Tonk has more house rules than almost any other card game. Pagat, the standard reference for card game rules, notes that many players are sure their own way is the only correct one. This page collects the versions you are most likely to meet, as recorded on Pagat’s Tonk page. Agree which ones you are using before the first deal.

Standard Tonk (5 Cards)

The game most people mean by “Tonk”: five cards each from a 52-card deck, an instant double win for 49 or 50 on the deal, drop at the start of your turn, and a double win for tonking out with a spread or a hit. How to play Tonk has the complete rules. Rare Pike’s online Tonk plays this version.

Waiting Rules

Many groups limit when you may drop:

  • After you put down a spread, you may not drop for your next three turns. This stops the first player to put down a spread from dropping at once while everyone else still holds five cards.
  • After someone hits your spread, you must wait one turn before you drop. Hitting becomes a way to hold off a player you think is about to drop.
  • Waits add up. Put down a spread and then get hit, and you wait for both.

Waiting never stops you from winning by getting rid of all your cards. Groups differ on the number of turns, and some only use the hit rule.

Low Hands on the Deal

In the standard game, only 49 or 50 on the deal is an instant win. Some groups add a low-hand win:

  • A dealt hand of 15 or fewer, or 13 or fewer, or 11 or fewer also wins a double stake at once.
  • Some pay a triple stake for 9 or fewer.
  • When two players both have an instant win, groups rank them, for example 50 beats 49, and a low hand beats 50.

Some also pay a double stake for 50 but only a single stake for 49.

Different Penalties for Getting Caught

In the standard game, a caught dropper pays a double stake to every player with an equal or lower count. Other versions:

  • The dropper pays a double stake only to the player with the lowest count.
  • The dropper pays everyone’s stake to the lowest player.
  • The dropper simply pays a double stake to each other player.
  • The dropper pays five times the stake to the lowest player, and nobody else pays.

Seven-Card Tonk

In some places, including among longshoremen in Seattle, seven cards are dealt instead of five, and several American rule books describe a seven-card game. With more cards, spreads come more easily. Five cards is still far more common.

The 40-Card Pack

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Tonk has been played with a 40-card pack: the 8s, 9s and 10s are removed. In runs the 7 sits next to the Jack, so 6-7-J is a run. Because 48 and 49 are impossible with this pack, the instant win on the deal is 47 or 50.

Scoring Tonk With Points

Tonk is usually played for a small stake, but you can score it with points:

  • Push-ups. Each loser’s score goes up by the count left in their hand, and by double that count after a double win. The game ends when someone reaches an agreed total. Rare Pike’s online game works this way, to 100 points, and the lowest total wins.
  • Plus and minus. Write the result of each hand on paper: the winner scores a point from each other player and the losers each lose one, with two points per player for a double win. Settle up at the end.

Smaller House Rules

  • No upcard. No card is turned up after the deal; the discard pile starts with the first discard.
  • Spreads must go down. You may not hold a spread in your hand, sometimes with an exception for three Aces.
  • Single stake for hitting out. Some pay double only for going out with a second spread, and a single stake for going out by hits.
  • Jokers. Some add two or more jokers, worth 0 points, which can’t be used in spreads.
  • Touching the stock. If you touch the stock on your turn, you must draw from it.

Agree Before You Deal

The most important Tonk rule is the one Pagat starts with: agree the house rules before anyone looks at a card. If you are new to the game, start with the standard rules, then add one variant at a time.

Want to play the standard game? Play Tonk for free on Rare Pike.