Poka (ポカ) is a Hanafuda game for 2 players. It is also known as Go-mon Shobu (五文勝負 [ごもんしょうぶ], “5-point game”), in reference to the 5 points needed to win the game.
Unlike many Hanafuda games, this game is not derived from Hana-awase and does not share the same style of gameplay.
¶ Hanafuda Month Sequence
This game requires familiarity with the sequence of the months.
| # | Month | Icon | Flower |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January |  |
Pine |
| 2 | February |  |
Plum Blossom |
| 3 | March |  |
Cherry Blossom |
| 4 | April |  |
Wisteria |
| 5 | May |  |
Iris |
| 6 | June |  |
Peony |
| 7 | July |  |
Bush Clover |
| 8 | August |  |
Susuki Grass |
| 9 | September |  |
Chrysanthemum |
| 10 | October |  |
Maple |
| 11 | November |  |
Willow |
| 12 | December |  |
Paulownia |
¶ Setup
The game uses a standard 48-card Hanafuda deck.
Players determine first who is the dealer. The dealer then shuffles the cards and deals 6 cards to each player, and 1 card on the table face up (this becomes the discard pile). The remaining cards are put on the table face down as the draw pile.
Each player then checks if they have a Teyaku.
¶ Teyaku
A player who has a Teyaku wins the round immediately (the round stops), takes the points of the Teyaku, and becomes the dealer of the next round.
If both players have a Teyaku of the same value, they are voided. Play continues as normal. (If one of them has buttakuri, then only buttakuri is counted.)
If nobody has a Teyaku, then play continues as normal.
| Value (in points) | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | January Triplet ピン三枚 [ぴんさんまい, pin-sanmai] |
Three January cards. |
| 2 | Ghost Triplet 化三枚 [ばけさんまい, bake-sanmai] |
Three Ghost Cards. |
| 2 | Triple Sticky 三双 [みつくっつき, mitsu-kuttsuki] |
Three pairs of cards- a pair being two cards from the same month. |
| 5 | Four of a Kind ブッタクリ [ぶったくり, buttakuri] |
Four cards of the same month. You win the game immediately. |
¶ Gameplay
Dealer plays first.
During a player’s turn, he/she looks at the topmost card in the discard pile, and then discards from his/her hand a card of the next month.
Example: There is a June card on the discard pile.
Player must discard a July card.
If the card on the discard pile is a December
After the player has discarded, he/she may also discard another card of the next month from the previously discarded card, and keep discarding until he/she doesn’t have a card in the month sequence.
Example: There is a June card on the discard pile.
Player has a July , August , and September card in his/her hand.
Player discards the July card, then the August card, then the September card.
If a player doesn’t have a card of the next month in his/her hand, he/she passes his/her turn to the other player.
If both players pass their turn without discarding, draw one card from the draw pile and put it on the discard pile.
If the draw pile runs out of cards, form a new deck by taking all cards from the discard pile except for the top card. Shuffle the deck and put it back on the table face down.
¶ One-Two Combo
If the card on the discard pile is January , and you have both a January and a February card in your hand, instead of just discarding the February card, you can discard the January card first before discarding the February card.
¶ Rule Variant (Optional)
If the card on the discard pile is either January or February, you can discard all cards of the same month as the card on the discard pile at the same time.
¶ Ghost Cards
In Poka, there are 3 Ghost Cards (化札 [ばけふだ, bake-fuda]). These are considered wild cards in the game.
The 3 Ghost Cards are: The Crane, the January Ribbon, and the Bush Warbler.
A Ghost Card can follow a card of any month on the discard pile, and any card can be discarded on top of it, including other Ghost Cards.
¶ Winning the Round
During each round, the goal is to get rid of all the cards in your hand before the other player does. If you do, you earn 1 point, and become the dealer for the next round.
¶ All Out
If you manage to discard all of your cards on your first turn, it is called All Out (総出し [そうだし, sou-dashi]). You earn 2 points instead of 1.
¶ End of the Game
First player to earn 5 points wins the game.
Some people play with only 3 points instead of 5. The game is then called San-mon Shobu (三文勝負 [さんもんしょうぶ], “3-point game”)
¶ Bibliography
- https://tanoshiikoto.com/hanafuda-poka/
- 渡部小童 著 - 『花札を初めてやる人の本』（土屋書店） 改訂版(2004):ISBN 4806907189 (オリジナル)(1987):ISBN 480690418X