The words used around the Sevens table — including the Hindi and Urdu card vocabulary the game
is named after.
Sevens has picked up vocabulary from every region that plays it, and the same idea often has
three names. These are the terms used on this site and what each one means.
The card words
Badam (बादाम)
The hearts suit in Hindi and Urdu card vocabulary. Literally "almond" — the heart symbol on
a playing card resembles an almond more than it does an anatomical heart. Hence
badam satti, the seven of hearts.
Satti (सत्ती)
The seven. From saat, seven. Every suit has one, and none of them can be built on
until it is played.
Lal satti
"Red seven" — another name for the seven of hearts, and for the game itself in some regions.
Satti lagana
"To place the seven" — the action the whole game is built around, and a common name for the
game in North India.
Paan / Hukum / Chidi / Eent
The four suits in common South Asian usage: spades, spades (in some regions), clubs and
diamonds respectively. Usage varies enough by region that it is worth confirming with the
table before assuming.
Game terms
Foundation
The seven of a suit, once played. It is the card everything else in that suit builds outward
from. Until a suit's foundation is down, none of its other twelve cards can be played.
Half-suit
One direction of a suit's sequence — either 6 down to ace, or 8 up to king. Useful because
the two halves are independent: the club sequence can be built to the king while the low end
is still stuck at the six.
Going out
Playing your last card and emptying your hand. The player who goes out ends the round
immediately and scores zero for it.
Blocked round
A round that ends without anyone going out, because every player still holding cards passed
in succession. Nobody scores zero; everybody counts what is left in their hand. See the
scoring page.
Pass
Declining to play because you have no legal card. In the version played here a pass is
only available when you genuinely have no legal move — if you hold a playable card,
the game will make you play it. Other versions allow voluntary passing; see
variations.
Stranded
Holding a card that cannot be played because the sequence has not reached it and probably
will not in time. Being stranded with a king is the classic way to lose a round badly.
Blocking
Deliberately holding a card that other players need, to stall a suit. Holding the six and
eight of a suit either side of its seven is the strongest form. Effective in moderation and
self-defeating in excess — the cards are still in your hand.
Penalty
The points a card costs if it is still in your hand when the round ends. Ace 1, numbers as
printed, jack 11, queen 12, king 13.
Round
One deal, played until somebody goes out or the table blocks. A match is three, five or seven
rounds.
Match
The full set of rounds. Penalties accumulate across all of them, and the lowest total at the
end wins.
Deal
Distributing the deck. With four players and a standard 52-card deck, every player receives
thirteen cards and nothing is left over.
Terms from other versions
You may encounter these if you play elsewhere or read older card literature. None of them apply
to the version on this site, but they are worth recognising.
Fan Tan
The standard English name for this game in card-game references. Not to be confused with the
unrelated Chinese bead-counting gambling game of the same name.
Parliament
Chiefly British name, from the way the four suits seat themselves in rows like benches.
Card Dominoes / Laying Out / Domino
Descriptive names, from the way sequences build outward from a centre the way a domino chain
does.
Chip pass
In versions with voluntary passing, the counter you surrender to buy a pass. Limits how often
a player can stall.
Redeal
A house rule under which a blocked round is thrown out and dealt again rather than scored.
Interface terms on this site
Scores chip
The poker chip in the top-right corner of the table. Opens the round-by-round scoreboard,
with the current round highlighted.
Round badge
The counter in the top-left of the table showing how far through the match you are — "Round
2 / 3" means the second of three rounds.
Leo, Maya and Nina
The three computer opponents. They cannot see your hand and do not cheat; see
about for how they decide what to play.