Playing The Gauntlet Card Drinking Game

By Author: Cary DeCesaro
Total Articles: 10
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Wherever you may find yourself in the world, from your local pub to a beach bar to somewhere idyllic, there is always the possibility to entertain yourself and your friends with a drinking game. We all know that alcohol can add some level of fun and unpredictability to any activity, and drinking games simply take this fact to another level! The gauntlet is one of the more well known drinking games, and is one which is enjoyed in pubs, student houses and drinking societies around the world. The gauntlet is a simple and fun drinking game to be played with cards between 3 to 6 people, seated around a table. Here are some tips and advice for playing the gauntlet.The first vital part of the game is to appoint a member of your group as the dealer. The dealer can be included in the game, or not - the choice is ultimately their own. For the first round of the gauntlet, the dealer must ask that the players choose either black, or red. The player who correctly answers the first question relating to the colour of the cards can then pass two glasses of beer, whilst his fellow players who answer incorrectly are required to drink the two ...
... beers.Following this, the dealer must then deal a single card to all the gathered players. He must then ask each player in turn to guess whether the following card is higher, or lower (in the "play your cards right" fashion). A correct answer allows the player to pass on four drinks, and an incorrect answer results in the player drinking those four beers. The next round sees the dealer dealing two cards to each player, and asking whether the cards are "outside", or "between". The game is taken up a level at this point - a correct answer is worth six glasses of beer being passed whereas an incorrect answer means the player must drink the six beers!Before the gauntlet stage of the game commences, the last round requires each player to choose a suit from the deck of cards. This round has eight drinks at stake, and the losers are required to quickly down all eight beers! The players must at this point decide who gets to "run the gauntlet", and this is decided by all the players setting down all their cards in front of them.Across the table, two sets of five cards are laid out, and the dealer selects the right hand set, and leaves behind the cards to the left. Following this, each player must begin with the bottom cards are go up alternating their turns between giving and taking. If the player takes a card on the "give" side, they must give another player their card, and then drink between one and five beers (depending on which row the card is on). The person who holds the most cards at the end of this round will be sent to run the gauntlet.Now, for the gauntlet twelve cards are placed at the bottom, face down. An ace is selected and placed at the top of the deck, face up. This ace is worth four cards, and four drinks. The King is worth three cards and three drinks; the Queen is worth two, and the Jack worth one. All of the other cards in the deck are of no use to the player. In the gauntlet, a player only gets to leave the game once all the cards are dealt with. However, if there is more beer left at the end of the gauntlet, the gauntlet must be run again until all the cards are dealt, and all the beer is drunk. Good luck playing beer pong!