Tien Len

Introduction

Tien Len can be considered the national card game of Vietnam; the name of the game, which should properly be spelt tien len, means Go Forward. The main description on this page is based on information from Jona Baily; Kenneth Lu has contributed a slightly different version. Probably as a result of the Vietnam war, Tien Len has spread to some parts of the USA, where it is sometimes called Viet Cong or just VC; Kelly Aman has contributed one version of this. Chris Hovanic learned another version from Chris Molinaro (also in the USA) and they call it Thirteen.

Tien Len is a climbing game, in which the aim is to get rid of your cards as soon as possible by beating combinations of cards played by the other players.

Players and Cards

The game is for two to eight players. A standard 52 card deck is used; there are no Jokers and no wild cards. If there are more than four players, two decks are used.

The game is dealt and played clockwise

The ranking of the cards is: Two (highest), Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three (lowest).

Within each rank there is also an order of suits: Hearts (highest), Diamonds, Clubs, Spades (lowest).

So the 3 of Spades is the lowest card in the pack, and the 2 of Hearts is the highest. Rank is more important than suit, so for example the spade8 beats the heart7.

The Deal

For the first game, the dealer is chosen at random. 13 cards are dealt to each player.

The Play

The player with the 3 of Spades begins play. If no one has the spade3 whoever holds the lowest card begins. The player must begin by playing this lowest card, either on its own or as part of a combination.

Each player in turn must now either beat the previously played card or combination, by playing a card or combination that beats it (not ties it), or pass and not play any cards. The played card(s) are placed in a heap face up in the centre of the table. The play goes around the table as many times as necessary until someone plays a card or combination that no one else beats. When this happens, all the played cards are set aside, and the person whose play was unbeaten starts again by playing any legal card or combination face up to the centre of the table.

If you pass you are locked out of the play until someone makes a play that no one beats. Only when the cards are set aside and a new card or combination is led are you entitled to play again.
Example (with three players): the player to your right plays a single three, you hold an ace but decide to pass, the player to your left plays a nine and the player to right plays a king. You cannot now beat the king with your ace, because you have already passed. If the third player passes too, and your right hand opponent now leads a queen, you can now play your ace if you want to.

The legal plays in the game are as follows:

Single card
The lowest single card is the spade3 and the highest is the heart2.

Pair
Two cards of the same rank - such as club7-diamond7 or diamondQ-spadeQ.

Triple
Three cards of the same rank - such as diamond5-heart5-club5

Four of a kind
Four cards of the same rank - such as heart9-diamond9-club9-spade9.

Sequence
Three or more cards of consecutive rank (the suits can be mixed) - such as diamond4-spade5-heart6 or diamondJ-heartQ-heartK-clubA-diamond2. Sequences cannot "turn the corner" between two and three - A-2-3 is not a valid sequence because 2 is high and 3 is low.

Double Sequence
Three or more pairs of consecutive rank - such as 3-3-4-4-5-5 or 6-6-7-7-8-8-9-9.

In general, a combination can only be beaten by a higher combination of the same type and same number of cards. So if a single card is led, only single cards can be played; if a pair is led only pairs can be played; a three card sequence can only be beaten by a higher three card sequence; and so on. You cannot for example beat a pair with a triple, or a four card sequence with a five card sequence.

To decide which of two combinations of the same type is higher you just look at the highest card in the combination. For example heart7-spade7 beats diamond7-club7 because the heart beats the diamond. In the same way spade8-spade9-diamond10 beats heart8-heart9-club10 because it is the highest cards (the tens) that are compared.

There are just four exceptions to the rule that a combination can only be beaten by a combination of the same type:

  1. A four of a kind can beat any single two (but not any other single card, such as an ace or king). A four of a kind can be beaten by a higher four of a kind.
  2. A sequence of three pairs (such as 7-7-8-8-9-9) can beat any single two (but not any other single card). A sequence of three pairs can be beaten by a higher sequence of three pairs.
  3. A sequence of four pairs (such as 5-5-6-6-7-7-8-8) can beat a pair of twos (but not any other pair). A sequence of four pairs can be beaten by a higher sequence of four pairs.
  4. A sequence of five pairs (such as 8-8-9-9-10-10-J-J-Q-Q) can beat a set of three twos (but not any other three of a kind). A sequence of five pairs can be beaten by a higher sequence of five pairs.
Note that these exceptions only apply to beating twos, not other cards. For example, if someone plays an ace you cannot beat it with your four of a kind, but if the ace has been beaten by a two, then your four of a kind can be used to beat the two.

End of the Play

The first player to run out of cards wins.