Jenkins (drinking game)
Encyclopedia
Up Jenkins, also known by the shortened name Jenkins, is a party game
Party game
Party games are games that some people play as forms of entertainment at social gatherings. Party games usually involve more than one player. There are a large number and styles of party games available and the one selected will depend on the atmosphere that is sought to be generated...

 in which players conceal a small coin (or in some variations a ring) in their palm as they slap it on a table with their bare hands. The goal of the game is for the players on the team without the coin to correctly identify which hand the coin is under. The game typically consists of two two-to-four-player teams, one on each side of a table. There are no official rules, so rules may vary widely, the game is often played with alcohol beverages with which to drink as a forfeit.

The captain of one team gets the coin and passes it under the table to the second person of the team. The players on that team pass the coin under the table back and forth from one player to another. The object of the game is to do it so carefully that the opposing team cannot guess which player has the coin.

Once this selection is made, the opposing team's captain yells "Up Jenkins" at which point all players on the team with the coin place their elbows on the table with their hands extended straight toward the ceiling. The opposing team's captain then yells "Down Jenkins" or "Bang Ems", at which point the "coin" team slams their palms face-down on the table. The goal of this stage of the game is to conceal the "clink" of the coin on the table to confuse the other team as to where the coin is.

In some variants of the game, other commands can be given before the coins are slammed onto the table. A request of "Open Windows" requires selected finger gaps to be opened, "Violins" is a request for the players to mime the playing of a violin, and "Creepy Crawlies" requires players to curl their hands and move them around on the table in the manner of a crab.

In the guessing phase of the game, the non-coin team selects palms, one by one, in an attempt to isolate the coin as the "last palm standing." Where the games is played in conjunction with alcohol, successful isolation results in the coin team drinking. Failure to do so results in the non-coin team drinking. The quantity of alcohol consumed per round is a matter of house rules or local variation.

The game can also be played as a children's party game, without the drinking.

Alternative Versions

Tippit
Tippit
Tippit is a Welsh game that dates back hundreds of years and similar games are played in parts of France, Iraq, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and the USA.-The game:...

 or Tipit
Tipit
Tipit is a game-show broadcast on S4C, hosted by Alex Jones and Morgan Jones. Tipit is a traditional Welsh pub game, in which two teams of three face each other across the table and guess in which of the six hands opposite them an item, known as the tipit, is hidden...

 in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 and the game was turned into a TV game show.

Mahabis or Mhebiss in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, often played during Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...

and was also once televised.
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