What are the rules of go fish

Rules of Go Fish:

Objective: To collect the most sets of four cards of the same rank.

Players: 2 or more (best with 4-6 players)

Deck: Standard deck of 52 cards

Setup:

• Shuffle the deck and deal 5 cards to each player.
• The remaining deck is placed face down in the center of the table to form the "ocean."
• Players keep their cards hidden from each other.

Gameplay:

1. Player 1's turn:

   • Player 1 starts by choosing a rank of card from their hand.
   • They hold this rank in their head or announce it aloud.

2. Player 1 asks another player:

   • Player 1 asks a specific player, "Do you have any [rank]?" for example, "Do you have any Queens?"

3. Player 2's response:

   • If Player 2 has any cards of the named rank, they must give all of them to Player 1.
   • If Player 2 does not have any cards of the named rank, they say "Go fish!"

4. Player 1's options:

   • If Player 1 received any cards, they can immediately ask for another rank.
   • If Player 1 received no cards (they "went fish"), they draw a card from the ocean.

5. Set collection:

   • When Player 1 collects all four cards of a rank, they "book" the set and place it face up on the table.

6. Turn continues:

   • If Player 1 booked a set, their turn continues.
   • If Player 1 did not book a set, the turn passes to Player 2.

Booking a set:

• When a player collects four cards of the same rank, they must immediately announce "Book" and place the set face up on the table.
• A set cannot be broken up after it has been booked.

Ending the game:

• The game ends when all the sets have been booked.
• The player with the most booked sets wins.

Variations:

• Slapjack: When a player draws a card that matches the rank they asked for, they can quickly slap the ocean pile. The first player to slap gets all the cards in the pile.
• Pairs: Instead of collecting sets of four, players collect pairs of cards.
• Multiple oceans: Use two or more ocean piles to increase the number of cards available.