A Card Game Called Michigan

You can call it Boodle, Stops, Newmarket, or Michigan.  Whatever you call it you're talking about a stops card game which can be fun for an evening spent with friends.  You will need some chips in order to play the game, however there is no need to actually place any bets.  The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards first, and to have an excellent social time with people that you love.

You will need a standard 52 card deck in order to play Michigan, with the Aces being the high card. You will also need a couple extra cards to fill in for your stakes cards, these being the Ace of Hearts, the King of Clubs, the Queen of Diamonds, and The Jack of Spades.  These cards are referred to as the boodle cards, which is why the game is also known by that name.  The dealer places two chips on each boodle card and all the other players place one chip on each card.  Each player gets a hand dealt to him or her and a spare hand is also dealt.  This might remind people of the Hand 'n Foot game, with the difference being that every player in Hand 'n Foot is dealt a second hand.

To make a play in Michigan, you place a card on the table facing up.  The person to the left of the dealer begins the game by playing any suit he or she likes, as long as the lowest valued card is played.  The next player is determined by whoever is holding the next highest card of that same suit, who is obligated to play it, and then the next player is the one who can play the card after that.  When play has reached a stopping point because there are no higher cards to be played, it is called a stop card.  The player that played the stop card then begins play again with any suit of his or her choice.  The first player to play all the cards in the hand wins the round.  If you happen to play a matching card for one of the boodle cards, you win those chips.  All players who have cards left in their hands at the end of the round must pay in a chip for each card they have left.  The winner gets these spoils as well.  However, if you don't have any chips around or aren't interested in that aspect of the game, they are easily left out to create a simple stop card game for people of all ages.