Teach your kids blackjack & poker by 6 years old
“You’re good, kid, but as long as I’m around, you’re only second best.”
— Steve McQueen, The Cincinnati Kid.
If Covid-19 isolation lasts for much longer, I would soon back my kids (Jacob aged 5, and Zac aged 7) in Gin Rummy against Stu “The Kid” Ungar (the GOAT by far) if he was still alive. And I estimate the chance they play bridge for England seniors together by the time they are 18 is not a longshot. But I’m no Polgar father, whose contention was that “geniuses were not born, but made”, and drilled his 3 daughters relentlessly from a young age to play chess to prove it — the least successful of the 3 became the sixth best female player in the world, and the best, Judith, made it to the top 10 worldwide, for men or women. Instead, every day or two I play 15 to 20 mins of some type of strategy game with my boys, usually when THEY ask, but often over dinner to keep them occupied without tv. And when they want iPad time, they can have it, but only to play gin, chess, backgammon or bridge on there, rather than the moronic click-bait console-like games that most kids get addicted to.
My parents met in a bridge club, and I grew up around cards and other traditional strategy games, but I share one belief with Laszlo Polgar — that games aren’t in your genes, rather they are learned… Every Saturday morning my mum would take me swimming then deposit me at my grandparents’ apartment. After my grandma invariably fussed over me not having dried my hair properly, we had lunch — always the same — scrambled eggs on toast and French fries, followed by toffee yoghurt. Then, before my grandfather would put on the WWF wrestling that he had recorded for me on VHS!!!, (we didn’t have SKY tv at home and mum wouldn’t have allowed it even if we had), he would whip out the backgammon board and we would play for an hour or so. Papa George was a strong player, and I remember him teaching me by the age of 6 that my five-point was more valuable than the bar. The fundamentals stuck. After he died when I was 11, I didn’t play again until 20, when I randomly entered The Mind Sport Olympics, won a bronze, got hooked and found myself entering the world championship in Monaco six months later. Games are so much easier when the foundations are laid at an early age — just like learning a language. Papa was also a very strong bridge player but he never ever taught me. I started playing bridge at 16, and have been playing for over 20 years and am still not much better than your average club player.
A lot of kids learn chess in school, but to be honest, whilst chess is a wonderful game, it is dry, requires a lot of study to play well and can put kids off playing a whole host of other strategy games which can be a lot more fun and in my opinion, add just as much if not more value to their logic, reasoning, competitiveness and learning process without feeling like school work.
On holiday a few years ago with another family by the pool, my kids were playing card games. The 9-year-old girl from the other family wanted to join in but didn’t even know what a jack was… she had never played any form of cards before — ever! I was horrified. Clearly, I have spent a lot of my life playing various games, they are my passion, and it’s my thing (+ sports), to do with my kids, but you don’t need to have ever played games yourself to teach your kids.
If you want to get them playing (and now, during Covid-19 lockdown, is the perfect time), this is the path that I recommend. (Disclaimer: these methods come from a sample size of 2 and may well not be the best way, this is just what worked with my kids) ….
Snap (age 3):
How to play: The version I taught is to show them 1 card, and that becomes the snap card. Then put it back in the deck, turn the deck faced down in a pile and turn one card over at a time. Both kids (any number can play at the same time) start with one hand, palm face down, roughly equidistant from the pile in the middle. Whoever slaps the snap card first wins the card, takes it and places it face down beside them. If they slap a card in the pile and it’s the wrong one, (note: 6s and 9s often get confused at the beginning), not the snap card, they have to give a card they have won back into the middle (this stops indiscriminate slaps and teaches them mistakes cost! If neither have won a card yet, there is no penalty). Go through the entire deck and see who ends up winning the most of the 4 cards. If it’s a 2–2 tie, shuffle and play a tie-breaker — whoever hits the next snap card wins. Once they are familiar with this, you can add more snap cards, so say you choose a 4 and a 7, there are now 8 snap cards rather than 4. And when comfortable with that, you can get tricky — say the snap cards become any 4, any Jack or black 2. (10 cards).
What it teaches: Familiarizes kids with numbers, and shapes (the jack, queen king), without needing to count. Very good for pattern recognition, coordination, and a nice introduction to getting used to handling cards.
Equipment needed: 1 deck of playing cards.
Backgammon (aged 3.5):
How to play: Start with one checker each on the first triangle, (top left of the board for one player who moves clockwise round the board, and bottom right of the board for the other player who moves counter-clockwise). Roll one die each (highest plays their number, if the same roll again), and move the man along the number of spaces that comes up on the die. If you hit the other man by landing on him, place the checker on the bar in the middle of the board and he has to re-enter from the start. Take it in turns to then roll one die each. The winner is the one who bears off his man first. As they get comfortable with moving clockwise and anti-clockwise and recognizing the numbers on the die and learning to move without counting pip by pip, add more checkers, until eventually you start at the full standard set-up position. You can also introduce using two dice each and rolling doubles (where you get to play that number 4 times), when they become more confident. A 10-minute YouTube backgammon space cartoon is brilliant at explaining the full game from scratch in more detail. They can also play on your phone/ipad/computer, which has a hint button and tutor mode. It’s fine to let them click hint each time and copy that move — over time, subconsciously by doing so, the flow of the game will become natural and they will just know what to do. Once ready, they can set up an account on Galaxy and challenge others for ratings points if you wish.
What it teaches: To count, reason in terms of risk and reward, pattern recognition, coping with swings in luck, and losing.
Equipment needed: A backgammon board. Backgammon Galaxy tutorial at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hCUrQSGqTI&t=121s ; XG Mobile backgammon app, free at https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/xg-mobile-backgammon/id536774050
Chess (aged 4)
How to play: I highly recommend using the activity book listed below, rather than start them on a board because it’s a super-fun way to teach them how each piece moves and the rules in a very logical, progressive sequence, using join the dots and colouring style games in a physical book. This way, before they ever reach an intimidating board with lots of pieces, they will know what to do and will be raring to go. It also gives parents some respite from reading story books at bedtime for a change, as I guarantee your kids will be begging you to go through that activity book with them (it explains all so simply, you don’t even need to know the rules yourself). Once they have completed the book over a few months they will be ready to play over a board, and there are many great chess problem apps and computers to play also.
What it teaches: strategy, thinking ahead, visualisation, focus.
Equipment needed: A chess board; Chess, easy to learn fun to play by Dolzhykova & Galinsky, found at https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Easy-learn-Level-course/dp/B06XBL8RSG/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=chess+easy+to+learn+fun+to+play&qid=1587888666&sr=8-8 ; Chess kid app freemium at https://www.chesskid.com/ ; Play for free at https://www.chess.com/
Blackjack (aged 4.5):
How to play: Deal one card to yourself face up and two cards to each of the number of kids playing, also faced up. Ask them to each count how many point their cards add up to (aces are 1 or 11 and jacks, queens and kings are all 10 points). Then ask in turn, if they would like another card. If they do, get them to add this to their total. And then ask if they want another, and so on until they don’t want to take any more. If at any time their cards add up to 22 or more before they stop taking, they lose and you take their cards and they are yours — place them faced down beside you in a separate pile. If they stop before reaching 21, you keep taking cards until you are at 17 or more. If you go over 21, you lose and give them your cards which they place faced down in a pile besides them. If you finish on 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21, if your total adds up to more than theirs, you win their cards. If it is less than theirs, they win your cards. If it adds up to the same as theirs, it is a draw and both of you get to take your own cards and put them in your winning pile. (If both kids win against you, give them half your cards each). Once you have run through the deck, the winner is the one with the most cards in their pile. Shuffle and start over!
What it teaches: Arithmetic, feel for probabilities.
Equipment needed: A pack of playing cards.
Note: No gambling, don’t let them play this online as even play money sites will inevitably encourage them to $ versions.
Gin Rummy (aged 5):
How to play: This is a two-player game. Deal 10 cards each, faced up, to either each kid if they are playing with each other, or yourself and one kid if they are taking you on. Aces are low, then the sequence is 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king. The remainder of the cards are placed face down in the middle, and just one is turned over face up. One player gets the choice of whether to take that card, if they don’t, then the other player is offered it. If he also refuses, a card is taken from the faced down pile, by the player whose choice it was originally, and put into their 10 cards so they now have 11. One card is then chosen and discarded face up into the middle. The other player then has the choice whether to take that card or one from the face down pile in the middle. Once they take a card, they then discard it or another from their hand, face up in the middle, so players should always have 10 cards. The aim of the game is to make sets e.g 7, 7, 7 or 7, 7, 7, 7 or Jack, Jack, Jack or runs of the same suit, e.g. 7 diamonds, 8 diamonds, 9 diamonds (however many in a row with a minimum of three connecting), until all 10 cards are matched. The first player to match ten cards then then discards their 11th card, faced down into the middle, and declare “gin”, and they are the winner.
Once the kids are comfortable playing open face, you can start to play closed. It’s often hard for kids to hold 11 cards in a fan, but there are cardholders available to buy to make this easy.
The scoring system can become more complex when ready — score 25 points for making gin and add on any points that are not in sets or runs in your opponent’s hand to the 25 (aces count as 1, tens, jacks, queens and kings all count as 10), when each hand is over. Then shuffle and play again. (Loser deals and the other player has first option whether to take the up-card). The winner is the first to 150. (Can eventually introduce “knocking”, but this is more complicated so Google this if you want to incorporate it down the road).
What it teaches: Logic, making inferences, combinations, memory.
Equipment needed: a pack of playing cards. Cardholders optional: https://www.amazon.com/Gamewright-Little-Hands-Playing-Holder/dp/B000H236VQ/ref=ice_ac_b_dpb?dchild=1&keywords=cardholders+for+kids&qid=1587892203&sr=8-1
Bridge (aged 5.5):
How to play: Bridge is ideally played with 4 players, with two partnerships of two who site opposite each other. If you have fewer players, you play all the spare hands. Deal each player 13 cards, face up. In bridge, 2s are low then 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace in that order. Get the kids to evaluate their hands, counting jacks as 1 point, queens as 2, kings as 3 and aces as 4 (none of the other cards are counted). The team with the most combined points between them gets to play the hand. Whichever side is not playing the hand leads a card by playing it face up in the middle. Players then take it in turns to play, clockwise. When it is your turn, you must play the same suit (clubs, diamond, hearts or spades) as the card led, if you have one, if not play any other card from your hand of your choice. Once 4 cards have been played, the player with the highest card of the original suit led, wins the trick and takes those 4 cards and places them face down in a pile besides them. The winner of the trick then gets to lead a card of their choosing and again once 4 cards are played, the winner takes the trick and this continues until all 13 cards are played by all. Then you count the number of tricks won together between each of the two partnerships, and the winning team is the one who has won the most combined. Once confident with trick taking, you can play with the cards dealt closed rather than open, and introduce trump suits, bidding, and more complicated scoring systems, (Google around for the rules of the full game).
What it teaches: Logic and reasoning via the play, and bidding is similar to learning a language, and how to communicate with a partner.
Equipment needed: A pack of playing cards; play and practice for free on Bridge Base found at https://www.bridgebase.com/ ; card holders optional at https://www.amazon.com/Gamewright-Little-Hands-Playing-Holder/dp/B000H236VQ/ref=ice_ac_b_dpb?dchild=1&keywords=cardholders+for+kids&qid=1587892203&sr=8-1
Poker (aged 6):
Ok so during lockdown, the kids found a poker chip set I had forgotten I even owned. And I had to face the words… “dadeeee how do you play?” I was hoping to delay this “birds and the bees” moment for years to come, but after continual nagging, I succumbed.
How to play: Lay out 7 hands as in the pic below — ace high/ 1-pair/ 2-pairs/ 3- of-a-kind/ straight/ flush / full house. Memorise. Takes 2 mins for them (took me ages when I learned at 16 for first time). Now turnover the cards facedown into 7 piles. Give 100 chips each. Everyone antes 5 chips then chooses a random pile. The dealer button rotates (take turns to go first basically). There is only 1 betting round, with players taking it in turn to go, rotating clockwise from the dealer. Each time it’s your go, you can check or bet as much as you like or fold. (Can’t check if facing a bet ahead of you and if you raise, it must be at least double previous bet). Play until each player is eliminated. Once they have the hang of this, you can introduce more betting rounds.
What it teaches: Strategy/game theory, coping with getting unlucky, patience, and of course — deception!
Equipment needed: a pack of cards and some chips (can use anything in lieu of chips if you don’t have any).
Notes: No gambling for money. Don’t let kids play online as even if advertised as free play, they will be lured into trying to play for real $ soon enough.
I gave no strategy tips as I was interested to see what they would come up with…
Day 1) not a single bluff, basically straightforward check fold with bad hands and bet with good ones.
Day 2) Jacob discovered stealing by going all in each turn. Was very proud of himself until got caught when Zac had a full house for the nuts. He had to sit out the rest of the freezout and learned to be more nuanced.
Day 3) caught Zac peaking at Jacob’s cards… he had a full house, Jacob a flush… he check min raised him from the cutoff and then raised all-in when Jacob tried to value 3-bet.
Day 4) “Daddeeee, when can we play for money?”
- “well do you have any money?”
- “no, but how about we play for chocolate?”
- “great idea, the winner gets a chocolate of their choice.”
- “yay, but you are not allowed to play, it’s not fair you won a tournament”. (WSOP bracelet, aged 23 in 2004).
🤦🏻♂😂
One final hack: there will be arguments and the odd inevitable tantrum. Noone likes to lose, especially young kids. But just play through these, or stop and play another day. The more you play, so long as you are ecouraging win, lose or draw, the more used to losing kids will become and soon take it in their stride. I personally, wouldn’t want my kids to enter any forms of competition, even school chess matches, until they are at least 12, as there can be too much pressure. Games are about fun with learning at a yong age — what’s the rush?
If you enjoyed this blogpost, please share and lookout for my book, “51% Certain — Risk, reward, and the pursuit of edge in everyday life” which is coming out shortly. You can find me on Twitter @jamesvogl and insta @james.vogl
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