trick-taking (quota / contract whist) · India, Pakistan and Nepal (popular across the wider South Asian diaspora)

Teen Do Paanch (2-3-5)

Also known as 235 · 2 3 5 · 3-2-5 · Teen Do Panch · Teen Do Paanch · Three Two Five

Teen Do Paanch (also written 2-3-5, 235 or 3-2-5) is a sharp, three-player Indian trick-taking game whose name is Hindi for "three, two, five" — the quota of tricks each of the three players must win. Played with a stripped 30-card deck across India, Pakistan and Nepal, it splits all ten tricks into fixed targets of 5, 3 and 2 so that everyone has a different goal in the same hand. What makes Teen Do Paanch addictive is its unique punishment: anyone who misses their quota has their best cards "stolen" before the next deal by the players who overshot theirs. If you want to play Teen Do Paanch online free and learn one of South Asia's cleverest trick games, this is the place — chips only, no real money.

Coming soon — learn the rules below

3–3 players · free to play online

How to play Teen Do Paanch (2-3-5)

Gather exactly three players and build the 30-card deck: keep Ace down to 8 in all four suits, plus two Sevens (commonly the 7 of hearts and 7 of spades).
Assign quotas by seat: the player to the dealer's right must win 5 tricks, the player to the dealer's left must win 3, and the dealer must win 2.
Deal a packet of 5 cards to each player; the 5-trick player (to dealer's right) then looks at their hand and names the trump suit.
Finish dealing a packet of 3 and then a packet of 2 to each player, so everyone holds ten cards.
Lead from the player to the dealer's right; follow suit if you can, otherwise trump or discard. Highest trump, or highest card of the led suit, wins the trick.
After all ten tricks, compare each player's count to their 2, 3 or 5 quota — note who hit, who overshot, and who fell short.
Apply the penalty: over-quota players steal one random card per extra trick from under-quota players, returning a card of their choice each time; then deal the next hand.

Teen Do Paanch (2-3-5) rules

Objective

Teen Do Paanch is a quota-based trick-taking game for exactly three players. The ten tricks in each hand are divided into three fixed targets — 5, 3 and 2 — and every player is assigned one of these as their own goal for that deal. Your aim is to win exactly the number of tricks allotted to your seat, no fewer. The player to the dealer's right must win 5 tricks, the player to the dealer's left must win 3, and the dealer must win 2 (5 + 3 + 2 = 10, the total number of tricks). Hitting your quota keeps your hand safe; falling short means you lose cards to the players who beat their target, which is why the stakes climb hand after hand.

The deck and the deal

A 30-card pack is used, made from a standard 52-card deck by removing every card from 2 to 6, and discarding two of the four Sevens. The standard version keeps the 7 of hearts and the 7 of spades (the two red-and-black sevens commonly retained) and throws out the clubs and diamonds sevens, leaving Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8 in all four suits plus those two sevens — thirty cards in all. Cards rank from Ace (high) down to 7 (low) in the two suits that still have a seven, and Ace down to 8 in the others. The dealer shuffles, the player to the right cuts, and the dealer deals a packet of 5 cards to each player, then later a packet of 3 and finally a packet of 2, so everyone ends with ten cards.

Choosing trump (the 5-3-2 deal)

Trump is chosen during the deal, which gives the game its 5-3-2 rhythm. After the first packet of 5 cards is dealt to everyone, the player to the dealer's right — the one carrying the 5-trick quota — looks at those five cards and names the trump suit. In a common alternative method, that player may decline; the next packet of 3 is turned and the highest card's suit becomes trump. Once trump is fixed, the dealer completes the deal with the packet of 3 and then the packet of 2 so each player holds ten cards. Because the 5-trick player both names trump and leads first, that seat carries the most influence and the most pressure in every hand.

Playing the tricks

The player to the dealer's right leads to the first trick; play proceeds and each player contributes one card per trick. You must follow the suit that was led if you can. If you cannot follow suit, you may play a trump or discard any card. A trick is won by the highest trump played in it, or — if no trump was played — by the highest card of the suit that was led. Whoever wins a trick leads to the next one. Over the ten tricks each player is quietly tracking their own count against their 5, 3 or 2 target: winning too few is a disaster, and winning more than your quota does not score extra but does earn you the right to plunder the players who fell short.

Meeting quota, and the card-stealing penalty

At the end of a hand, each player compares tricks won against their quota. Players who exactly meet their target are safe and unchanged. The heart of Teen Do Paanch is what happens to those who miss: any player who took more tricks than required may steal cards from any player who took fewer than required. The over-quota player pulls one card at random (face down, sight unseen) for each trick they were above quota, and in exchange hands back one card of their own choosing for each card taken. A common house restriction is that you cannot immediately return the very card you just pulled, and you should keep at least two cards in that suit. This drains the loser's hand of its best cards going into the next deal.

Scoring and winning the game

There are two common scoring styles. In the simplest, each player records the number of tricks they won each hand, and after an agreed number of hands (often three) the player with the highest running total of tricks wins. In the quota-difference style, each player scores the difference between the tricks they made and the tricks they needed — positive if they exceeded their target, negative if they fell short — and totals are carried across hands. Either way the card-stealing penalty is the real engine: a player who keeps missing quota is steadily robbed of high cards, making it harder and harder to recover, so the game naturally builds toward a clear winner and loser.

Rotation and variants

If every player makes their exact quota, the deal simply passes to the next player (usually to the dealer's left) and a fresh hand begins. Quotas stay tied to seat position relative to the dealer, so they rotate as the deal rotates. Popular variants include treating the retained Sevens as special permanent trumps, awarding a bonus to anyone who sweeps all of their possible tricks, and making the previous loser deal the next hand. Some groups deal in two packets of 5 with trump chosen from the second hand instead of the 5-3-2 pattern. House rules differ on exactly which two Sevens are kept and on the precise card-return restrictions during stealing, so it is worth agreeing these before play.

Strategy tips

Count your quota constantly — your only job is to hit your 2, 3 or 5, so know exactly how many more tricks you still need and stop chasing once you are safe.
If you hold the 5-trick seat, choose trump from your longest, strongest suit; you both name trump and lead, so build the suit you can dominate.
On the 2-trick dealer seat, hoard a couple of high trumps and deliberately lose cheap tricks early — you want to dump weak cards while keeping just enough power to take exactly two.
Watch who is over and under quota as the hand develops; sometimes the smart play is to deny a trick to an opponent who is one short, pushing them into the stealing penalty.
Guard against the card steal — if you sense you will miss your quota, try to end the hand holding fewer high cards so the loser's hand you hand over is less valuable to your rivals.
Track trump and remember the two Sevens: in a 30-card deck suits are short, so a low card can become a winner once the high cards in its suit are gone.

Variants

Retained Sevens (7H and 7S) treated as permanent or special trumps · Trump chosen from the second 5-card packet (5-5 deal instead of 5-3-2) · 5-trick player may decline trump; highest turned card sets it · Bonus points for sweeping all of your possible tricks · Previous hand's loser deals the next hand · Quota-difference scoring (tricks made minus tricks needed) vs total-tricks scoring · House variations on which two Sevens are kept and the card-return rule during stealing

Teen Do Paanch (2-3-5) — frequently asked questions

How do you play Teen Do Paanch (2-3-5)?

Three players use a 30-card deck and split the ten tricks into fixed quotas: the player to the dealer's right must win 5 tricks, the player to the left 3, and the dealer 2. After a 5-3-2 deal and trump selection by the 5-trick player, you play out ten tricks following suit when you can. Players who miss their quota lose their best cards to players who exceeded theirs before the next hand.

Why is it called Teen Do Paanch or 2-3-5?

Teen Do Paanch is Hindi for 'three, two, five,' the three trick quotas that the players must achieve — 2, 3 and 5, which add up to all 10 tricks in a hand. The game is written many ways: 2-3-5, 235, 3-2-5 and Teen Do Panch all refer to the same three-player trick-taking game.

How many cards and players does Teen Do Paanch use?

It is played by exactly three players with a 30-card deck. The deck is made from a standard pack by removing all cards from 2 to 6 and discarding two of the four Sevens, leaving Ace through 8 in every suit plus two Sevens. Each player is dealt ten cards in packets of 5, 3 and 2.

How does the card-stealing penalty work?

After each hand, any player who won more tricks than their quota may steal cards from any player who won fewer than theirs. They pull one card at random for each trick they were over quota and return one card of their own choosing in exchange. This strips high cards from players who keep missing their target, making each hand harder to recover from.

How is the trump suit chosen in 2-3-5?

Trump is set during the deal. After the first packet of 5 cards is dealt, the player to the dealer's right (who carries the 5-trick quota) names the trump suit from those cards. In a common variant they may decline, in which case the next packet is turned and the highest card's suit becomes trump.

How do you win at Teen Do Paanch?

You win individual hands by making exactly your assigned quota of tricks. Over a session, scoring is usually by total tricks won across an agreed number of hands, or by the running difference between tricks made and tricks needed. The player who consistently meets quota — and avoids being robbed of high cards through the stealing penalty — comes out on top.