War game played with cards (#265, Topic G)

Yesterday, our 6-1/2 year-old granddaughter suggested that she and I play a war game, using a deck of playing cards. I did not know the game, so she taught me. It is a 2-player game, each being dealt 26 cards, which are stacked in a pile. The game begins with each player showing his/her top card face-up, the player with the higher-valued card winning that skirmish; these two cards then become a part of the winner's pile for reuse when those in his/her hand are exhausted. The game continues until a player's holding is reduced to zero, and the game is over. Adding an element of unexpected to this "it is just luck" assessment by our astute granddaughter, the rule states that, when the card shown by both players has equal value (suit designations are irrelevant), these two cards are to be placed, side by side, on the table. Each player then places two cards, face down, and shows the next card face up -- the winner of that fourth card then wins the entire 8-card pile, a not-insignificant gain. It is conceivable that the fourth card being used for determining that round, now a battle, may also have equal value. This situationnever came up in our game yesterday, so I do not know how this is resolved. During our game, our granddaughter's holding was indeed reduced to only one card; still, she kept on smiling. For that skirmish, she won; she was also able to increase her holding to several cards until her hand was again reduced to only one card. All the time, she kept smiling. This time, after that skirmish, she won a battle, and then some additional skirmishes. By that time, her holding had increased to about 8 cards. Then we had a war -- we each had shown an Ace; after putting 2 cards face down, her next card was another Ace -- so she won that war as well. (The only way one can gain possession of Aces and Kings is when these cards are placed face down; thus, these face-down plays are odds-equaling devices). By the time I called a time-out a few minutes later (the game had been going on for almost an hour), she had 3 Aces, 3 Kings, and 1 Jack. Her winning chances were substantial. We decided to have a recess to allow us to go downtown to visit our son's new office, take on a Broadway musical (The Lion King), see how ballons for Macy's Thanksgiving Parade are blown up, and have dinner at, supposedly, a NY institution, the Tavern on the Green. By the time we returned our son's home, we were all very tired. So, I conceded the game to our granddaughter. Her mother concurred. It was a good game and a good day.