Kitti: how to arrange nine cards
Kitti gives you nine cards and one job: split them into three hands of three. Nobody draws and nobody discards. The cards you were dealt are the cards you play, so the arranging is the game. Here is a way to do it without wasting your best cards.
Remember what you are competing for
Your first hand is compared with everyone's first hand, your second with their seconds, and your third with their thirds. That gives three small contests. Under the Any two of three scoring choice, you need the best hand in at least two of them to earn the round point. Under Group points, each best hand earns a point.
Either way, one enormous hand can win only one contest. The common beginner mistake is to pour everything into the first hand and leave two weak ones behind.
The ranking, strongest first
- Trail: three cards of the same rank.
- Suited run: three cards in a row, all one suit.
- Run: three cards in a row, mixed suits.
- Flush: three cards of one suit, not in a row.
- Pair: two cards of one rank plus another card.
- High card: none of the above.
Two details catch people. A run beats a flush in these rules. And among runs, A-2-3 is the highest, then A-K-Q. K-A-2 is not a run at all.
A method in four steps
- Sort by rank. Trails and pairs show up at once.
- Sort by suit. Now look for three in a row in one suit, then for any three of one suit.
- Write down two or three complete arrangements. Do not stop at the first good hand you see. Each card can be used only once, so a card that makes a run may be the same card that makes a pair.
- Compare whole arrangements. Ask which one gives you two hands likely to be the best at the table.
A worked example
Suppose you are dealt the king, queen and jack of hearts, the nine of hearts, the nine of spades, the nine of clubs, the ace of diamonds, the seven of clubs and the four of diamonds.
Arrangement A. First hand: three nines, a trail. Second hand: king, queen and jack of hearts, a suited run. Third hand: ace, seven and four, a high-card hand led by the ace.
Arrangement B. First hand: king, queen, jack of hearts. Second hand: nine of hearts, nine of spades and the ace, a pair. Third hand: nine of clubs, seven and four, a weak high-card hand.
Arrangement A is clearly better. It has the strongest category first, a suited run second, and still keeps the ace for the third hand. Arrangement B breaks the trail for no gain. The lesson is general: when your cards form two strong groups without overlapping, keep both and let the third hand be whatever is left.
When strong groups overlap
Harder deals have one card that belongs to two good groups. Say the nine of hearts could complete a suited run of 9-10-J of hearts, or make a trail with two other nines. You cannot have both. Build each version in full and compare the three hands of each. A trail with two poor hands may be worse than a suited run, a pair and a decent high card.
The order rule
You must save your hands from strongest to weakest. You may not hide your best hand in third place to steal that contest. The game checks the order and will reject an arrangement that breaks it. If that happens, compare categories first and then ranks, and move the stronger hand earlier.
Do not ignore the third hand
Many third hands at the table are plain high-card hands. A small pair, or even an ace-high, often wins that contest. When you have a spare pair after building two good hands, the third position is usually where it earns most.
Use the helper, then decide
On EverestBuzz the grouping helper can preview up to twelve arrangements of your own cards. It is a good way to see options you missed. It cannot see the other players' cards, so the choice between two close arrangements is still yours.
The complete rules and both scoring choices are in the Kitti guide. If you like the three-card ranking, Fallaas uses the same order with a single hand. Kitti here is points only, with no money, bets or prizes.