Daifugō ( in Japanese Kanji 大富豪) is a Japanese shedding game, usually played with a standard deck of 52 french-suited playing cards. The name means Grand Millionaire or Big Winner.
The card game is known by several different names in different regions and countries, for example, Daihinmin, Dai biru, Dai ichiban, The Great loser, and Big loser. Daifugō is most popular in Japan, but it is also played in other countries, particularly in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is also similar to the card game Big Two.
The objective in Daifugō is to get rid of all the cards you have as fast as possible by playing progressively stronger cards than those of the previous player. The ordering of the card ranks is a little different from most American card games – Two is the highest rank and is unbeatable. The Ace is the next highest, the King the next highest, etc., with the Three being the lowest.
There are three to eight players. The dealer shuffles the deck and deals out all the cards to the players card by card until no cards are left.
Then, the player to the dealer’s left plays any number of cards of the same rank. The next players must follow by playing the same number of cards of the same suit(s) but higher in rank. If they can’t do that, they must pass.
The following player may do the same, and so on. This continues until all players pass or until the highest rank (the Twos) is played. The last person to play a card takes all cards from the table, also called a trick, and adds them to their won-trick pile.
The first player to run out of cards, they are the Daifugō, the winner, and exit the round. The remaining players can continue playing to determine all positions. The last player with any cards is the Daihinmin, the loser, and deals the next round.
Sometimes, scores are used too: The winner will gain two points, the runner-up gets one point.
Please note that the specific rules of the game may vary depending on the region and the players. Additionally, a plethora of optional rules circulate in this game. If you enjoy shedding games, feel free to have a look at our games at the Rummy Palace or the Canasta Palace to play online!