Chinchón strategy

Keep the leftovers low

You cut on leftovers of 5 or less, so an ace or a two loose in your hand is cheap and a king is expensive. When you have to choose what to throw, throw the high card that fits nothing.

The same is true when someone else cuts: what you are holding is what you pay. A hand of two melds and a loose king costs 10; the same hand with a loose ace costs 1.

Cut early, or wait for clean

Cutting as soon as you can is usually right: the others are caught with whatever they hold. A cut on 3 or 4 points beats waiting while someone else gets there first.

Waiting is worth it when one card would give you a clean cut — leftovers of zero, which takes 10 off your own score. Count how many of that card are still unseen before you gamble on it.

Hold the joker

A joker fits any meld, so it turns almost any two cards into three. But it costs 25 if you are caught with it loose, more than any other card, so make sure it is in a meld before someone can cut.

Throwing a joker is almost never right: the next player may take it.

Read the pile

The open card is the only information in the game. Take it only when it finishes or nearly finishes a meld, because everyone sees what you take and learns what you are building.

Watch what the player before you throws. If they keep throwing hearts, they are not collecting them — and the player after you is reading your throws the same way.

Know when to chase the chinchón

A chinchón wins the game outright, but seven cards in one suit is rare. Chase it only when you already hold five or six of a run, or when you are so far behind that nothing else will win.

Near the limit, play safe: a small cut keeps you in, and buying back in only puts you at the worst score in play.