Tonk

How to play Tonk

Tonk — also spelled Tunk — is a fast, punchy American rummy that has been played on porches, in barbershops and on lunch breaks for the better part of a century. Hands are short, the swings are big, and a single bold drop can flip a game. Here you play head-to-head against a bot, racing to 100 points — or play online head-to-head against a friend in real time.

Play Tonk online with a friend

Prefer a real opponent to the bot? Choose Play online to be matched with another player, or share a private invite link and play a two-player game right in your browser — no account and no app. The server deals, tracks the spreads and keeps both hands in sync.

Goal

Win each hand by holding the cleanest hand, then be first to 100 points. You win a hand three ways: go out by emptying your hand, drop on a low hand and prove it is lower than your opponent's, or get dealt an instant Tonk.

The deal & card values

• Each player is dealt five cards; the rest form the stock, and one card is turned up to start the discard pile.
• Card values for scoring: face cards (J, Q, K) and tens are worth 10, aces 1, and every other card its face value.
• Initial Tonk: if your five dealt cards total exactly 49 or 50, you win the hand instantly for double.

Spreads

• Sets — three or four cards of the same rank (three Nines).
• Runs — three or more cards in sequence in one suit (5-6-7 of clubs). Aces are low.
• Once a spread is on the table, either player may hit it — add a matching card to it — on their turn.

Playing a turn

At the start of your turn you may drop instead of drawing — see below. Otherwise, first draw the face-up discard or the top of the stock. Then you may spread: press the button to lay every set and run you hold onto the table and hit any spreads already there. Finally discard one card by tapping it, which ends your turn. Cards that form a spread in your hand are outlined in green. Empty your hand and you have gone out — you score your opponent's remaining cards plus a small go-out bonus.

Dropping & scoring

The drop is what makes Tonk Tonk. Before you draw, if you think the cards left in your hand are worth less than your opponent's, you can drop. The lower hand wins and scores the value of the loser's cards — but if you drop and you are not lower, you are caught, and your opponent scores your hand doubled. So a drop is a read on your opponent as much as a count of your own cards: drop too early and you give away points, drop too late and they go out from under you. Hands fly by, the lead see-saws, and the first player to 100 points takes the match. S spreads, D drops, N starts a new game.