Rifleman Rules

Hand and Foot (or Hat and Boot if you're from Montana)

Game Rules

Things You'll Need:

  • 2-4 Teams of 2 people (or 2 people can play against each other as individuals)
  • 2 decks of cards for every team
  • Card holders optional

The Game Consists of Three Hands (Melds):

  • First hand requires 90 points to open
  • Second hand requires 120 points to open
  • Third hand requires 150 points to open

Card Point Totals (Jokers and 2s are wild):

  • Jokers - 50 points
  • 2s - 20 points
  • Aces - 20 points
  • 8s - Kings - 10 points
  • 4s - 7s - 5 points
  • Red 3s - Negative 500 points
  • Black 3s - Negative 5 points

To Play the Game:

  1. Shuffle all of the decks and swirl them in the middle of the table.
  2. Each player grabs 11 cards for their Foot and sets them aside.
  3. Each player grabs 13 cards for their Hand to start play.
  4. Stack the cards in 2 draw piles and place one card in the middle for discards.
  5. Each play, draw 2 cards and discard 1.
  6. You can pick up the discard pile instead of drawing two cards, however, you must play the top card from the discard pile.
  7. Once a team member has met the meld minimums, lay down cards in sets of three to seven cards. Twos and Jokers are wild and can be used to create books. Books must have at least as many natural cards as wild cards but cannot have more than three wild cards total. Wilds can be added after books are closed, up to three total.
  8. When you have played all of the cards in your hand, you can pick up your foot. If you did not discard, you can keep playing your foot.

To End the Round and Go Out:

  • The team must have two (2) Clean (red) books - at least 7 cards and no wild.
  • The team must have one (1) Dirty (black) book - at least 7 cards and up to 3 wilds.
  • Both partners must be in their Foot.
  • Each partner must be "clean", meaning no threes (3s) in their remaining cards.

Scoring:

  • 100 points to the team out first.
  • 500 points for each Clean book.
  • 300 points for each Dirty book.
  • Subtract points for any cards left in Hands or Feet.
  • Add points for all cards played on the table.
  • Highest score after all three rounds wins!

Team Setup

Rifleman Rules

Scoreboard

Final Results

Team Options