How to Play Kings in the Corner

What you need

• 2–6 players. Everyone for themselves. No partners. Two is this game. Three is a real table. Four is typical. Five is a real table.
• One standard 52-card deck. No jokers. Deal 7 each at 2–4, 5 each at 5–6. Remaining cards face-down in the center as the stock.
• No pad for night one. First to empty the hand wins. Optional rematch: first to 3 hands.

Sit, pick a dealer, agree on the house

Sit where everyone can reach the middle. Cut for the first deal, or point at someone. After each hand, the deal moves clockwise.

Say these out loud before the first card:

1. One 52. 7 each at 2–4, 5 each at 5–6. Four cards in a cross. Corners empty until a king. No partners. Turns — not simultaneous.
2. Build down, alternating color. A red 7 on a black 8. Aces are low. Play one card at a time from hand. You may move a whole pile onto another pile if the bottom of the moving pile continues the sequence — not single cards out of the middle.
3. A king may only go in an empty corner. Then build down on that king, alternating color, same as the cross piles.
4. First to empty the hand wins. Remaining stock does not matter. Not solitaire. Not Nertz. Not Crazy Eights. Not Palace.

Deal 7 at 2–4, 5 at 5–6, then a cross

Shuffle the 52. Deal clockwise: 7 each if two, three, or four people, 5 each if five or six. Night-one four: 7 each. Put the rest of the pack face-down in the center. That is the stock.

Flip 4 cards face-up around the stock in a cross — north, east, south, west. Those are the four foundation piles. The four corners stay empty until a king goes there.

Four people: 7 × 4 = 28, plus 4 in the cross = 32, twenty in the stock. Three people: 21 dealt, plenty of stock. Two people: 14 dealt. At five, 5 each is 25 dealt, plus 4 in the cross. If someone has the wrong count, throw it in and deal again.

Left of the dealer plays first.

Turns: play as many as you can, then draw 1

Play is not simultaneous. That is not Nertz. Left of dealer starts. Play goes clockwise.

1. At the start of your turn, if a cross pile (north, east, south, or west) is empty, fill it from the stock — flip the next card into that space. Do not fill a corner from the stock. Corners wait for a king.
2. Play as many cards as you can from your hand onto the layout. One card at a time from hand.
3. Then draw 1 from the stock (if any remain) and your turn ends.
4. If you cannot play at all, draw 1 and pass.

If the stock is gone, leave an empty cross pile empty — you may play any card there as a new starter. Night one: any card into an empty cross space once the stock is gone. You still do not fill a corner from thin air. Corners still want a king.

Build down, alternating color

Piles build down, alternating color — a red 7 on a black 8. A black 6 on a red 7. Same on the four cross piles and on any king in a corner.

Aces are low. Build down toward the ace: a 2 on a 3, an ace on that 2, then the pile is done for that line. If a cross starter is already an ace, a 2 of the opposite color may go on it; then that line is done.

You play one card at a time from hand. You may move a whole pile onto another pile if the bottom of the moving pile continues the sequence — a whole black-8 / red-7 / black-6 stack onto a red 9. Night one: move the whole pile, not single cards out of the middle.

Kings to the corners

A king may only go in an empty corner. Not onto a cross pile. Not onto another king. Park it in a free corner, then build down on that king, alternating color, same as the cross piles: queen of the opposite color, then jack, and so on down to ace.

Four kings, four corners. That is the whole shape. If every corner already has a king, a fifth king in hand waits — there is no fifth corner tonight.

First out wins

Play your last card and you win. The hand is over. Remaining stock does not matter. You do not keep going for a named last seat. That is President. You do not have face-down stacks. That is Palace. You do not match suit or rank with 8s wild. That is Crazy Eights.

No pad required. First out is enough for night one. Optional rematch: first to 3 hands.

Walk through one first-night hand

Four people. You are West. South dealt. Seven cards each. The stock sits in the center. Four cards in a cross: 7♠ north, 9♥ east, 4♣ south, Q♦ west. Corners empty.

You speak first. You hold a 6♥ — red 6. North is 7♠, black 7. You play the red 6 on the black 7.

You also hold K♣. A king. You park it in an empty corner — northwest, say. Then you play whatever else will go: a red queen on that black king, a black jack on that red queen, if you have them. Play as many as you can. Then draw 1. Turn ends.

North plays. East plays. South plays. Around again. Someone moves a whole pile onto another when the bottom continues the sequence. An empty cross space gets the next stock card at the start of the next turn. Keep going until you play your last card. You win. Nobody compared this to solitaire. Nobody dealt a second 52 and yelled Nertz.

Night-one habits

• Turns, not simultaneous. Play as many as you can, then draw 1.
• Build down, alternating color. Aces are low. Whole piles may move; not cards out of the middle.
• Kings only in empty corners. Then build down on that king.
• Empty cross pile: fill from the stock at the start of your turn. Corners wait for kings.
• Two people is a real Kings in the Corner table. Three is a real table. Five is a real table. Deal.

You know enough to deal. Keep this page beside the table. Four people is a tonight pick. Three people is a tonight pick. Two people is a tonight pick. Five people is a tonight pick. There is no Kings in the Corner trainer on CardPractice — this how-to is the product. If you wanted a real-time race with one 52 each, that is Nertz. If you wanted match suit or rank and 8s wild, that is Crazy Eights. If you wanted three down, three up, and a stock, that is Palace. Just me: Kings in the Corner needs at least two. Open this how-to anyway — there is no solo trainer.