The object of the game is to initially "meld" (play cards to the table), then create a set of "books" (sets of seven cards of identical rank), then play all remaining cards in the hand. These different phases of the game lead to a varied and interesting gameplay, with strategy that changes with the phase. The name comes from the fact that one of the required books must be made up entirely of sevens, which can be very difficult to obtain (thus, the one thing often holding a team back are those infernal sevens).
This introduction to Sevens from Hell will describe how the game is played through its different phases, from dealing until a player plays their last card. First, however, some initial guidelines and point values are required. The sheer number of rules for the game may appear daunting, but the game becomes very intuitive after a couple of hands. The game requires a fairly large table on which to play, so a typical card table may not be enough. A square table approximately a meter on each side is suggested.
Players seated across from each other are on the same team (i.e. they are partners).
Deuces (twos) and Jokers are wild. They can be played as any rank, but cannot be played with sevens.
Threes cannot be used to create books.
Sevens cannot be discarded.
Books may contain a mix of wild cards and "natural" cards, but in this case, they must always have one more "natural" card than "wild". For instance, if a book-in-progress contains two 8s and one wild card, then no more wild cards can be added until another 8 is added first. Note that a book made up entirely of wild cards does not have any such restriction.
Cards are valued as follows:
To start a book, a player must play at least three cards at once. After that, cards can be added one or more at a time until the book reaches seven cards, at which point it is closed. After closing their first book, each player must wait for the rest of their team to close a book before they are allowed to close another. After each player on a team has closed a book, all members of the team can close books at will.
Before a player can play the last card from their hand (and foot), their team must have the following closed books:
A player will add their "foot" to their hand under the following circumstances: they close a book (which allows them access to their foot after they discard), they discard the last card in their hand (which allows them to use their foot starting on their next turn), or they play the last card in their hand before discarding (which allows them to use their foot immediately).
Traditionally, if a player cuts exactly the 24 cards required to deal a hand and foot, without counting, then they are awarded 100 points.
The remaining shuffled cards are arranged into two play decks of approximately equal height and placed in the center of the table. Discarded cards are placed between the play decks.
One player is chosen to go first (usually by drawing cards randomly or cutting the deck and selecting whoever picks a high card). The player to this person's right then deals out the start of the discard pile: five cards are drawn alternately from the two play decks, face up, for all players to see. Any sevens that are drawn in this manner are put back into the deck randomly (there can never be a seven on the discard pile). This ensures that the first player has five cards to pick up from the discard pile (as will be discussed below).
Play then begins with the starting player and continues to that player's left. On each subsequent round (that is, after the next deal), the starting player is the player to the left of the previous starter.
Wild cards can only be matched with other wild cards when picking up the discard pile. For instance, if a player holds a pair of Jacks and the top card on the discard pile is a wild card, the player may not pick up the wild card to play with the Jacks. Similarly, if a player has one wild card and one Jack, and a Jack is on top of the discard pile, the player may not pick up the discard pile to play two Jacks and a wild card.
Since threes cannot be played to create books, it is not possible to pick up a three on top of the discard pile (see "Basic Rules", above). Thus, any time a player discards a three, it effectively freezes the discard pile until a non-three is discarded. (Note that the player may end up with threes from the discard pile, but only if they are not on the very top when the player begins drawing from the discard pile.)
Sevens cannot be discarded under any circumstances. Thus, a seven cannot ever appear in the discard pile.
As for strategy, note that it is often safe to discard cards that the opposing team needs to close books that they have started. If the players have already played whatever cards they had to fill out the book as much as possible, they won't have the two cards necessary to pick up off the discard pile.
Each player can start their turn either by drawing one card from the top of each of the two decks (a total of two cards), or by picking up the top five cards from the discard pile (see "Discard Pile", above, for when this is allowed).
The player plays whatever cards they can (see below), and ends their turn by discarding one card, placing it face up on top of the discard pile. Sevens cannot ever be discarded, and threes keep the next player from picking up from the discard pile.
Suppose that it is the second round, so 120 points are required to meld. The player holds two jokers and a 2, all of which are wild. The player can play these three cards together to start a book: the jokers are worth 50 apiece, and the 2 is worth 20, for a total of 120. Similarly, if the player had three Aces (60 points), three 4s (15 points), and a joker (50 points), then they could play these for their meld (at a total of 125 points). The discard pile can only be picked up at this point if the top card will give the player enough points to meld immediately (see "Discard Pile", above).
Traditionally, the player that makes the first meld for their team plays the cards out in front of them, with each partial book spread out so that the number of cards in the book is visible. When the book reaches six cards, it is collected into a tidy stack; this is a sign that one more card will close the book. Closed books are passed across the table and stacked in front of the partner. Clean books are designated by placing a red card at the top of the book; dirty books are topped by a black card (and a book of wilds is always clean).
At this point, the player will focus on closing a book by filling it out with seven cards.
The first player(s) on a team to close a book must wait for their partner(s) to also close their first book before they are allowed to close another. For example, if Alice and Bob are partners and Alice is the first on her team to close a book, she cannot close a second book until Bob closes at least one. After each player on a team has closed their first book, all members of the team can close books at will. In the above example, after Bob closes his first book, he or Alice may close as many books as their cards will allow.
A player will add their "foot" to their hand under the following circumstances: they close a book (which allows them access to their foot after they discard), they discard the last card in their hand (which allows them to use their foot starting on their next turn), or they play the last card in their hand before discarding (which allows them to use their foot immediately).
The recommended strategy at this point is to get as many books as close to being closed as possible, and to start a book of wilds almost immediately. When a player is waiting for a partner to close their first book, the player can try to get books up to six cards so that their partner only needs a single card to close the book.
The book of sevens is usually started after a player gets into their foot (often, one or two needed sevens are found there).
At this point, the player should try to minimize the points remaining in their hand and close any books that their team has left unfinished.
Once a team has their book of sevens, the players on that team want to avoid drawing more of them, because it will be difficult to empty their hand of sevens (sevens cannot be discarded, and to play them requires either three at once or an unfinished book to add to). Drawing from the discard pile is safe, because sevens cannot appear there.
If the bottom of the two play decks is reached before any player empties their hand, then the round ends.
It is typical for each round to score between 3000-5000 points.
The team with the most points after four rounds wins.
Teams are allowed to have multiple completed books of the same rank, including sevens, but they can only have one partial book of any given rank at a time. For example, a team can close a book of Kings and begin a second book of Kings, but they cannot have two unfinished books of Kings at the same time.
Extra completed books beyond the required five are still worth points. The more books a team has, the more points they will get.
If a player is holding a seven, it is not unusual for them to discard cards that they could otherwise play, because they cannot discard the seven under any circumstances. Although it is theoretically possible for a player to be unable to discard (e.g. their only card is a seven, their team has 5 sevens in an unfinished book, and they draw two sevens, so they close the book and are left with one undiscardable card), this is unlikely enough not to worry about.
An automatic card shuffler is recommended for handling the six or more decks required.