Salad Rules

We play this goofy card game my mom taught me called Salad. When we look online for rules, we only find versions of "Canadian Salad" which are much more involved (12+ hands, more rules, etc.). So this is our current rule standard for the LaMoore family. We were up at my sister-in-law's lake place and didn't have the rules with, so we punted. It worked out okay, but I thought putting it in my blog might help for future events. Here they are! The Salad Card Game Rules. (I couldn't upload my pdf, so here they are in full form.)

On 7/11/16, I updated some info to clarify questions that came up in comments. When I originally posted this on 1/2/08, it was so I could access it anywhere I had internet connectivity. It's gratifying that so many others have enjoyed it!

Salad (4, 5, 6, or 7 players)

4 players – full deck

5 players – remove 2 of diamonds and 2 of clubs

6 players – remove all 2s

7 players – remove 2s of diamonds, clubs, and spades

(Actually, we’ve played with 8 people, 2 decks, and it worked fine. . . )

Dealer is determined by cut (1^st hand only).

Play clockwise to left.

When all cards have been dealt, each player selects three to “slough” to the player on their left. First player leads whatever they want. Highest card in original suit played takes the hand. Keep track of points each hand – this gets interesting!

1^st hand No Tricks - 5 pts / trick

2^nd hand No Hearts -  5 pts / heart

3^rd hand No Queens - 25 pts / queen

4^th hand No Kings -  50 pts / king

5^th hand Last Trick -  75 pts for last trick

6^th hand All of the Above pts as above

7^th hand 8s and Solitaire (see points below)

Points for 7^th hand:

1^st done = -100 points

2^nd done = -75 points

3^rd done = -50 points (unless 4 or 5 players, then 0 points)

4^th done = +50 points

5^th done = +75

6^th done = +100

On Solitaire hand, 8s must be played first. Aces are high. A player puts an eight on the table. If the next player has an eight in a different suit, or a 7 or 9 of the suit already played, they can play one of those cards. If they do not have any cards that can be played, they must "pass." If someone can play a card, they must play it. (They cannot pass just to hold off other players.) Play continues around until players have played all their cards. (From the eights in the middle, cards will extend from each side seven through two and nine through ace.)

Person with highest points loses.