Pife rules: how to play

How do you play pife?

Pife, or pif-paf, is a Brazilian rummy game. Each player gets 9 cards. On your turn you draw from the stock or the discard pile and discard. The goal is three melds of three cards: sets of the same rank in different suits, or runs of the same suit. The first to arrange all nine cards wins the round.

Object of the game

The goal is to be the first to arrange the nine cards in your hand into three melds of three cards. Each meld can be a set or a run.

The player who does this goes out and wins the round. Melds stay hidden in your hand until you go out.

Setup and deal

• Put the two decks together without the jokers and shuffle well. At a small table, with up to four players, a single deck also works.
• Deal 9 cards to each player, face down.
• Place the rest of the cards face down in the middle of the table. This is the stock.
• The discard pile starts empty, next to the stock.
• Pife has no wild cards. Every card counts only as itself.
• The player next to the dealer goes first, and play always moves in the same direction.

How to play

1. Look at your nine cards and find the start of melds: pairs of the same rank and neighboring cards of the same suit.
2. A set is a meld of three cards of the same rank, in different suits. Example: queen of hearts, queen of clubs and queen of spades.
3. A run is a meld of three cards in a row of the same suit. Example: 7, 8 and 9 of diamonds.
4. The ace works at both ends of a run: before the 2 (ace, 2, 3) or after the king (queen, king, ace). Going around the corner with king, ace, 2 is not allowed.
5. On your turn, draw a card. You choose: the top card of the stock, face down, or the top card of the discard pile, which is the one the previous player has just discarded.
6. Then discard one card face up on the discard pile. You always end your turn with nine cards in hand.
7. The turn passes to the next player, and the game goes on like this: draw one, discard one.
8. When the card you draw completes your three melds, you go out. Show the nine arranged cards on the table and discard the tenth.
9. If all ten cards fit, in two melds of three and one meld of four, you go out with all ten and discard nothing.
10. To go out, you may also take the card any player has just discarded, even out of turn. Out of turn, the top discard may only be taken to go out.
11. The other players check the melds. If everything is right, the round is yours.
12. If the stock runs out before anyone goes out, shuffle the discard pile to make a new stock.

Card values and scoring

• In pife, cards have no point value. What counts is who goes out.
• Simplest way to score: the player who goes out earns 1 point. Agree beforehand on how many points win the game.
• Another way: everybody starts with the same number of points, such as 10. A player who does not go out in a round loses 1 point. A player with no points left is out of the game.
• At many tables, going out with all ten cards counts double. Agree on this first.
• Play for points written on paper. This is a family game.

End of the game

After each round, the cards are shuffled and another player deals.

With the first way of scoring, the first player to reach the agreed points wins. With the second, the last player who still has points wins.

Differences between pife and cacheta

• Wild card: the pife described here has no wild card. In cacheta, a card turned face up after the deal, the vira, sets the wild card for each round.
• Luck and counting: with no wild card, pife asks for more attention to the cards already played. In cacheta, the wild card finishes melds faster.
• The rest is the same: nine cards, three melds, draw one and discard one, go out with everything arranged.
• The names get mixed across Brazil. In many towns, pife, pif-paf and cacheta are names for the same game. Before you start, ask whether the table plays with a wild card.

Common variations

• Pife with jokers: some tables keep the jokers in the deck, and they stand for any card. The custom is one joker per meld.
• Discard only for a meld: at some tables, you may take the top discard only if you are going to use it in a meld.
• Warning before going out of turn: at some tables, only a player who has already announced needing one card may take the top discard out of turn. Agree on this first.
• Announcing one card to go: at some tables, a player who needs one card to go out warns the others by saying "pifei".
• Wrong call: a player who goes out without three melds picks the cards up and stays in the round. From then on, that player may only go out with a card drawn from the stock.
• Run around the corner: some tables accept king, ace and 2 as a run. Agree on this first.

Tips to play better

• Keep cards that work for two melds. A 7 of hearts next to another 7 and to an 8 of hearts can become a set or a run.
• Prefer waiting for two cards instead of one. With the 5 and 6 of clubs, the 4 and the 7 both fit. With the 5 and 7, only the 6 fits.
• With two decks, every card exists twice. Count how many of the cards you are waiting for have already gone to the discard pile.
• Watch what the next player takes from the discard pile. If that player took a jack, avoid discarding jacks and neighboring cards of the same suit.
• Get rid of lonely cards early, the ones with no pair and no neighbor in your hand.
• Taking a discard shows your hand to the table. If a card from the stock may do the same job, draw from the stock.

Frequently asked questions