Mao: Index of Links

Here are some other Mao pages:

• Jeremy Bailin is one person who also plays the Waterloo variant.
• The Most Unofficial Mao Home Page
• Card Game Home Page
• Juliette White's Mao Page

How to Start Your Own Game of Mao

• This sample second game illustrates what happens when the winner of the previous round puts in a new secret rule.
• This excerpt shows some of the rules governing points of order within a game. It may be confusing at first, but read through it carefully with the rigid logic of a computer program, and you will find that everything makes sense.
• This link points to a page I am writing that gives the most important information about how to start your own game. (It's not finished yet, but it's enough to get you started.)

Other Versions of Mao

Since I posted the sample game on my site, some people have written to me showing other variants, which I have posted. Please let me know if you have heard of any interesting variations.

• Jeremy Black gives a sample game of his version of "commandment" Mao from Ventura, California (USA).
• Joseph Heidenreich (heidenrj@brookings.net) gives a sample game of this Florida variant which has " 7 levels to Mao, such that when the players pass the first level, the rules change entirely and a new game begins."
• Graeme Jahns gives a sampling of his version of Mao.
• Graeme Jefferis gives this version of Unofficial Non-standard Cambridge Five-card Mao, which is actually, as far as I know, the earliest version that I have encountered, from which other versions (including the one I was first taught) derived.
• Jeff Keeling gives a sample game of this Oklahoma variant.
• Dave Klausmeier offers these rules used by his fellow players in Indiana.
• Lydia Laurenson gives a two-for-one deal with a sample game of Kurt's Wesley Willis Mao as well as the Hamilton College, NY version of Mao.
• Paul Mastriano and Mike Hoteck call the game "Mau." Paul writes saying, "My friends and I have created a version that is more strategy based than luck based, and we have even created a ranking system based on how many wins one has earned while playing against a superior... We call it Mau for Masters around here.... but people who have seen other versions like to call it quick or fast Mau... because of the few amount of turns it takes to win..."
  You might want to contact him if interested.
• Kristy Overton describes the "Internet variant" which she first learned to play over the Internet.