How to Play Kitti

Kitti (किट्टी), also called 9 Patti, is played by two to five players with one deck. Each player arranges nine cards into three hands of three, and the hands are compared one at a time.

Hand rankings

From highest to lowest:

1. Trial: three of a kind, such as three 7s.
2. Pure run: three in a row in one suit, such as 8♥ 9♥ 10♥.
3. Run: three in a row in mixed suits.
4. Flush: three cards of one suit.
5. Pair: two cards of the same rank.
6. High card: anything else.

Playing a round

Each player gets nine cards and sorts them into three hands. Everyone shows their first hand together and the best one wins it; then the second, then the third.

• Win: a player who wins two of the three hands wins the round.
• Salami (सलामी): winning all three hands, which is worth double.
• Kitti: nobody wins two hands. The round is redealt, and what it was worth carries over to the next one.

Scoring

Agree a stake. The winner of a round collects it from every other player, double for a salami. After a kitti, the next round is worth one more stake for each kitti before it.

For example, with three players and a stake of 1: round 1 is a kitti, so round 2 is worth 2. Bikash wins round 2 with a salami, double again: Asha and Chandra each pay 4, and Bikash collects 8. House rules vary, so agree before you deal.

Let the app do the sums

The Kitti score keeper is free and works on any phone. Set the stake, then each round tap the winner, mark a salami, or record a kitti: it keeps the totals and the carried stake, in English or Nepali, and works offline.