Rack-O Card Game - How To Play Racko

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Card Game
For 2 to 4 players / Ages 8 and up
Rules (c) 1992 Hasbro. Inc. Pawtucket RI 02862 All Rights Reserved Printed in U.S.A.

OBJECT
To be first to score 500 points in several rounds of play. Each round, you replace the cards in your rack so their numbers read in any numerical progression from a LOW number at the front to a HIGH number at the back. See Figure 2.

CONTENTS
Deck of 60 RACK-O® Cards • 4 Card Racks • 1 Card Tray

SETUP
1. You’ll need a paper and pencil to keep score.
2. CARDS: RACK-O® cards are numbered 1 to 60. The number of cards you use depends on the number of players:
4 players use all 60 cards
3 players use cards 1 to 50
2 players use cards 1 to 40
3. CARD TRAY AND RACKS: Place Tray in center of table. You’ll draw from one side, and discard into the other. Give a Card Rack to each player.
4. THE DEAL: Each player draws a card from the deck; the highest number deals. (The dealer also plays the hand.) Return all cards to the deck. The Dealer shuffles the deck and deals cards, one at a time and face down, until each player has ten. As your hand is dealt to you place each card in your rack, starting at slot #50 at the back and working down to slot #5 at the front. (See Figure 1.)

5. DRAW PILE: Place the un-dealt cards number-side-down in one side of the Card Tray, to form the Draw Pile. Turn over the top card and place it face up in the other side of the Tray to form the Discard Pile.

GAMEPLAY
RACK-O is played in rounds. Each round ends when a player goes “RACK-O” by getting his or her cards into order, from LOW at the front of the rack to HIGH at the back. Continue play until one player reaches 500 points.The player to the left of the dealer goes first.
On Your Turn:
Take the top card from either the Discard Pile or the Draw Pile.
If you take from the Discard Pile: You must exchange the drawn card with one in your rack. Put the card from your rack face up on the Discard Pile. Your turn ends.
If you take from the Draw Pile: You may exchange it for one card in your rack, OR you may choose to discard it, face up, on top of the Discard Pile. Your turn ends.
Note: If you use up the Draw Pile, turn over the Discard Pile and use it. Turn over the top card to start the Discard Pile.

Winning a Round: As soon as one player goes “RACK-O” by getting all 10 cards in numerical progression, the round ends, play stops, and the round is scored, as described at right.
To start a new Round: The player to the left of the previous dealer shuffles the cards and deals the new hand.

Scoring a Round:
See Figure 2: The player who goes “RACK-O” scores 75 points: 5 for each card in the rack and a 25-point bonus for going out. The other players score 5 points for each card in their racks that is correctly arranged from LOW to HIGH, starting with the first card in slot #5, and ending wherever the succession of higher cards has first been broken. See Figure 3: This player scores 30 points. Starting with the first card in slot #5, there are a total of six cards—from the 5 up to the 31—that are in numerical progression before the 22 breaks the order.
Note: Even though the last four cards are in the correct order, the 22 broke the progression, so they don’t count! (Sometimes a player may score only 5 points for a round if the card in slot #10 is lower that the card in slot #5, even though the remaining nine are in order.)

WINNING
The first player to accumulate a total of 500 points is the winner. If more than one player has passed 500, the highest number wins.

GAMEPLAY VARIATIONS
2 Players
For more fun and competition, add this rule:
A player may not go “RACK-O” (for a score of 75 points) unless at least three cards are in exact consecutive order. Figure 4 shows a run of three cards, the 24, 25, and 26.

GAMEPLAY VARIATIONS
Partners
Four players may play as partners, two against two. Each partnership keeps a combined score for each round. The first pair to reach 500 points wins.

Bonus RACK-O
The player who goes RACK-O receives bonus points for every perfect run of three to six cards in the rack. (Figure 4 shows a three-card run.)
The strategy is: Do you go RACK-O as soon as you can and earn 75 points—or do you wait to earn bonus points, and risk having another player go RACK-O before you? The other players score in the usual fashion, receiving 5 points for each card in order.
Note: If you go RACK-O with two or more runs in your rack, you receive a Bonus for only ONE of them (the longest, if there is a difference).

RUN    GOING RACK-O POINTS BONUS POINTS  TOTAL
3-card          75               50        125
4-card          75              100        175
5-card          75              200        275
6(or more)cards	75              400        475

We will be happy to hear your questions or comments about this game.
Write to: Consumer Relations, Parker Brothers. P.O. BOa 1012. Beverly. MA 01915.
40073-I Ri

These rules are posted here for those who lost theirs and said to themselves, "Hey, I'll look on the internet!"
Well, here ya go folks.

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