Hanafuda (Koi-Koi)

Rules and how to play

The cards and the deal

A hanafuda deck has 48 cards: 4 cards for each of the 12 months from January to December. The cards of each month show a plant, such as Pine, Plum, or Cherry. There are 4 types of cards: Brights (20-point cards), Animals (10-point cards), Ribbons (5-point cards), and Plains (1-point cards). In Koi-Koi, the points of individual cards are not counted; only the points of the yaku formed by the cards you capture count.^[2][5]

In Koi-Koi, each round is counted as a month, and the standard game lasts 12 months (12 rounds), with players competing for the highest total score. Some people also play 3 or 6 months.^[1][3]

At the start of each month, the dealer (oya, the player who plays first) and the non-dealer (ko) are each dealt a hand of 8 cards, and 8 cards are laid face up on the field. The remaining 24 cards are placed face down as the draw pile. If all 4 cards of one month are on the field, the cards are dealt again.^[1][4]

For the first month, each player turns over 1 card, and the player who turns over the card from the earlier month becomes the dealer (if both cards are from the same month, the player whose card is worth more points). On this page, the dealer for the first month is chosen at random. From month 2 on, whoever won the previous round becomes the dealer.^[1][3][4]

A turn (play, then draw)

Players take turns, starting with the dealer. On your turn, first play 1 card from your hand to the field. If there is a card of the same month on the field, you capture both cards, the one you played and that card, and place them face up in front of you as your captured cards. If there is no card of the same month, the card you played stays on the field.^[1][4]

Next, turn over the top card of the draw pile and, in the same way, capture both cards if there is a card of the same month on the field, or place it on the field if there is not. This ends your turn, and it becomes your opponent’s turn.^[1][4]

If there are 2 cards of the same month on the field, you choose which one to capture. If there are 3, you capture all 4 cards, including the card you played (or drew). By this site’s calculation, the starting field has 3 cards of the same month in about 1 round in 7 (13.6%).^[3][4]

Even if you hold a card that matches a card on the field, you may play a card that does not match and leave it on the field. If the card you play matches a card on the field, you must capture it.^[3]

Koi-koi or stop

At the end of your turn, if your captured cards form a yaku, you choose “Koi-koi” or “Stop” (shobu). If you choose “Stop”, the round ends and you score the points of your yaku. Your opponent scores 0 points, even if they have a yaku.^[1][4]

If you choose “Koi-koi”, the round continues. After that, when you form a new yaku or the points of your yaku go up, you choose “Koi-koi” or “Stop” again. You can call koi-koi any number of times. However, if your opponent forms a yaku and stops after you have called koi-koi, you score 0 points and your opponent’s score is doubled.^[1][3][4]

If you form a yaku (or the points of your yaku go up) on the turn when you play your last card, you have no cards left to continue with, so you stop without choosing.^[4]

Scoring

The player who stops scores the total points of all the yaku they have. If the total is 7 points or more, the score is doubled, and if the opponent has called koi-koi, it is doubled again. If both apply, the score is multiplied by 4.^[1][3][4]

For example, if you stop with Three Brights (5 points) and Red Poetry Ribbons (5 points), the total is 10 points, which is 7 or more, so you score 20 points. If your opponent has called koi-koi, you score 40 points. The unit of points is sometimes called mon.^[4]

Drawn rounds, Four of a Month, and Four Pairs

If both players play all the cards in their hands without anyone stopping, the round is drawn, and neither player scores in that round. A player who called koi-koi also scores 0 for their yaku. On this page, the dealer stays the same after a drawn round.^[3][4]

If the hand you are dealt has all 4 cards of one month (Four of a Month, teshi) or 4 pairs of same-month cards (Four Pairs, kuttsuki), you score 6 points and the round ends. If both players have Four of a Month or Four Pairs, neither player scores.^[1][4]

By this site’s calculation, a player’s hand is Four of a Month about 1 time in 232 (0.43%) and Four Pairs about 1 time in 588 (0.17%). A round in which either hand has Four of a Month or Four Pairs comes about 1 time in 84 (1.19%).

When the number of months you chose (12 by default) is over, the player with the higher total score wins. If the scores are tied, the game is a draw.^[1][3]

Yaku chart and points

A yaku is a set combination of captured cards. The yaku and points on this page are the same as on Nintendo’s rules page. Ways of playing with different points are explained in “House rules and variations”.^[1]

Bright yaku, Flower Viewing, and Moon Viewing

• Five Brights (goko): 10 points. All 5 Bright cards (Pine with crane, Cherry with curtain, Pampas grass with moon, Willow with Ono no Michikaze, and Paulownia with phoenix).
• Four Brights (shiko): 8 points. The 4 Bright cards other than Willow with Ono no Michikaze.
• Rainy Four Brights (ame-shiko): 7 points. Any 4 Bright cards including Willow with Ono no Michikaze.
• Three Brights (sanko): 5 points. Any 3 Bright cards other than Willow with Ono no Michikaze. A set of 3 that includes Willow with Ono no Michikaze is not a yaku.
• Flower Viewing (hanami de ippai): 5 points. Cherry with curtain and Chrysanthemum with sake cup.
• Moon Viewing (tsukimi de ippai): 5 points. Pampas grass with moon and Chrysanthemum with sake cup.

Animal, Ribbon, and Plain yaku

• Boar, Deer and Butterfly (inoshikacho): 5 points. Bush clover with boar, Maple with deer, and Peony with butterflies. Each additional Animal card adds 1 point.
• Red Poetry Ribbons (akatan): 5 points. The 3 Poetry ribbons of Pine, Plum, and Cherry (red ribbons with writing on them). Each additional Ribbon card adds 1 point.
• Blue Ribbons (aotan): 5 points. The 3 Blue ribbons of Peony, Chrysanthemum, and Maple. Each additional Ribbon card adds 1 point.
• Red and Blue Ribbons: 10 points. The 6 cards of Red Poetry Ribbons and Blue Ribbons. Each additional Ribbon card adds 1 point.
• Animals (tane): 1 point. Any 5 Animal cards. Each additional card adds 1 point.
• Ribbons (tan): 1 point. Any 5 Ribbon cards. Each additional card adds 1 point.
• Plains (kasu): 1 point. Any 10 Plain cards. Each additional card adds 1 point. Chrysanthemum with sake cup counts as both an Animal and a Plain.

Overlapping yaku and adding up points

Among the Bright yaku, only the one worth the most points counts. If you have Five Brights, Four Brights and Three Brights are not counted. If you have Boar, Deer and Butterfly, the Animals yaku is not counted, and if you have Red Poetry Ribbons or Blue Ribbons, the Ribbons yaku is not counted. The 1 point for each additional card is added to those yaku instead.^[1][3]

Yaku of different types are added together. For example, with Three Brights, Flower Viewing, and 11 Plain cards, you have 5 + 5 + 2 = 12 points, which is 7 or more, so you score 24 points when you stop. Four of a Month and Four Pairs, the yaku of a dealt hand, are worth 6 points (see “Drawn rounds, Four of a Month, and Four Pairs”).^[1]

All 48 hanafuda cards (months and card types)

There are 4 hanafuda cards for each month, for a total of 5 Bright cards, 9 Animal cards, 10 Ribbon cards, and 24 Plain cards. The cards show the plants of the season for each month from January to December.^[2][5]

• Month 1 (January), Pine: Pine with crane (Bright), Poetry ribbon, and 2 Plains
• Month 2 (February), Plum: Plum with bush warbler (Animal), Poetry ribbon, and 2 Plains
• Month 3 (March), Cherry: Cherry with curtain (Bright), Poetry ribbon, and 2 Plains
• Month 4 (April), Wisteria: Wisteria with cuckoo (Animal), Ribbon, and 2 Plains
• Month 5 (May), Iris (ayame, also given as kakitsubata): Iris with eight-plank bridge (Animal), Ribbon, and 2 Plains
• Month 6 (June), Peony: Peony with butterflies (Animal), Blue ribbon, and 2 Plains
• Month 7 (July), Bush clover: Bush clover with boar (Animal), Ribbon, and 2 Plains
• Month 8 (August), Pampas grass (susuki): Pampas grass with moon (Bright), Pampas grass with geese (Animal), and 2 Plains
• Month 9 (September), Chrysanthemum: Chrysanthemum with sake cup (Animal), Blue ribbon, and 2 Plains
• Month 10 (October), Maple: Maple with deer (Animal), Blue ribbon, and 2 Plains
• Month 11 (November), Willow: Willow with Ono no Michikaze (Bright), Willow with swallow (Animal), Ribbon, and 1 Plain (the lightning card)
• Month 12 (December), Paulownia: Paulownia with phoenix (Bright) and 3 Plains

Of the Ribbon cards, the 3 of Pine, Plum, and Cherry are red ribbons with writing on them (Poetry ribbons), and the 3 of Peony, Chrysanthemum, and Maple are blue ribbons (Blue ribbons). The 4 of Wisteria, Iris, Bush clover, and Willow are red ribbons without writing, which count toward the Ribbons yaku but are not part of Red Poetry Ribbons.^[5]

The writing on the Pine and Plum Poetry ribbons reads “akayoroshi”, and its second character, ka, is written in a kana that differs in shape from today’s hiragana (hentaigana). These cards are also called “anoyoroshi”. The writing on the Cherry Poetry ribbon is “miyoshino”. On the cards on this page, the Pine and Plum Poetry ribbons say “anoyoroshi”.^[5][6]

House rules and variations

The yaku points and other rules of Koi-Koi differ depending on the players and the source. The yaku points and the way they are counted on this page are the same as on Nintendo’s rules page. Only drawn rounds are handled differently: Nintendo’s rules change the dealer, but on this page the dealer stays the same.^[1][4]

Flower Viewing and Moon Viewing: Because they take only 2 cards, Chrysanthemum with sake cup and 1 Bright card, some people do not count them as yaku, and some count them only together with another yaku. Some sources make them worth 3 points. On this page, you can choose “Count as yaku” (the default), “Don’t count”, or “Only with another yaku” under “Flower Viewing and Moon Viewing” in the menu. With “Only with another yaku”, having just Flower Viewing and Moon Viewing together does not count.^[3][4]

Points for the Bright yaku: Some people play with higher points for the Bright yaku, such as 15 points for Five Brights, 10 for Four Brights, 8 for Rainy Four Brights, and 6 for Three Brights. Many sources make Five Brights worth 15 points, and some make Boar, Deer and Butterfly, Red Poetry Ribbons, and Blue Ribbons worth 6 points each.^[3][4]

Counting yaku: On this page, among yaku made from the same type of card, only the highest one counts, and the points for additional cards are added to that yaku. In the older way of counting, Boar, Deer and Butterfly and the Animals yaku are both counted as separate yaku, as are Red Poetry Ribbons and the Ribbons yaku, and additional cards add no points to Boar, Deer and Butterfly, Red Poetry Ribbons, or Blue Ribbons.^[3][4]

Doubling at 7 points or more: The rule that doubles the score at 7 points or more is said to have started as a rule among some players and then spread, and some people play without it. On this page, if you turn off “Double the score at 7 points or more” in the menu, the score is not doubled.^[3]

Doubling for koi-koi: On this page, if your opponent has called koi-koi, your score is doubled, no matter how many times they called it. Some people raise the multiplier with each koi-koi, to 2, 4, and then 8 times (koi-bai), and some double the score of a player who has called koi-koi themselves.^[3][4]

Drawn rounds: On this page, no one scores and the dealer stays the same. Some people change the dealer, some give the win to the dealer (oya-ken, “dealer’s privilege”), and some give the win to the non-dealer (tsukazu).^[1][3][4]

Chrysanthemum with sake cup: On this page, it counts as both an Animal and a Plain. Some people count it as either an Animal or a Plain but not both, and some count it only as an Animal.^[3][4]

Number of months: The standard game is 12 months. On this page, you can also choose 3 or 6 months under “Number of months” in the menu.^[3]

Other rules: Some people call the 6 Poetry ribbons and Blue ribbons “bukku” and score them, for example, 12 points, and some make Cherry with curtain, Pampas grass with moon, and Chrysanthemum with sake cup a yaku called “nomi”. These are not included on this page.^[4]

Controls on this page

First, in the panel to the right of the 3D view (below it on narrow screens), choose the “Number of months” (3, 6, or 12), how “Flower Viewing and Moon Viewing” count, and whether to “Double the score at 7 points or more”, then choose how to play. With “Easy”, “Medium”, or “Hard” under “Play vs computer”, you are Red, and the computer plays Blue. With “2 players on this device”, 2 players take turns on one device. A handoff screen appears every time the turn changes, and when the next player presses the button with their color, such as “Start Red’s turn”, only that player’s hand becomes visible.

Press “Play a friend (send a link)” to create a room, and a link is shown. Send it to your opponent with “Copy link” (or “Share” on devices that support it). When your opponent opens the link and presses “Join”, the game starts with the host as Red and the player who joined as Blue. If your opponent’s connection has been lost for 2 minutes during a game, you can press “New game vs computer (ends this game)”. A room is deleted 30 minutes after everyone has disconnected, or 24 hours after it was created.

Your hand is lined up at the near side of the table, and your opponent’s hand is lined up face down at the far side. The field cards are laid out in 2 rows in the middle of the table, with the draw pile to their left. Captured cards are lined up between the field and the hand, sorted into 4 groups: Brights, Animals, Ribbons, and Plains (your opponent’s are on the far side). Each name tag shows the seat name, a dealer mark, and the total score, and “Koi-koi” is shown for a player who has called koi-koi.

On your turn, pressing a card in your hand lifts it, and the cards of the same month on the field light up. Press the same card again, or press a lit card on the field, to play it. If 2 cards on the field match, press the lit card you want to capture. If 2 cards on the field match the card you drew from the draw pile, the drawn card is placed face up on top of the draw pile. Press a lit card on the field to choose which one to capture.

The 3D view shows which month the game is in, and the “Koi-koi” and “Stop” buttons when you form a yaku. When the next month starts, the 3D view shows the winner, the points, and the yaku of the previous month, along with its last turn (press to close, or it closes after a few seconds). When the last month ends, its result is shown at the top of the “Button controls” panel. “Previous turn” in this panel shows which player played, captured, and drew which cards on the previous turn. The panel also shows the field cards, and each player’s number of captured cards and current yaku.

You can also play cards from your hand in the “Button controls” panel, with buttons such as “Play Month 3: Cherry Plain”. Under each button, the matching field cards are shown. If 2 field cards match, there is a separate button for each card you can capture (when it makes no difference which one you capture, such as 2 Plain cards of the same month, there is only one button). With a keyboard, move between buttons with the Tab key and press with Enter or the spacebar. Even on devices where the 3D view is not available, you can play with these buttons alone.

The top left corner of each card shows the month number and a type mark (a star for Brights, a circle for Animals, a long thin rectangle for Ribbons, and a small diamond for Plains). You can hide them by turning off “Show month and type marks on the cards” in the menu (this setting is saved in this device’s browser). Drag to rotate the view slightly. Switch views with “Angled” and “Top-down” at the top right of the 3D view. “Undo move” is not available, so you cannot see the drawn card and then play a different card.

The computer has 3 levels. On Easy, it chooses plays that capture more cards and sometimes plays a card at random. When it forms a yaku, it always stops. On Medium, it chooses plays that bring it closer to a yaku and avoids leaving cards on the field that its opponent needs for a yaku. It calls koi-koi only when it still has many cards in hand and its opponent is far from a yaku.

On Hard, it fills in the order of the cards it cannot see (its opponent’s hand and the draw pile) in many different ways and plays each one out to the end of the round. It then estimates its chance of winning the game in the end from the difference in total scores after the round and the number of months left, and chooses the play with the best chance. When 5 or fewer months are left after the round, it calls koi-koi only when the same conditions as on Medium are met and comparing the played-out results shows that koi-koi is no worse than stopping. In the last month, it always stops if stopping puts it ahead on total score, and calls koi-koi if it would still be behind after stopping. At every level, the computer decides its plays without using the contents of its opponent’s hand or the draw pile.

Strategy tips

• Check your opponent’s captured cards before calling koi-koi: If you call koi-koi when your opponent’s captured cards are close to a yaku (for example, 2 Bright cards, 2 of the 3 Boar, Deer and Butterfly cards, or 2 of the 3 Poetry ribbons), your opponent may form a yaku first and stop, leaving you with 0 points and doubling their score. Calling koi-koi works in your favor when you still have many cards in hand and your opponent is far from a yaku.
• Capture Chrysanthemum with sake cup first: Chrysanthemum with sake cup can be used in 4 yaku (Flower Viewing, Moon Viewing, Animals, and Plains). When it appears on the field, capturing it before other cards brings you closer to a yaku and also blocks your opponent’s yaku.
• Do not put cards of the months your opponent needs on the field: When you have no match and must place a card on the field, play a card of a month that has nothing to do with your opponent’s captured cards. For example, if your opponent has captured Bush clover with boar and Maple with deer and you place a Peony card on the field, an opponent holding Peony with butterflies can capture it with that card and complete Boar, Deer and Butterfly.
• After your opponent calls koi-koi, stop even with a small yaku: If you stop while your opponent is in koi-koi, your score is doubled and your opponent scores 0. Even 1 point from Ribbons or Plains becomes 2 points.
• Capture Bright cards on the field early: By this site’s calculation, at least 1 Bright card is on the starting field in about 60% of rounds (61.6%). Bright yaku are worth a lot of points, so if you hold a card of the same month as a Bright card on the field, capturing it early also blocks your opponent’s Bright yaku.
• Keep in mind that some cards never appear: Of the 24 cards in the draw pile, 16 are turned over and 8 never appear. Right after the deal, 32 cards are hidden from you (your opponent’s 8 cards and the 24 in the draw pile), and 8 of them never appear, so a card you are waiting for fails to appear 1 time in 4. The later it is in the round, the higher the chance that a card you have not seen yet will not appear.

Games for 3 players (Hana-Awase and Hachi-Hachi)

Koi-Koi is a game for 2 players, and this page is also for 2 players. Hanafuda games for 3 players include Hana-Awase and Hachi-Hachi. More than 100 hanafuda games are known in all.^[2][5]

In Hana-Awase, players compete on the total of the points of the cards they collect (20 for a Bright, 10 for an Animal, 5 for a Ribbon, and 1 for a Plain) plus the points of their yaku. Hachi-Hachi, like Koi-Koi, is about forming yaku quickly, with more rules added, and is dealt with 7 cards in each hand and 6 on the field.^[2][5]

Differences from Korean hwatu (Go-Stop and Matgo)

In Korea, hanafuda is called hwatu (화투), and Go-Stop (고스톱), a game for 3 players, is widely played. Go-Stop for 2 players is called Matgo (맞고). Go-Stop is also a game where you match cards of the same month to capture them, and once you have points, you choose “go” to keep going or “stop” to end.^[4][5][7]

Korean cards count Paulownia as month 11 and Willow (rain) as month 12, the reverse of the Japanese order. Bright cards have a red circle mark containing the character 光 (“bright”), and the Poetry ribbons and Blue ribbons are labeled 홍단 (hongdan, “red ribbon”) and 청단 (cheongdan, “blue ribbon”) in Hangul.^[5][6]

Scoring: In Go-Stop, Bright cards score 3 points for 3 cards, 4 points for 4, and 15 points for 5 (3 cards including the Willow Bright score 2). Besides the Poetry ribbons and the Blue ribbons, the 3 Ribbons of Wisteria, Iris, and Bush clover also form a 3-point combination, and the 3 bird cards of Plum, Wisteria, and Pampas grass form a 5-point combination (godori, 고도리).^[7]

Go and stop: Once you reach 3 points in Go-Stop, or 7 points in Matgo, you can choose “go” or “stop”. Each time you choose “go”, 1 point is added to your score.^[7]

Other rules: Go-Stop is dealt with 7 cards in each hand and 6 on the field, and Matgo with 10 cards in each hand and 8 on the field. There are rules for taking cards equivalent to Plains (pi, 피) from your opponent, such as when you take all the cards on the field, and rules that double the score depending on the losing player’s captured cards, and bonus cards are sometimes added to the 48 cards.^[7]

Koi-Koi on this page is played with Japanese cards and rules. Go-Stop and Matgo are not available on this page.

Origin and history of hanafuda

In the late 16th century, the Portuguese brought playing cards to Japan. Their deck had 48 cards, 12 in each of 4 suits, and the 48 cards of hanafuda are thought to reflect the influence of this deck. In the Tensho era (1573–1592), Tensho karuta, cards modeled on the Portuguese deck, began to be made in Japan.^[5][6]

In the Edo period (1603–1868), gambling with cards was banned again and again, and each time, cards with new designs were made. After Tensho karuta and the Unsun karuta of the early Edo period, today’s hanafuda, showing the plants of the 12 months, is said to have taken shape in the mid-Edo period.^[2][6]

In the Meiji era (1868–1912), the Criminal Code that took effect in 1882 no longer included a ban on buying and selling hanafuda. In 1886, the publisher Kihei Maeda is said to have approached manufacturers in Kyoto and Osaka and replaced the figure on the Willow Bright, which had been seen as the bandit Ono Sadakuro from a play, with the calligrapher Ono no Michikaze. In 1889, Nintendo was founded in Kyoto to make and sell hanafuda.^[5][6]

Koi-Koi is a relatively recent hanafuda game, and one book says it began to be popular in Tokyo around 1925. Another book says it originated in the Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture. It became widely known from around 1950, and the first book explaining its rules was published in 1958. Today it is one of the main ways to play hanafuda.^[4]

Hanafuda is said to have reached the Korean Peninsula around the end of the 19th century, and in Korea, where it is called hwatu, it is still widely played. It also spread to Hawaii with immigrants from Japan.^[5][6]

Sources

1. Nintendo, “こいこい” [Koi-Koi] (Hanafuda and Kabufuda: History and How to Play; in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)
2. Nintendo, “歴史・遊びかた” [History and how to play] (Hanafuda and Kabufuda; in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)
3. Fuda Wiki, “Koi-Koi” (opens in a new tab)
4. Wikipedia (Japanese), “こいこい” [Koi-Koi] (opens in a new tab)
5. Wikipedia (Japanese), “花札” [Hanafuda] (opens in a new tab)
6. Wikipedia (English), “Hanafuda” (opens in a new tab)
7. Wikipedia (Korean), “고스톱” [Go-Stop] (opens in a new tab)

Frequently asked questions

Why are Flower Viewing and Moon Viewing said to be too strong?

They’re worth 5 points with just 2 cards, Chrysanthemum with sake cup and 1 Bright card, so they tend to form earlier than other yaku. Chrysanthemum with sake cup also counts as an Animal and a Plain, so that one card can be used in 4 yaku. For this reason, some people don’t count them as yaku, and some count them only together with another yaku. On this page, you can choose “Count as yaku”, “Don’t count”, or “Only with another yaku” under “Flower Viewing and Moon Viewing” in the menu.

What does doubling at 7 points or more mean?

It’s a rule that doubles your score if the total points of your yaku are 7 or more when you stop. If your opponent has called koi-koi, it’s doubled again, for 4 times in total. For example, if you stop with Boar, Deer and Butterfly (5 points) and Red Poetry Ribbons (5 points) after your opponent calls koi-koi, you score 4 times 10, or 40 points. On this page, if you turn off “Double the score at 7 points or more” in the menu, you can play without this doubling.

Does the dealer have an advantage?

The dealer plays first, so they can capture cards from the starting field first. With a rule that gives the dealer the win in a drawn round (oya-ken), the dealer has an even bigger advantage. This page doesn’t use oya-ken: in a drawn round, no one scores and the dealer stays the same. From month 2 on, whoever won the previous round becomes the dealer.

What month is the Ono no Michikaze card (the rain card)?

It’s month 11 (November). The plant for month 11 is Willow, and Willow with Ono no Michikaze is a Bright card. The other cards of month 11 are Willow with swallow (Animal), the Willow Ribbon, and a Plain with lightning. In Korean hanafuda (hwatu), Willow is month 12 and Paulownia is month 11.

What does the “anoyoroshi” on the Poetry ribbons mean?

It’s the writing on the Pine and Plum Poetry ribbons. Sources read it as “akayoroshi”, with the second character, ka, written in a kana that differs in shape from today’s hiragana (hentaigana). One explanation says it means “clearly good”. The writing on the Cherry Poetry ribbon is “miyoshino”, which refers to Yoshino, a famous place for cherry blossoms.

How many players can play hanafuda?

Koi-Koi is for 2 players. This page is also for 2 players: you can play the computer or send a friend a link to play. For 3 players, there are games such as Hana-Awase and Hachi-Hachi, and more than 100 hanafuda games are known in all.

What are the chances of being dealt Four of a Month or Four Pairs?

By this site’s calculation, a player’s hand is Four of a Month about 1 time in 232 (0.43%) and Four Pairs about 1 time in 588 (0.17%). Either hand has Four of a Month or Four Pairs in about 1 round in 84 (1.19%), and in a 12-month game, the chance that Four of a Month or Four Pairs is dealt in some month is about 13%. A redeal because all 4 cards of one month are on the field also happens about 1 time in 232 (0.43%).

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