Saburokku (三六九, lit. “Three-Six-Nine”) is a Hana-Awase variant for three players, with simple gambling rules. It is thought that the name of the game is in reference to the values of the yaku in the game, which are either 3, 6, or 9 shares. It bears resemblance to Ichi-Ni-San, but with one additional yaku and significantly different scoring.
The game only features 4 yaku: Four Brights, Seven Ribbons, Poetry Ribbons, and Blue Ribbons. Play stops when one of the yaku are made, at which point the other players each pay the winner 9 shares for Four Brights, 6 shares for Seven Ribbons, or 3 shares for either of the Ribbon yaku. If all players run out of cards before a yaku is made, the card points of each player are calculated, subtracted by the par score of 88, and players exchange payments just like in Hachi-Hachi. Each 5 points is equivalent to one share (it is not known how points lower than 5 will be dealt with).
¶ Card Values
The card values used in Saburokku are completely standard, the same as used in Hachi-Hachi. Note that captured card values do not matter unless all players run out of cards before anyone has completed a yaku.
| Card Type | Value | Number in Deck |
|---|---|---|
| Bright | 20 | 5 |
| Animal | 10 | 9 |
| Ribbon | 5 | 10 |
| Chaff | 1 | 24 |
¶ Yaku
| Value | Name of Yaku | Composition |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Four Brights 四光 [しこう, shikou] |
    |
| 6 | Seven Ribbons 七短 [ななたん, nanatan] |
Any 7 Ribbon cards, excluding the  Willow Ribbon. |
| 3 | Poetry Ribbons 赤短 [あかたん, akatan] |
The three Poetry Ribbons:    |
| 3 | Blue Ribbons 青短 [あおたん, aotan] |
The three Blue Ribbons:    |
¶ Bibliography
- Kusaba, Jun. “In Search of Old Hanafuda Games.” Jun Kusaba’s Game Research Site, Jan.-Feb. 1995, https://sites.google.com/a/banjoyugi.net/kusabazyun/Home/reproductioned/history/kohanafuda.
- Ichinose, Takeshi “Atarashii Hanafuda Nyuumon"