How to Play Kemps

Objective

Get four of a kind into one player’s hand, then get that player’s partner to call it. Your team works together: one of you collects the cards, the other watches for the signal. At the same time, keep an eye on the other team. If you catch an opponent holding four of a kind before their partner calls it, you can stop them.

Setup

Split into teams of two. Before anyone sits down, each team goes somewhere private and agrees on a secret signal: a wink, a tug of the ear, tapping the table, a particular way of holding the cards. Partners then sit across from each other.

The dealer shuffles and deals four cards face down to each player, then deals four cards face up in a row in the middle of the table. The dealer keeps the rest of the deck face down as the stock.

How to play

When the dealer says go, everyone plays at once. There are no turns. To trade, put a card from your hand face up in the middle and pick up one of the center cards. You must always hold exactly four. Most tables trade one card at a time; some allow several at once, as long as you put down as many as you pick up.

When nobody wants any of the center cards, the dealer sweeps them aside and deals four fresh cards from the stock. Trading starts again right away.

As soon as you have four of a kind, give your partner the signal without the other team seeing it. When your partner spots it, they call “Kemps!” and you show your hand.

If you think an opponent is holding four of a kind, call “Stop Kemps!” and point at them. They must show their hand. Any call ends the deal. If the stock runs out with no call, the deal ends with no score and the cards are shuffled for a new deal.

1. 1Trade cards with the center, no turns
2. 2The dealer refreshes the center when nobody wants it
3. 3Four of a kind? Signal your partner
4. 4Your partner calls “Kemps!” and you show your hand
5. 5Catch an opponent? Call “Stop Kemps!” on them

Scoring

Kemps is usually scored with penalty letters. Each time a team takes a letter, write down the next letter of the word: K, then E, then M, then P, then S.

The first team to spell the whole word K-E-M-P-S loses. With three teams, play until one team spells it; the team with the fewest letters wins.

Variations

Points instead of letters: a right call earns your team a point and a wrong call costs a point. The first team to an agreed score, such as 4 or 5, wins.

Cash: the same game under another name. Teams call “Cash!” and “Counter Cash!”, and the penalty word is C-A-S-H, which makes for a shorter game.

Big groups: with eight or more players, shuffle two decks together so there are enough cards to keep the center moving.

Peanut Butter: a version that allows spoken code words as signals, with the calls “Peanut Butter!” and “Jelly!”

Tips from the table

Pick a signal you can repeat without looking strange. Something you might do anyway, like resting your chin on your hand, is harder to spot than a wink.

Watch faces, not cards. Your partner’s signal is the only card that matters to you once you know they are collecting.

If an opponent suddenly stops trading, they may be sitting on four of a kind and waiting for their partner. That is a good moment to think about calling “Stop Kemps!”

Send a few fake signals early in the game. Once the other team has seen you scratch your ear a dozen times, they will stop trusting it.

Frequently asked