Put and Take

Put and Take is a simple gambling game for two to nine players. The game is divided into two rounds: a put round where players put money into the pot when one of their cards matches the dealer’s, and a take round where they take money out on a match. There’s absolutely no skill or decisions to make in Put and Take—the outcome is purely the luck of the cards!

Object of Put and Take

The object of Put and Take is to win money by not matching the dealer’s cards in the first round and matching the dealer’s cards on the second round.

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Setup

Put and Take uses a standard 52-card deck of playing cards. Are you planning on playing with a deck of Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards? If not, why not?

All players should agree to the value of one credit, the basic unit of value in the game. The game can be conducted in cash, but it’s much tidier if the players purchase chips worth one credit each. Distribute the chips accordingly.

Shuffle and deal five cards to each player other than the dealer. (There is no ante.)

Game play

The first half of the hand is the put round. The dealer turns one card face-up from the deck. Any players holding a card of the same rank as the upturned card must pay one credit to the pot for each card of that rank that they hold. The dealer then turns another card. Players must put two credits into the pot per card of this rank that they hold. This continues until five cards have been dealt, with players paying three credits on the third card, four on the fourth, and five on the fifth.

The five cards in front of the dealer are then discarded. The take round now begins. It is conducted exactly the same as the put round, except that the players now take money from the pot when they match the dealer’s card. If the pot runs out before the take round ends, the dealer must pay the remaining balance to any players.

Any remaining chips in the pot after the take round go to the dealer.

Variation

If you wish to increase the amount of money moving around the table, have the players put and take one credit per card on the first card, two credits on the second, four on the third, eight on the fourth, and sixteen on the fifth.

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5 responses to “Put and Take”

  1. The original PUT&TAKE is not the one described here…..
    It was developed by A.Ward & Co (when?) and a patent was
    applied for (granted?): there are 52 cards divided into “puts”
    (5×3) and “takes”(5×3) 4x”take alls”; 4x “all puts”, and 14 blanks each printed with “0”?. I also have one totally blank (spare?).
    A. Ward don’t seem to envisage money gambling, because all puts or takes refer to “counters”. The box has an address in London for A. Ward & Co : 50(overwritten in pencil)Bracewell Road, London W.10 It looks like it’s from the 1920s/30s

    • Hey Barrie,
      The version of Put and Take in this post was described by the American author John Scarne in the 1965 revision of Scarne on Cards. Many of Scarne’s writings were based on observation of card games played by American servicemembers in World War II. It’s likely that this Put and Take is unrelated to the Ward company’s Put and Take in anything other than name.

  2. K. Bennett says:

    My grandmother taught us this game!when we were kids in the late ‘60s. She added on contributing chips to a pot for best poker hand to start. (Dealer gets a hand, too.) Then we played bingo, with dealer calling cards as revealed and players covering their own matches with chips. Whoever covered all of their five cards first got everyone else’s bingo chips from their cards. Then “put and take” cards by dealer. She also added a count of 1-10 by dealer, revealing cards on each number. If the dealer revealed that numbered card as they said the number (say six out loud and card revealed is a six), then all other players had to pay dealer that amount. It was a good game to learn numbers by and we kids found the chips fun to gather and stack. Everyone has to have a turn as dealer, of course.

  3. Marci Boatwright says:

    K Bennett
    Thanks for posting this I’ve been looking for this game for a while. We called it garbage and used to play it all the time growing up. I’m anxious to play with my grandkids.
    Marci Boatwright

  4. Deb says:

    We learned and played the very same game and I too am teaching both my children and grandchildren. We used to play with pennies gathered from the adults in the house. I dont remember how we decided to play with one or two decks. I gather, depending on the # of players. I was trying to remember if we played other games with the 5 cards based on red and black cards. Also, with put/take, if the dealer called #4, for example, on the count of 4, everyone doubled the put/take. Thank you for the post!

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