Lone 9

I'm sure no one has ever heard of a game called, Lone 9. Unless you come from my hometown. I literally googled it and nothing came up in the search results. Talk about unknown. Even Google doesn't know it.

In Lone 9, as the title suggests, the 9 is your best. I watched my family play it but I couldn't fully grasp the game. Eh, maybe next time. But basically, you get 6 cards. Ace and King can "catch" the nine. You use these cards to try to get your opponents to throw the nine out.

But first, you have to bid on how many points you will think you will make (if you make less than your bid, you lose that many points). So if you win the bid, you get to call the suit. Them that's when you start trying to fish out that nine. First to 50 wins.

Sounds like a fun game right? Probably, but it takes a lot to learn.

But what this reminded me of was a Vietnamese card game that my girlfriend showed me. It's called, Tien Lin. Actually, the spelling is completely wrong and i apologize. But hopefully those of you who know Vietnamese better than I do know what I am talking about.

It was one of those things I learned during my three month stay in Vietnam.

My girlfriend showed me how to play. You split the deck four ways. The you try to empty out your hand first to win. Make a straight, pairs, whatever you want. Just empty your hand out first.

My girlfriend beat me 9/10 times every single time we play. I think her being Vietnamese and myself being American gives her an unfair advantage.

It's one of those things I learned while staying in Vietnam and something that makes me enjoy Vietnam even more.