Bartender Rules
Notice: some decks were printed with more than one Heart Ace. That’s fine in this version of the game — an extra Ace is just an extra customer.
What You Need
One main deck supports 2–5 players. You can play with a standard deck of playing cards or with a Bartender deck.
You also need at least 20 coin cards — two sets of 1 through 10. Early Bartender decks shipped with only one set of ten, and a standard playing-card deck holds only thirteen diamonds. Either way, pull the extra coins from a second deck so you don’t run out mid-game.
Each player also needs somewhere to keep score — a scrap of paper or a phone will do.
The Cards
| Card | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kings, Queens, Jacks | Bartenders | Suit and rank are ignored |
| Hearts | Customers | Number is ignored |
| Diamonds | Coins | Your income, and the only thing that counts as profit |
| Clubs | Raiders | |
| Spades | Shovels | Played on your own bartender to dig in |
Wherever a card’s value matters, an Ace is worth 10.
Setup
Separate the coins from the rest of the cards. With 3 players, remove one King, one Queen, one Jack, and two Hearts from the main deck before shuffling. With 2, 4, or 5 players, use the whole deck.
Shuffle the coins and the main deck separately and place both face down at one end of the market square — the shared playing area in the center of the table.
Deal 5 cards to each player. Each player immediately plays any bartenders and customers onto their bar, the space in front of them. Bartenders and customers are played to the bar the moment they’re drawn, on any turn.
A bartender paired with a customer is a happy customer. You may rearrange which customer sits with which bartender on your own bar at any time.
The player with the fewest happy customers goes first. If tied, the player with the fewest customers goes first. If still tied, each tied player cuts the main deck and reveals a card — lowest goes first, then shuffle the revealed cards back in.
Taking a Turn
1. Draw. Draw one coin for each happy customer on your bar, up to a hand of 7. Then draw from the main deck until you have drawn up to 7 cards. Any bartenders and customers you draw go straight onto your bar, and they still count toward the 7.
2. Take one action. You may take a single action per turn:
- Advertise to another player’s customer
- Raid another player’s bartender
- Dig in with a shovel on one of your own bartenders
- Start a bid on a bartender in the market square
3. Bank. Move any coins from your hand to your bank. Add their values to your score and put the cards on the coin discard pile. Banked profit is yours for good — nothing in the game can take it away.
4. Discard. You may discard unwanted cards from your hand. This is the only point in the game where you may discard voluntarily.
5. Turn unpaired cards sideways. Any bartender or customer on your bar that isn’t part of a happy customer pair is turned sideways. If it still isn’t paired at the end of your next turn’s draw, a sideways customer is discarded and a sideways bartender goes into the market square.
Defending against another player’s attack and bidding on a market bartender are not actions — you can do those on anyone’s turn.
Winning
The first player to bank the target profit wins immediately.
| Players | Target |
|---|---|
| 5 | 80 |
| 4 | 100 |
| 3 | 120 (with the smaller deck) |
| 2 | 200 |
The game is at its best with 3 to 5 players. Two-player games work, but with only one rival the better opening hand matters more.
Coins and Advertising
Play a coin on another player’s customer to advertise to them. If it succeeds, the customer moves straight to your bar.
The owner can keep the customer by immediately playing a coin of equal or higher value. Either way, both coins are discarded afterward.
Every coin you spend advertising is a coin you don’t bank. That’s the trade.
Raiders
Play a raider on another player’s bartender to put that bartender out of business. If the raid succeeds, the bartender is removed from its owner’s bar and placed in the market square.
The owner can stop the raid by playing a raider of equal or higher value. All raiders played in the exchange are discarded afterward — successful or not.
If the bartender has dug in, your raider must be higher than the shovel or the raid fails outright and your raider is discarded. If your raider beats the shovel, the shovel is discarded and the raid goes ahead as normal — the owner may still block it with a raider.
Shovels and Digging In
Play a shovel on one of your own bartenders. That bartender has dug in: a raid on them only gets started if the raider beats the shovel’s value.
A shovel stays on its bartender until that bartender leaves your bar, then it’s discarded. You can replace a dug-in bartender’s shovel, but only with a higher one.
Bidding
Bartenders sitting in the market square can be claimed on your turn by playing a coin or a raider on one, which starts a bid. Bidding goes around the table, and every player may join. Each bid must beat the one before it; the bidding ends when everyone passes. The highest card wins the bartender, which goes to that player’s bar.
All cards played in the bid are discarded, whether they won or not.
Reshuffling
When the main deck runs out, shuffle the main discard pile and use it as the new deck. When the coin deck runs out, do the same with the coin discard pile.
