About Tonk (Tunk) Rules
Free printable Tonk (Tunk) rules — 5-card deal, the instant 49/50 Tonk, spreads, hits, the drop mechanic, scoring to 100, and the Bicycle 7-card variant.
How to use
- Choose your print style. Full color renders the example cards with red hearts and diamonds against a clean white card face — great as a reference poster for game night. Ink-saver switches to all-black suits for an economical class set or home printer.
- Choose whether to show card diagrams. Diagrams on (the default) includes example spreads (a set and a run) and a hitting example with example playing cards. Switch to text only for the most compact, fewest-pages version.
- Read the preview to confirm it is what you want — the rules flow from the objective and setup, through the five-step turn (drop, draw, lay down, hit, discard), the three ways a hand can end, the scoring table, and the common variants (Bicycle 7-card deuces-wild, low-hand Double Tonk, wild jokers).
- Click Print Rules to send it to your printer or save it as a PDF. The full illustrated guide prints cleanly across a few standard letter or A4 pages; choose Text only for the shortest possible reference card.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards are dealt in Tonk?
In the classic Pagat version of Tonk, each player is dealt 5 cards, one at a time, clockwise. The next card is turned face up to start the discard pile, and the remaining cards form the face-down stock. The Bicycle 7-card variant deals 7 cards each instead and supports up to 5+ players.
What is an instant Tonk?
If your initial 5-card hand totals exactly 49 or 50 points, you must declare "Tonk!" before any play begins, reveal the hand, and collect double the basic stake from every opponent. The hand ends immediately. If two or more players tonk simultaneously, it is a wash with no payment (Pagat).
What is a drop (or knock) in Tonk?
At the very start of your turn — before drawing — you may lay your entire hand face up and declare a drop. Every player reveals; if your count is strictly the lowest, you win the basic stake from each opponent. If anyone ties or beats you, you are caught and pay double the stake to each opponent with an equal or lower count.
What counts as a spread?
A set is 3 or 4 cards of the same rank (e.g., 7-7-7). A run is 3 or more consecutive cards of the same suit (e.g., 4-5-6 of hearts). In classic Tonk, Aces are LOW only: A-2-3 is legal, Q-K-A is not. After drawing, you may also hit cards onto any spread on the table — your own or an opponent's — and those cards no longer count against your hand.
How do you win at Tonk?
A hand ends three ways: (1) Instant Tonk — dealt 49 or 50 points, win double the stake; (2) Tonking out — empty your hand by spreads and hits with no final discard, win double the stake; (3) Going out by discarding your last card or successfully dropping with the lowest count, win the basic stake. A match is played to 100 points; reaching 100 eliminates that player and the last player standing wins (Bicycle).
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