Tieng Len is the national card game of Vietnam; the name of the game means something like 'Speak Up'.
Tieng Len has spread to some parts of the USA, where it is usually called Viet Cong or just VC or Thirteen. It is a climbing game (similar to Zheng Shangyou or President), in which the aim is to get rid of your cards as soon as possible by beating combinations of cards played by the other players.
The game is played by two, three or four players with a standard 52-card deck is used - there are no jokers used and no wild cards. It can also be played by more than four players, using two 52-card packs shuffled together.
The game is normally dealt and played clockwise, but can be played anticlockwise instead if the players agree in advance to do so. The ranking of the cards is: Two (highest), Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three (lowest). Within each rank there is also an order of suits: Hearts (highest), Diamonds, Clubs, Spades (lowest). So the 3 of Spades is the lowest card in the pack, and the 2 of Hearts is the highest. Rank is more important than suit, so for example the 8 of spades beats the 7 of hearts. Research Tieng Len
Abbreviations
Recreation
Research Tieng Len