Bone Ace

Sympkyn of the Moor

Number of players: 2 to 8
Type of game: Cards
Period: 1611

Bone Ace is a simple gambling game and an early ancestor of modern Blackjack. Each player gets three cards, one of them face up, and every hand is played in two parts: first the highest face up card wins the Bone, then the hand closest to 31 without going over wins.

History of Bone Ace

  • Earliest Mention: John Florio mentions Bone Ace in his Italian and English dictionary, The World of Wordes, as early as 1611.

  • Family: It is related to One and Thirty and Vingt-et-un, and is one of the ancestors of modern Blackjack.

  • The Name: The game is named after its highest card, the Ace of Diamonds, called the Bone Ace.

  • Rules Source: These rules are adapted from the card games booklet published by MacGregor Historic Games (historicgames.com).

Rules of Bone Ace

Setup

  • Deck: A standard 52 card deck.

  • Stakes: Agree a stake before play.

  • Deal: The dealer deals each player three cards: the first two face down and the third face up. Deal all three to the first player, then all three to the next, and so on round the table.

Card Values

  • Aces are high and worth 11. The Ace of Diamonds, the Bone Ace, beats every other card.

  • King, Queen and Jack are worth 10.

  • All other cards are worth their face value.

Objective

  • Win the Bone with the highest face up card, and win the hand by getting closest to 31.

Gameplay

Part One: The Bone

  1. The player whose face up card ranks highest wins the Bone. Every other player pays them one coin, or the stake agreed before play.

  2. If there is a tie, the elder hand (the player dealt to first) wins.

Part Two: One and Thirty

  1. All players show their hands and add up the value of their three cards.

  2. The player whose hand is closest to 31 without going over wins.

Victory Conditions

  • The highest face up card wins the Bone.

  • The hand closest to 31, without going over, wins the second part.

Optional and House Rules

1. The Pot

  • The booklet does not say what the second part is played for. Have every player ante an agreed stake into a pot at the start of the hand, to be won by the hand closest to 31.

2. Drawing Cards

  • As in Bragg, let players draw extra cards from the deck to get closer to 31, or stand on the cards they have.

Summary Table

PhaseAction
SetupDeal three cards each, two face down and one face up.
The BoneHighest face up card wins one coin from each player. Ace of Diamonds beats all. Ties go to the elder hand.
Thirty-oneAce 11, court cards 10, others face value. Closest to 31 without going over wins.