Up and Down the River

This is best played with four or more players, one deck of cards is required. Don’t let anyone tell you the point is to get rid of all your cards. Deal 4 cards to each player. The players then turn their cards face up on the table in front of them. The dealer begins dealing the remaining cards face up, in four piles, one at a time in the center of the table. As the dealer goes up the river players take drinks, and as he goes down the river players give drinks. The first card dealt (up the river) is a 4. All players with a four in front of them take one. The next is a J. All players with J’s must drink two, and so on. After the fourth ‘Up’ card is dealt, another is dealt on top of it and so begins the trip down the river. If the first down card (dealt on top of the last ‘up’ card) is a 10 all players with a 10 may give that card to another player causing him to drink four drinks. The next down card is a 5. Players with a 5 may give their 5 to another player and that player will drink three. You don’t have to give cards, but must drink instead. Someone must pay. If a player has more than one card of a number he must drink for all of them. So if you were going up the river, and say 7’s take 3 and you have two 7’s, that’s six drinks for you. Similarly, if the situation is the same as above, except you are going /down/ the river you may give one player six, or two players three each, giving them the cards with the drinks.