How to play

Objective

Get rid of your cards by forming melds, or finish with the fewest points.

Your turn

Draw a card (or take the discard if it makes a meld), expose melds or sapaw if you like, then discard one card.

Melds

A set is 3–4 of the same rank. A run is 3+ in a row of the same suit.

Sapaw

Add your cards to any meld on the table — even an opponent's.

Winning

Tongits: empty your hand. Or call Draw / wait for the pile to run out and have the lowest points.

Common mistakes

Taking the discard without a meld for it, forgetting to discard, and never exposing a meld (you become sunog).

Ask Kuya Coach

Ruleset: Classic

Tong-its rules vary between groups. This is not an official standard. Verified = commonly documented and tested here; proposed = our default, awaiting confirmation; unresolved = not decided yet.

Deck and players
verified
One 52-card deck, no jokers, three players.
Commonly documented
Dealing
verified
The dealer gets 13 cards, the other two get 12. The rest is the draw pile (15 cards).
Commonly documented
Dealer goes first
verified
The dealer starts without drawing and must discard (or meld, then discard).
Commonly documented
Start of turn
verified
Draw one card from the draw pile, or take the top discard.
Commonly documented
Taking the discard
proposed
You may only take the top discard if you immediately expose it in a meld with cards from your hand.
Common house rule; awaiting owner confirmation
End of turn
verified
Every turn ends by discarding exactly one card.
Commonly documented
Sets
verified
3 or 4 cards of the same rank.
Commonly documented
Runs
proposed
3 or more consecutive cards of the same suit. Ace is low only (A-2-3 is valid, Q-K-A is not).
Ace-low is common; some groups differ
Sapaw
verified
Add cards from your hand to any exposed meld (yours or an opponent's) if it stays a valid meld.
Commonly documented
Opening requirement
verified
No minimum opening meld is required — any valid meld can be exposed at any time.
Owner-confirmed house rule
Tongits
verified
Empty your hand (by melding, sapaw, or the final discard) to win immediately.
Commonly documented
Calling Draw
verified
At the start of your turn (before drawing) you may call Draw if you have an exposed meld and nobody did sapaw on your melds since your last turn. The other players then fight or fold.
Owner-confirmed house rule
Fight or fold
verified
After a Draw call, each other player with a meld down chooses Fight or Fold; players with no meld down fold automatically. Lowest points among the caller and the fighters wins, and the caller wins ties. Folders simply lose. Scoring is unchanged: the winner gains the losers' points.
Owner-confirmed house rule
Next dealer
proposed
The winner of a hand deals the next one.
Common practice; awaiting owner confirmation
Everyone burned
unresolved
If nobody exposed a meld when the hand ends, the caller (or else the dealer) is recorded as winner.
Placeholder; awaiting owner answer
Draw pile runs out
proposed
When the draw pile is empty after a discard, the hand ends. Lowest points wins among players who exposed a meld.
Common rule; awaiting owner confirmation
Card values
verified
Ace = 1, 2–10 = face value, J/Q/K = 10. Only cards left in hand count.
Commonly documented
Sunog (burned)
proposed
A player with no exposed meld when the hand ends by Draw or empty pile is 'sunog' and cannot win.
Meaning varies; awaiting owner confirmation
Payouts
verified
Configurable stake per point (chosen when the game starts). Every loser pays the winner their remaining points x stake; a Tong-its win pays double. Shown for fun only — no real money moves.
Owner-confirmed house rule
Tong-its bonus
verified
A Tong-its win scores double (2x) the losers' remaining hand points.
Owner-confirmed house rule
Final discard restriction
verified
To go out, your last card must be discarded — you cannot end the hand on a meld or sapaw.
Owner-confirmed house rule

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Table theme

Holy Week uses Classic, out of respect.