Learn the game

Tonk rules

Learn the Tonk rules used in DeNiro Card: the deal, legal moves, scoring and how to win. House rules vary; these are the rules at DeNiro Card tables.

How to play Tonk

1. Two to four players, chosen on the setup card. Five-card Tonk: 5 cards each at every table size, one face-up discard, no wild cards. The deal moves on every hand and the player to the dealer's left goes first.
2. Scoring is in match points, not coins: 10 for a single result, 20 for a double. First to 100 match points wins, and only then is the coin pot paid. Nothing during the match changes your stake.
3. A dealt hand totalling exactly 49 or 50 wins 20 at once. If more than one player has one, the hand is a push.
4. At the start of your turn you may Drop (you will be asked to confirm) or draw from the stock or the top discard. A Drop is compared with every other hand: it wins 10 only if your total is strictly lower than all of them.
5. A tie or a lower hand catches you, and the lowest other hand scores 20. If two hands tie for lowest, nobody scores.
6. After drawing, lay any spreads (sets of 3 or 4; runs of 3 or more in one suit, Ace low), hit any spread on the table, then discard unless your hand is empty. You may put the top discard straight back.
7. Going out by a spread or hit scores 20; going out by discarding your last card scores 10. Card values: Ace 1, face cards 10, others face value. Every card left in your hand counts at full value.
8. The discard pile is never reshuffled. If you choose to draw from an empty stock, the hand ends: the lowest hand scores 10, and a tie for lowest is a push. After 80 draws in one hand the same showdown happens automatically.
9. Your clock: at a coin table against the computer you get up to 90 seconds for each move, and the table header counts down the exact time left. If it runs out, the table plays that move for you on the merits. You are not forfeited, nothing extra is charged, and your stake and payout are unchanged. Each of your first three missed moves keeps the full clock; miss a third in a row and the rest of the hand runs at computer speed, about two thirds of a second a turn, which in practice finishes it for you. Making one move yourself puts the full clock back. An Online table against real people runs its own, separate clock; watch the same countdown there.

Common questions

Playing in DeNiro Card

An account and an internet connection are required to play. Choose a coin stake before joining a table. Leaving an active game forfeits the stake and adds a 10% leaving fee. Play coins have no cash value and cannot be cashed out.