Must You Have a Card in Hand to Ask for It in Go Fish?

[DaveC426913]

Playing Go Fish with my granddaughter.

Is there a rule that says I must have a card in my hand in order to ask for it? I do not see such a rule.

I can see both ways leading to problems:

Suppose I must have one:

1. I've got a hand of 3 cards, all of which are 7s.
2. I just asked if she has any 7s, and she told me to go fish. I pick up a 2.
3. On her turn, she steals my 2 (she has a preternatural ability to ask for the card I've just picked up before I've even inserted it into my hand. It happens a statistically significant number of times (like, >50%), and she doesn't cheat).
4. So now I'm back to only 7s.
5. I have no choice but to ask her if she has any 7s again, even though I know she does not.

Suppose I do not need to have one:

1. I have only 7s. I know she doesn't have any.
2. On her turn, she asks if I have any 2s. I tell her to Go Fish.
3. On my turn, I ask if she has any 2s abdn steal them all.
4. (I mean, I guess she might not have any 2s since she's allowed to ask for cards she does not have.)

Essentially, allowing this means a player tips their hand every time they open their mouth, and the game degenerates into tit-for-tat theft. Either that, or each player keeps asking for things they don't have in a kind of circling-the-wagons ploy.

 

[Hornbein]

1. I have no choice but to ask her if she has any 7s again, even though I know she does not.

That's the game.

 

[DaveC426913]

That's the game.

Yes. It's the only way the game doesn't fall apart.

What's unusual is that it is not part of the rules.

Whats to stop my gd from doing exactly what I suggested? What am I gonna tell her? It's against the rules? It isn't.

 

[Hornbein]

Huh. I played Go Fish in 1960 with real cards (!) and those were the rules. You can tell her Supergrandpa said so.