In single-deck Ambition, there are 83 points in the cards and a 2-point bonus for taking the last trick, making 85 points per round. Since the goal is to take as many points as possible without scoring the most, a score of 21 (in a four-player game) is the maximum "safe" score-- a player will not strike taking 21 points as one player must have at least 22. Scores between 17 and 21 are considered probably desirable, but it can be to a player's advantage to take more. For example, a player who knows that another has taken 28 points can take as many as 27 without striking, and it is to his advantage to do so.

Single tricks (in 4-player) play can be worth as few as zero or as many as 26 points, and the King of Clubs (worth 11 points) is often "dropped" onto a trick to surprise the trick-winner with unexpected points. Ambition has the "TRAM" (The Rest Are Mine) property seen in many trumpless trick-taking games: A player with the "lead" late in the round will often have it for the entire remainder. It's usually undesirable to possess the "lead" late in a round, since the player who does so tends to take a large number of points, and often strikes. In the early (tricks 1-4) and middle (5-8) parts of a round, players tend to seek these objectives:

• To score an acceptable number of points early on so as to ensure an acceptable score for the round, without scoring enough to expose the player to unnecessary risk. (For example, scoring 21 points in the first three tricks is not desirable, unless a player has an extremely weak hand, as it is likely that this player will take more points.) Players who have taken tricks (and are therefore unable to make Nil) but have not scored sufficiently many points are sometimes referred to as in a "starved" position. A starvation strategy refers to a practice of intentionally depriving a player of points so that he or she will, late in the round, be pressed to take dangerous late-round tricks rather than avoid them.

• To clear a suit so as to be able to "dump" unwanted cards when further cards of the suit are played. There is no trump in Ambition, so "dumped" cards never win tricks. Voids (suits of which a player has none) also allow a player to adapt his or her hand as the round progresses-- a player seeking a strong hand will dump low cards, a player seeking a weak hand will dump high cards.

• After one has taken a satisfactory total, to clear one's hand of high and mid-level cards (while still avoiding winning unwanted tricks) so as to dodge the lead at the round's end.

While a player at the upper end of the "safe range", or even moderately above it, desires to avoid taking more points, a player who is sure to strike does the opposite. There is no further penalty for striking with, say, 50 points as opposed to 30, so a player who is sure to strike wishes to take as many of the remaining points as possible, to make the round low-scoring for the other players.

A game of Ambition ends when any player reaches three strikes. Any player with three strikes is disqualified from winning, and the player among the rest with the highest score wins. Normally, the player who wins did so by having several strong, 18-23 point, rounds while striking as rarely as possible. The winning score in a four-player game is normally between 70 and 100; in a three-player game, it's most often between 80 and 120.

Scores cannot be compared between games due to the variable length of an Ambition game. Most four-player games finish after about seven rounds, but they can be as short as three or as long as nine rounds.

Initially titled "Self-Control", the game was renamed "Ambition" after structural changes were made to improve the game. Currently in the 6th revision, the external link below has yet to be updated and contains the complete rules for the 4th edition (November 2003).

Important updates to the 4th edition rules include:

Variants

External Links