Post and Pair
A 16th-17th century English vying game (also called 'Pink'), referenced by Shakespeare, built around three-of-a-kind combinations and considered a direct ancestor of Brag.
Coming soon — not yet playable
Rules
Post and Pair (also historically called "Pink") is a three-card vying game documented from the 16th and 17th centuries — it's referenced by name in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, indicating it was well known enough in Elizabethan England to use as a casual reference.
Players are dealt three cards and bet in rounds on hand strength without a draw, built around "prial" combinations (three of a kind, "pair royal") as the strongest possible hands, with pairs and high cards forming a hierarchy below that.
Historical note: card-game historians including David Parlett and John McLeod (of pagat.com) consider Post and Pair a direct ancestor of, or close relative to, modern Brag — Three Card Brag (also in this library) inherited its three-card structure and prial-based hand rankings from games in this lineage.
Strategy notes: Because there's no draw and the entire game rests on your original three cards plus how you bet them, Post and Pair rewards the same "represent a hand you may not have" bluffing skill that its descendant Brag is known for today.
Common house rules
Compare directly to Three Card Brag
If your table already knows Three Card Brag (also in this library), Post and Pair will feel almost identical — treat it as Brag's direct historical ancestor rather than a wholly separate ruleset to relearn.
'Pair royal' is the top hand
Standard rule: three of a kind ('pair royal' or 'prial') is the best possible hand, the same convention that carried forward into Brag and, later, poker's own three-of-a-kind ranking.
Educational round, not for real stakes
As with other pre-1700s games in this library, treat this as a look at poker's English-language ancestry rather than a game to bet seriously on.
Related games
Based on shared category, origin, and rules that reference each other.
Three Card Brag
A classic English pub and home gambling game, and the ancestor of poker's bluffing tradition: three cards each, with a unique 'blind' betting option for the brave.
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Also called Lanterloo — England's most popular card game by the early 18th century, where players may fold for free or commit to winning a trick or pay a forfeit into the pool.
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