the middle is 6 with one flipped up
In northeast Louisiana I grew up playing the western Kentucky variant with the Red 1. The only thing different was we turned the last card in the kitty face up. The only thing I can’t remember, is if you “shot the moon”, did you have to win every trick or just win every trick that had points. I can’t remember since it’s been 20 years since I played. I now play a very similar game with dominoes instead of cards.
Mr. Cummins, do you call that game Red One Rook? I love the card game Rook, and in the past I remember that we always played Red One Rook, but I can’t remember now how to play that game. Anyone help me, please?
Here in NW Arkansas we play a 6 handed version with 2 decks. The 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s are all removed but the red 1s are left. The two red 1s are 2nd to the rooks and count as 20 while the rooks count as 30. Highest possible score is 300. Since there are 2 of everything, if there are two of the same high cards in the same trick then the second played has it. This makes it a little more interesting since you have to time when to use a rook or a 1 or you might lose it to the second one out there if it hasn't been played.
From north Alabama- most people I see play the Eastern Kentucky way nowadays. (I live in Florence) My family and everyone they played with (Morgan/Lawrence counties) 1’s, 5-14, Rook, and the Deuce(black 2). Ones are high and worth 15, Rook is high and 20, and the Deuce is the highest trump card worth 25 points. We would play with 9 cards in hand leaving 10 in the widow/nest/kittie. Available points- 205.
We play with the red 2, and all the ones. The ones are treated as aces and are worth 15 points. The red 2 is 20 points and is high trump. The rook is second high trump. There are two hundred points total. This is basically eastern Kentucky with a higher trump. Six cards go into the nest. Bidding starts at 95.
We play with all the cards the rook is the lower trump and the 1 is the highest. We deal all cards but one and the person that wins the bid gets that card but has to put a card down just not a point card.
I can confirm that Middle TN Rook is essentially identical to Western Kentucky Rook, at least in the northern counties, although there are some groups/families which have replaced the red 1 with the black 1. I've also heard of a variation that uses the red 1 AND the black 1 but I never played in any of those games. I've been told those used to be the late night betting games when the kids were asleep and the booze was out over the holidays, but sadly all the old folks I know who played that way are gone and I'm not sure how the rules would have worked. I may be getting a detail or two wrong since I never used that variety. It could have been all the 1's or some other variant.
Central Kentucky here, we remove all 1-4s, rook is played as a 10.5. Same point values. This is the dominant style locally. All tournaments here are played this way. Have also played with the red 1 and rook as high trumps as well. We have odd variations that pop up too, such as the partner of the high bidder calling trumps and not being able to discard points into the kitty, very difficult to play and not very prominent, just another variation.
57 cards. 13 cards dealt to each player. 5 cards left over in the middle. 1 high. The Rook is the lowest trump. You can't throw away counters back into the middle. The side that wins the bidding always receives a starting bonus of 20 points. There is an additional bonus of 100 points if one team takes every trick. The minimum bid is 100. If you bid 300 and make it, you win the game automatically. First team to 500 points wins.
we play ridge runner rook in southwest va. it is a 265 point hand take out all 3's and 4's the 2 is worth 20 points and the one is worth 15 points and the 14 / 10 and 5 point cards are the same the rook is worth 25 points deal out all cards putting 5 in the kitty with one card turned up on top of kitty for everyone to bid on winner of the last hand gets the widdow and you can call a misdeal if you have less than 15 points in your hand
Lester Cummings Good idea. Have you thought about adding a 35 point bonus for taking the last trick? That way the game will be 300 points. Also, I do not like the current Rook cards as well as I do the classic ones. The newer ones At 10 point values on the 14s and the tens, five points on the fives, and 20 points on the rook bird.
Have you--or anyone else one here--ever heard of a place called the International Rook House that is supposed to be somewhere in Kentucky? If such a place exist, I would love to get some info on it.
Does anyone play with all the cards. 1 and 2’s wild and you try to make straights, runs, and books. My grandmother played this way and we can’t remember the rules
Last one I know it as Carolina Rook
Thnx 🙏
Ah, there is my answer..
At about the seven minute point he explains what I call Red One Rook, a very fun game.
Thank you for this video.
Here in central Ky I usually remove 2s,3s,4s and play with 1's 15 pts and the Bird 20 pts with the Bird being the highest.
I just learned yesterday how to play Rook, and my cousins used the Eastern Kentucky with 1s rules. 🙂
Western Kentuckian here. We did not pull out those cards unless we had company who preferred to play that way. I was always told they pulled them out because it was a "politer" way to play, which makes sense culturally. By removing the low cards, you remove the possibility that someone could just wind up with a really crap hand & unable to take any books. Removing the low cards basically kept one person from beating the snot out of everyone & you were considered hardcore/a more competitive person if you left them in.
We play with top card in kitty(which we call the Widow) turned up. We discard 2,3,4s. Rook highest trump. 180 is number points available. Person who wins the Widow calls trumps and plays first. I live in east central Alabama.
Western north carolina, we play what he calls "eastern Kentucky with 1s". We start bidding at 120
Here in Eastern TN, we pull all the 2s,3s,and 4s, except the red 2. It is valued at 20 points and the 2nd highest trump to the rook. The 1s are 15, the 10s are 10, 14s are 10, and the 5s are 5. So we have 10 cards each and the middle is 6 with one flipped up
Close to our rules, but no red 2 and only 180 pts. North East Alabama.
In northeast Louisiana I grew up playing the western Kentucky variant with the Red 1. The only thing different was we turned the last card in the kitty face up. The only thing I can’t remember, is if you “shot the moon”, did you have to win every trick or just win every trick that had points. I can’t remember since it’s been 20 years since I played. I now play a very similar game with dominoes instead of cards.
Mr. Cummins, do you call that game Red One Rook?
I love the card game Rook, and in the past I remember that we always played Red One Rook, but I can’t remember now how to play that game.
Anyone help me, please?
Here in NW Arkansas we play a 6 handed version with 2 decks. The 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s are all removed but the red 1s are left. The two red 1s are 2nd to the rooks and count as 20 while the rooks count as 30. Highest possible score is 300. Since there are 2 of everything, if there are two of the same high cards in the same trick then the second played has it. This makes it a little more interesting since you have to time when to use a rook or a 1 or you might lose it to the second one out there if it hasn't been played.
From north Alabama- most people I see play the Eastern Kentucky way nowadays. (I live in Florence)
My family and everyone they played with (Morgan/Lawrence counties) 1’s, 5-14, Rook, and the Deuce(black 2). Ones are high and worth 15, Rook is high and 20, and the Deuce is the highest trump card worth 25 points. We would play with 9 cards in hand leaving 10 in the widow/nest/kittie. Available points- 205.
We play with the red 2, and all the ones. The ones are treated as aces and are worth 15 points. The red 2 is 20 points and is high trump. The rook is second high trump. There are two hundred points total. This is basically eastern Kentucky with a higher trump. Six cards go into the nest. Bidding starts at 95.
We play with all the cards the rook is the lower trump and the 1 is the highest. We deal all cards but one and the person that wins the bid gets that card but has to put a card down just not a point card.
I can confirm that Middle TN Rook is essentially identical to Western Kentucky Rook, at least in the northern counties, although there are some groups/families which have replaced the red 1 with the black 1.
I've also heard of a variation that uses the red 1 AND the black 1 but I never played in any of those games. I've been told those used to be the late night betting games when the kids were asleep and the booze was out over the holidays, but sadly all the old folks I know who played that way are gone and I'm not sure how the rules would have worked. I may be getting a detail or two wrong since I never used that variety. It could have been all the 1's or some other variant.
Central Kentucky here, we remove all 1-4s, rook is played as a 10.5. Same point values. This is the dominant style locally. All tournaments here are played this way. Have also played with the red 1 and rook as high trumps as well. We have odd variations that pop up too, such as the partner of the high bidder calling trumps and not being able to discard points into the kitty, very difficult to play and not very prominent, just another variation.
In Massachusetts, we played very similarly to the New York variant, except that the rook was the highest trump instead of the lowest trump.
57 cards. 13 cards dealt to each player. 5 cards left over in the middle. 1 high. The Rook is the lowest trump. You can't throw away counters back into the middle. The side that wins the bidding always receives a starting bonus of 20 points. There is an additional bonus of 100 points if one team takes every trick. The minimum bid is 100. If you bid 300 and make it, you win the game automatically. First team to 500 points wins.
we play ridge runner rook in southwest va. it is a 265 point hand take out all 3's and 4's the 2 is worth 20 points and the one is worth 15 points and the 14 / 10 and 5 point cards are the same the rook is worth 25 points deal out all cards putting 5 in the kitty with one card turned up on top of kitty for everyone to bid on winner of the last hand gets the widdow and you can call a misdeal if you have less than 15 points in your hand
Lester Cummings Good idea. Have you thought about adding a 35 point bonus for taking the last trick? That way the game will be 300 points. Also, I do not like the current Rook cards as well as I do the classic ones. The newer ones At 10 point values on the 14s and the tens, five points on the fives, and 20 points on the rook bird.
@@jayboyle8333 who ever takes the last trick gets the widow and depending on how many points you put in it you can go set
Have you--or anyone else one here--ever heard of a place called the International Rook House that is supposed to be somewhere in Kentucky? If such a place exist, I would love to get some info on it.
Mark Buckley me too!
We played a variation of the game where we tried to have the lowest score.
Does anyone play with all the cards. 1 and 2’s wild and you try to make straights, runs, and books. My grandmother played this way and we can’t remember the rules