Single Sar · Classic Court Piece · Rang · every trick counts as it falls
Single Sir is Court Piece at its plainest, and the game most tables mean when they say "Court Piece". Every trick counts the moment it is won. The first team to seven tricks takes the round, and a team that wins the first seven straight has a kot, the result people remember for years.
It is the game to learn first: Double Sir, Hidden Rung and Be-Ranga are all built on it, and the whole of it fits on this page.
Play Single Sir in the free app
Free · no gambling · no coins to buy
Prefer to watch? Single Sir, explained in 9 minutes. Choose your language under Settings, Audio track. Watch on YouTube
How to play Single Sir
The table
Four players in two teams of two. Partners sit opposite each other.
Play goes anticlockwise — to the right.
The deal
First hand: everyone draws a card, and the highest card chooses the trump.
Every hand after that, the player to the dealer's right chooses.
Five cards each first, then four more and four more — 13 each.
The trump is chosen from those first five cards.
Calling the trump
The chooser has 20 seconds — 10 in a player's very first game.
They may pass once, to their teammate. If their time runs out, it passes to the teammate.
The teammate cannot pass. They choose within 20 seconds, or the dealer turns a random card and its suit is trump.
Playing a trick
Follow the suit that was led if you can.
If you can't, play any card. You never have to play a trump.
The highest trump wins the trick. With no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led wins.
Whoever wins a trick leads the next one.
Winning the round
The round ends as soon as a team has 7 tricks.
Winning the first 7 tricks straight is a court, and it ends the round.
A court by the team that called the trump is a court. By the other team, it is a goon court.
Scoring
Result
Points
Courts
Callers win
+1
0
Defenders win
+2
0
Callers' court
+3
+1
Goon court
+4
+3
Win 7 rounds in a row: +2 bonus points in Points, or +1 court in Courts.
Any court resets the rounds-in-a-row count.
Who deals next
The dealer's team wins: the next player deals.
The callers win without a court: the same dealer deals again.
The callers win with a court: the dealer's partner deals.
So the side that wins the round calls the trump next.
Two things are yours to choose at the table: whether you score in points or in courts, and the target of the match. Rung Royal also offers two extras of its own, which are not traditional rules:
The match
The first team to the target wins — 10 points, or 3 courts, unless you change it.
A player's first three matches are played to 3 points.
Rung Royal extras
Our own additions, not traditional rules — offered offline, for watching a video.
New cards: deals you a fresh hand. Offered in every game.
Change the trump: in Single Sir, Double Sir and Hidden Rung, the caller may pick a new trump after seeing all 13 cards — before the first card is played.
Playing Single Sir well
Call the suit you hold most of, not the one with your highest card. Four small cards of one suit make a better trump than a lone ace.
Do not cut a trick your partner is already winning. Save the trump for a trick your side would otherwise lose.
Count the trumps as they fall. Once you know you hold the last of them, every high card left in your hand is a winner.
Lead from your long suit early. When the opponents run out of it they must choose between cutting with a trump and throwing a card away, and both help your side.
Questions people ask
What is Single Sir in Court Piece?
The classic way of playing: every trick counts for the team that wins it, the round ends as soon as a team has seven tricks, and winning the first seven straight is a court. It is "single" because one won trick is enough; in Double Sir it takes two in a row.
How many tricks win a round of Single Sir?
Seven of the thirteen. The round ends the moment a team has seven, so the last tricks are often not played at all.
What is a kot (court) and a goon kot?
A kot is winning the first seven tricks of a round straight, and it ends the round at once. By the team that called the trump it is a court; by the other team it is a goon court, the biggest result in the game. In points scoring they are worth 3 and 4.
Who chooses the trump in Single Sir?
In the first hand everyone draws a card and the highest card chooses. After that the player to the dealer's right chooses, looking only at their first five cards. They may pass once to their partner, who must then choose.
Do I have to play a trump if I cannot follow suit?
No. You must follow the suit led if you can; if you cannot, you may play any card. A trump wins the trick unless a higher trump beats it, but you are never forced to play one.
How is Single Sir scored?
In points, callers who win score 1, defenders who win 2, a callers' court 3 and a goon court 4, and the first team to 10 wins. In courts, a plain round scores nothing, a court 1 and a goon court 3, first to 3. Winning seven rounds in a row adds 2 points, or 1 court.
Is Single Sir the same as single trump?
People sometimes call it that, but "single" is about the tricks, not the trump. Every Court Piece game has one trump suit, called once from five cards. In Single Sir each trick you win counts at once; in Double Sir the same player has to win two in a row.
Play Single Sir in the free app
Free · no gambling · no coins to buy
The other games
Double Sir The pile game: the same player must win two tricks in a row to collect.
Hidden Rung The trump is laid face down, and shown only when someone asks.
Be-Ranga No trump call: the first card that cannot follow suit sets the trump.
Mendikot The cousin where the tens decide: capture three or four of them.
