LockSeven

How to Play LockSeven (定七)

Overview

LockSeven is a family-friendly trick-taking poker game popular in many places (especially Hubei province, China). It is a variation of the tractor and Shengji poker game family. The rank 7 is always the trump rank, and the trump suit can be overridden after the deal via anti-call. The Host's partner (friend) is hidden until revealed during play, adding the fun of gaming and reasoning.

1. Deck

Two standard decks (with jokers): 108 cards total.

2. Players & Teams

Four players split into two teams: Defense (Host + hidden partner) vs Attack (the other two players).

Defense team Host + Hidden Partner Attack team The other two players

3. Dealing

Each player receives 25 cards; 8 cards are left face-down on the table as the bottom cards.

4. Calling Trump

During the deal, if a player holds the trump rank 7, the player may choose to call trump. Other players cannot see the suit being called. The caller becomes the Host for this round; no further calls are allowed. If no one anti-calls after the deal (see next section), the called suit is the final trump suit for the round.

5. Anti-Call (Override)

After the deal:

  1. The Host picks up the bottom and then assigns 8 cards back to the bottom.
  2. If a player holds a pair of trump cards of the same suit such as Red Joker (RJ), Black Joker (BJ), or 7, they may reveal and anti-call, take the bottom, then assign the bottom again.
  3. Anti-calling proceeds counter-clockwise starting from the player next to the Host and can repeat.
  4. Only a strictly stronger pair may continue the anti-call chain, with priority RJ > BJ > ♠7 > ♥7 > ♣7 > ♦7.
  5. The Host cannot anti-call first, but may anti-call later with a stronger pair.
  6. The strongest pair that anti-called determines the final trump suit:
    • If it is RJ or BJ, the round is called no-suit trump: only RJ, BJ and all 7s are trumps; all other cards (no matter the suits) are non-trump cards.
    • If it is a 7 of a suit, that suit becomes the trump suit and all cards of that suit are trumps.

Host: pickup bottom → assign bottom Next player: can anti-call Use stronger pair (RJ > BJ > ♠7 > ♥7 > ♣7 > ♦7) to continue anti-calling Strongest pair=RJ/BJ → no-suit trump Strongest pair=7 of a suit → that suit is trump

6. Partnering

The Host's partner is the player who holds the other copy of the called-card 7, that is, the card 7 having the same suit of the called-suit. The Host + partner form the Defense team; the remaining two players form the Attack team. Until the Host's partner plays that called-card, the partner identity remains hidden.

Special case: self-partner (“扒锅”)

If, after picking up the bottom, the Host ends up holding both copies of the called-card 7, it is called “self-partner” (“扒锅”). The Host have three options:

  1. Declare self-partner and concede: end the current round and restart the next round of dealing and playing.
  2. 1 vs 3: The Host plays solo against the other three.
  3. Bury one copy in the bottom: if anyone then anti-calls, the first anti-caller (who picks up the bottom) automatically becomes the Host's partner; if no one anti-calls, the Host may concede.

7. Trick Play

The Host leads the first trick of the current round and may lead any legal pattern. Players follow counter-clockwise. Followers must match pattern and suit if able; otherwise they may fill with other cards.

  • If no card available in the led suit, a player may trump (“kill”). To win, the trump must match the led pattern; otherwise it counts as a simple throw‑in.
  • Cards of mixed suits are considered off-pattern or throw-in, and cannot win the trick.
  • The highest legal play wins the trick and the winner leads the next trick.
  • The current round ends when all players have played all cards.
逆时针出牌 对家 下家 首家 上家

8. Scoring & Winning

Point cards: 5 = 5 pts; 10 = 10 pts; K = 10 pts.

  • Before the Host's partner is revealed, everyone tracks points individually (except the Host).
  • After the partner is revealed, the Attack team may pool their points.

Taking the bottom (“扣底”): if the Attack team wins the final trick, they pickup the bottom and add its points, if any, as bottom points. The more cards included in the final trick, the higher the bottom points.

Winning the round: if Attack team has total score > 80 (table points + bottom points), Attack team wins; otherwise the Host's team (Defense) wins. A new round may then begin. In this game, more points when attack team wins or less points when Defense wins → more experience points for the corresponding team.

9. Rank Order (High → Low)

Red Joker (RJ) > Black Joker (BJ) > Trump-suit 7 > Off-suit 7 > Trump suit A, …, 2 > Off-suit A, …, 2.

10. Legal Patterns & Examples

(1) Single

Any single card. Example:

♣A

(2) Pair

Two cards of the same rank and suit. Example:

♠K
♠K

(3) Tractor

Two or more consecutive pairs (same suit or all trump). Example:

♦J
♦J
♦10
♦10

Can also be “trump suit 77・ non-trump suit 77・trump-suit AA”. Tractors longer than two pairs is colloquially a “train”.

(4) “Flush” Throw (甩牌)

You may combine singles / pairs / tractors and throw them together, but every sub-pattern in the combo must individually beat the corresponding response from any opponent. If any sub-pattern fails, the throw is invalid and only the weakest binding sub-pattern stands. Opponents who wish to trump must match the led pattern structure with all the corresponding sub-patterns. Examples:

♥A
♥Q
♥Q
♠A
♠J
♠J
♠9
♠9
♠8
♠8
♦7
♦7
♦J
♦J

Examples: ♥AQQ; ♠AAK9988; trump 77JJ.

More examples:

Single Pair Tractor Tractor Train Flush Flush
Single example Pair example Tractor example Tractor example Train example Flush example Flush example

11. Jokers (王)

RJ: colored (red) joker; BJ: black-and-white joker. Examples:

RJ BJ