Hwatu

Go-Stop

"Hwatu" (cards) are used in Go-Stop.
Alternative names	Godori, Matgo (when only two players are playing)
Type	pair matching, with point scoring
Players	2-4, usually 3
Skills required	Probabilistic analysis, Strategic thought, bluffing to a lesser extent
Cards	48 cards, though sometimes special cards may be added
Deck	"Hwatu" cards
Play	Counter-clockwise
Playing time	~10 to 15 minutes per round
Random chance	Medium

Go-Stop (고스톱) is a Korean card game. Go-Stop is also known as Godori (고도리) (ゴドリ), the name of a winning move in the game, as Matgo (맞고) when only two players are playing, and as Hwatu (화투), the name of the cards themselves. A deck of Korean hwatu cards usually includes bonus cards. Typically, there are two or three players, although there is a variation where four players can play. The objective of this game is to score a minimum predetermined number of points, usually three or seven, and then call a "Go" or a "Stop", where the name of the game derives. When a "Go" is called, the game continues, and the number of points or amount of money is first increased, and then doubled, tripled, and so on. A player calling "Go" risks another player scoring the minimum and winning all the points themselves. If a "Stop" is called, the game ends and the caller collects their winnings.

In order to select a dealer, each player picks random cards from the deck and the person with the latest month becomes the dealer. Before the cards are dealt, the dealer shuffles the cards by holding the deck in the left hand with the cards face-down and pulling out random stacks of cards with the right hand to stack them on top. The dealer must repeat this process several times in order to shuffle the cards sufficiently. After shuffling, the dealer holds the deck out to the player to their left in order for them to cut the deck. If there are only two players, the opponent cuts the deck.

The remaining cards are placed face down on top of the cut portion of the deck in the center of the table to form a draw pile. Before the play begins, the players check for sets of two, three or four cards of the same month on the table. If there is a set, they pile it up on top of each other, usually leaving space on each of the top part of the cards.

There are several ways to collect points in Go-Stop.

Bright cards (gwang): One way to accumulate points in Go-Stop is to collect Bright cards (gwang). When three gwang other than that of the month of December (referred to as bi gwang, bi meaning “rain”) are collected, this is known as “Three Brights” (sam gwang) and is worth three points. However, if the Three Brights include bi gwang, this is called “Wet Three Brights” (bi sam gwang), and is worth two points. When four gwang are collected, this is called "Four Brights"(sa gwang) and is worth four points. It does not matter whether 'bi gwang' is included in "Four Brights" or not. When all five gwang are collected, this is called “Five Brights” (o gwang) and is worth fifteen to fifty points depending on house rules.