By How is tongits dealt and scored?
You need three players and one 52-card deck, no jokers. The dealer gets 13 cards, the other two players 12 cards each, and the rest of the deck sits face down as the stock.
| Card | Points in hand |
|---|---|
| Ace | 1 |
| 2–10 | Face value |
| Jack, Queen, King | 10 each |
Points left in your hand count against you. Lower is better, especially when someone calls a draw.
What counts as a meld in tongits?
- Set: three or four cards of the same rank, like 7♠ 7♥ 7♦.
- Run: three or more cards in sequence in the same suit, like 4♣ 5♣ 6♣.
- Sapaw: adding one or more of your cards to a meld already face up on the table — your own or an opponent's. Laying a 7♣ on someone's set of sevens is sapaw.
What do you do on each turn?
- Draw: take the top card of the stock, or pick up the last discard if you can use it in a meld at once.
- Meld: optionally lay down any sets or runs from your hand.
- Sapaw: optionally add cards to melds already on the table.
- Discard: end your turn by throwing one card face up.
The dealer starts the game by discarding without drawing first.
How do you win a round of tongits?
- Tongits: meld every card you hold. That ends the round on the spot, and you win.
- Calling a draw (laban): at the start of your turn, if you already have a meld on the table and no one has sapawed it since your last turn, you can call a draw. Players with a meld down may challenge; players without one have to fold. Everyone reveals, and the lowest point total wins.
- Empty stock: when the last stock card is gone, the player with the lowest total in hand wins.
If you reach the end of a round with nothing melded, you're burned and can't win that round regardless of your points.
What tongits habits help beginners most?
- Get one meld down early. It keeps you from being burned and gives you the option to call a draw.
- Dump high cards when you can. A pair of Kings is 20 points sitting in your hand if someone calls laban.
- Track the discard pile. What players throw away tells you what they're not collecting.
- Check before you discard. If your card fits a meld on the table, you may be handing someone a sapaw.
Tongits involves skill, but on real-money tables the platform still takes a cut and luck still decides individual rounds. Practise on free tables first, and play for money only on PAGCOR-licensed sites you've confirmed in the Legit Check. If you also like arranging hands, try pusoy (Chinese poker).
