JL4 Cards: How to Play Pusoy Dos From Deal to Win

Learning how to play Pusoy Dos takes one full round: 13 cards each, the 3 of clubs leads, and the first player to run out of cards wins. It is one of the best-loved Filipino card games for four players because the rules are short and every hand feels different. The six steps below take you from the deal to the final card.

How to play Pusoy Dos in six steps

1. Deal 13 cards to each of four players. Use a standard 52-card deck without jokers. Every card goes out, so nobody is left with a stock pile.
2. Learn the rank and suit order. Ranks run 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2, with the 2 highest. Suits run clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds from lowest to highest.
3. Lead with the 3 of clubs. Whoever holds it plays first, and the 3 of clubs must be part of that opening play.
4. Beat each play with the same kind of hand. A single answers a single, a pair answers a pair, a triple answers a triple and a five-card hand answers a five-card hand.
5. Pass, or lead again when the table clears. If nobody beats a play, the player who made it leads whatever they choose next.
6. Empty your hand first. The first player to play all 13 cards wins the round.

The rank and suit order

The suit order only breaks ties between cards of equal rank, so a 7 of diamonds beats a 7 of clubs. Rank always comes first, then suit.

Read the ranks and the suits as two separate ladders. The highest single card in the deck is the 2 of diamonds, and the lowest is the 3 of clubs.

Valid combinations

A play is one, two, three or five cards. Four-card plays do not exist on their own.

1. Single. One card, beaten by a higher single.
2. Pair. Two cards of the same rank, beaten by a higher pair. The pair is ranked by its higher suit.
3. Triple. Three cards of the same rank, beaten by a higher triple.
4. Five-card hand. A straight, a flush, a full house, four of a kind plus one card, or a straight flush, ranked from lowest to highest in that order.

The five-card hands, lowest to highest

A five-card play beats another five-card play only when it is a higher type, or the same type with higher cards.

What to do when you cannot beat a play

A short worked round

1. Player A holds the 3 of clubs and opens with a pair of 3s.
2. Player B beats it with a pair of 8s.
3. Players C and D pass, and Player A passes too.
4. Player B leads a single king. Player C plays the 2 of spades.
5. Nobody beats a 2 of spades but the 2 of diamonds, so the lead stays with Player C.

Compare how other games count their cards in our Lucky 9 rules and on the blackjack card values and totals page.

Playing it in the JL4 lobby

1. Open the Cards tab in the JL4 lobby’s left menu.
2. Search the Cards tab by the game’s name, Pusoy Dos.
3. Open the game’s info screen and read the exact rules and limits for that version.
4. Set your budget before the first deal.

You must be 21 or older to play.