The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (84 page)

count 12 points each, the other Jacks 2 each, and the top cards Ace

11, Ten 10, King 4, Queen 3. The leader to each trick must lead

three or more cards of the same suit if possible (otherwise two of

one suit and an unmatched third), and the fol ower can win only by

beating every card, either with a higher one of the same suit or with

a trump. Before making the next lead, draw from stock to restore

each hand to six. With 10 for the last trick, the maximum possible

is 150 points. Play up to a target of 121 over as many deals as it

takes. Score 1 game-point for winning, or 2 if the loser fails to

reach 30 (jan), or 3 if the loser fails to win a trick (harjan).

Hundredogen

(2p, 36c) As Harjan, except: deal three cards each from a 36-card

pack ranking ATKQJ9876; only one card is led to a trick; and the

target is 101 points. It is sometimes played with the Jack as highest

trump, fol owed by the other Jack of the same colour (see Harjan).

Madrasso (Mandrasso, Magrasso)

4 players (2 χ 2), 40 cards

This cross between Tresset e and Briscola has in the last fifty years

replaced Scarabocion as the most popular and widespread card

game of Venice and its surrounds. It is normal y played with the

Venetian or Trevigiane pat erned 40-card Italian pack with suits of

swords, batons, cups, coins ( , respectively equivalent to

), and courts of Re (King), Caval o (Horse), Fante (Jack).

French-suited cards, however, wil suf ice to render this relatively

simple but strategical y deep game accessible to players unable to

obtain (or cope with) Italian cards. The fol owing description is

obtain (or cope with) Italian cards. The fol owing description is

adapted from John McLeod’s translation and revision of one

prepared by Paolo Valentini for the 1997 convention of the

International Playing-Card Society.

Preliminaries Four players sit crosswise in partnerships and play to

the right. A game consists of at least 10 deals (bat ute) and is won

by the first side to correctly claim to have reached a target score of

777 points.

Cards The 40 cards rank and count as fol ows (R-C-F equivalent to

K-Q-J):

A 3 R C F 7 6 5 4 2

11 10 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 0

Aces and Threes are cal ed carichi, court cards are punti, and non-

counting cards scartine or lisci.

Deal Deal ten cards each in the fol owing way: three each, two

each, one (the twenty-first) face up in front of the dealer to

determine trumps (trionfi), then three each but only two to the

dealer, and final y two each.

The dealer’s faced card stays on the table until it is played to a

trick. Whoever holds the trump Seven may (but need not) exchange

it for the turn-up immediately before playing a card to the first

trick.

Play Eldest leads first. Players must fol ow suit if possible, otherwise

may play any card. The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit

led, or by the highest trump if any are played, and the winner of

each trick leads to the next.

Revoke If a player revokes, play ceases and the opposing side

scores 130 points.

Scoring and winning At the end of a deal each side totals the value

of counters they have taken in tricks, and the winners of the last

trick add 10. As the two totals always make 130 it suf ices for one

side to write down what they have scored. Normal y no running

total is kept – one side simply writes their own score for each deal

in a single column.

If after 10 deals one side has scored at least 777 points, it wins.

The score of the non-scorekeeping side is calculated by subtracting

the scoring side’s total from 1300. If neither side has that many,

more deals ensue until one side reaches the target.

Only a player who has just won a trick may claim to have

reached 777. Play immediately ceases and the pointssofar

takenbythe claimant’s side are counted. If the claim is upheld, the

declaring side wins, otherwise they lose. If at the end of a deal both

sides are found to have more than 777 and neither has declared, the

side with the higher total wins.

If a side wins al 10 tricks in one deal (cappot o), it wins the

entire game outright, even if the other side has reached 777 points

but failed to claim a win.

Briscola(Brisca)

2-5 players, 40 cards

A popular Italian game, first recorded in 1828, and played also in

Spain under the name Brisca. Madrasso is an elaboration of it.

Preliminaries From two to four play the basic game, four playing

crosswise in fixed partnerships. For five, see Briscola Chiamata. Al

play goes to the right.

Cards Properly played with a 40-card Italian or Spanish pack, but a

stripped Bridge pack wil do. Cards rank and count as fol ows:

Italian

Asso Tre Re Cavallo Fante 7 6 5 4 2

Spanish

As Trey Rey Caballo Sota 7 6 5 4 2

equivalent Ace Three King Queen Jack 7 6 5 4 2

card-points 11 10

4

3

2

0 0 0 0 0

If three play, remove one of the Deuces.

Deal Deal three cards each face down, turn the next for trumps, and

slide it face up and partly projecting from beneath the face-down

stock. Eldest leads to the first trick. There is no requirement to

fol ow suit (ever). A trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led

or by the highest trump if any are played. The winner of each trick

draws the top card of stock (so long as any remain), and waits for

the other(s) to do so in turn before leading to the next.

Game The game is won by the player or partnership taking most of

the 120 card-points, the hands being played right through. A two-

or three-way split (40-40-40 or 60–60-0) is a stand-of . A rubber is

the best of five games (first to three).

Signals When four play, partners may signal certain trump holdings

to each other by means of conventional signs codified as fol ows,

seeking to do so when neither opponent is looking.

Ace

Go tight-lipped.

Trey Twist mouth sideways.

King Raise eyes heavenwards.

Queen Show tip of tongue.

Jack Raise one shoulder.

They may also secretly show each other their final hand of three

cards when the stock is empty.

Briscola Chiamata

(4-5p, 5 best). Deal eight each in fours, or, if four play, 10 each in

batches of 4-2-4. There fol ows an auction to decide who wil play

against the others, either alone or with a secret al y. A bid is made

by naming a card by rank only (e.g. Ace, Trey, King, etc.). Whoever

names the lowest card becomes the soloist and announces trumps.

Whoever holds the cal ed rank of the declared trump becomes his

partner, but may reveal himself only by the play. A bid dermay cal

a card in his own hand, there by playing without a partner, but

does not announce this fact.

Eldest leads. Players are not required to fol ow suit but are free to

play any card. A trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led, or

by the highest trump if any are played. The winner of each trick

leads to the next.

If the declarer takes 61+ card-points without an al y, he scores 4

game-points, otherwise it is 2 to him and 1 to his al y. Either way,

each opponent loses 1 point. These scores are doubled for winning

every trick, and reversed if the declarer loses. Game is 11 points.

Variant A Deuce bid may be overcal ed by raising infives the

minimum number of card-points required to win, e.g. ‘66’, ‘71’, etc.

Briscolone

(2p) As two-handed Briscola, but with five cards each and no

trumps. As in al forms of Briscola, players are not required to

fol ow suit but are always free to play any card.

Brusquembil e

(2p) A probable ancestor of this family, Brusquembil e is first

recorded in 1718 and takes its name from that of a famous French

actor of the day. Play as Briscola, but with a 32-card pack, ranking

and counting A11, T10, K4, Q3, J2, Nine-Eight-Seven zero. Aces and

and counting A11, T10, K4, Q3, J2, Nine-Eight-Seven zero. Aces and

Tens are brus-quembil es, and a side-payment is made for winning

a trick with, or containing, each of them.

Bisca

(2-4p, 40c) A relative of Briscola played by Asian Indians in

Guyana; description elicited by Andrew Pennycook from informants

at an ethnic party in London, circa 1975. Two or three play for

themselves, four crosswise in partnerships. Forty cards, ranking and

counting as fol ows:

A 7 K J Q 6 5 4 3 2

11 10 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 0

If three play, remove a low card. Deal three each, stack the rest

face down, establish trumps by cut and show. Play tricks, drawing

from stock (winner first) after each one. To the lead of a non-trump

you may fol ow suit or trump as preferred, but may renounce only

if unable to fol ow. To a trump lead you may play anything (sic).

When the stock is exhausted, play the remaining cards out. The

winner is the player or side with the greatest value in card-points.

There is, however, a ‘sudden death’ win, made by capturing a Seven

with the Ace of the same suit.

Bisca is also played in Brazil, but with a 52-card pack headed Ace

11, Ten 10, King 4, Jack 3, Queen 2, and with a hand of nine cards

each. To the lead of a trump, you must fol ow suit and head the

trick if possible, but to any non-trump lead you are free to play any

card without restriction.

Brisca

(2-4p, 40c) Three-card Bisca as played in Spain. One source says

that players must fol ow suit to the card led, another says they do

not. The lat er seems more likely.

Bohemian Schneider

2 players, 32 cards

A nice lit le two-hander from central Europe.

Deal six cards each, in two rounds of three, from a 32-card pack

ranking and counting as fol ows:

A K Q J T 9 8 7

11 4 3 2 10 0 0 0

The aim is to win card-points in tricks, which are played in an

unusual way. Non-dealer leads to the first trick and the winner of

each trick leads to the next, after having drawn the top card of stock

(so long as any remain) and waited for the other to draw the next.

The second to a trick may play any card regardless of suit, but can

win the trick only by playing the next higher card of the suit led.

For example, T, if led, can be captured only by J. Count a single

game or stake for taking 61+ card-points, double for 91+, treble

for al 120 (not necessarily winning every trick).

Variations

1. By agreement, an Ace is captured by the Seven of its suit.

2. By agreement, a card is captured by any card of the next

higher rank, regardless of suit.

3. In a simpler version, possibly ancestral, the counting-cards al

count 1 each. You score 1 for taking 11+, 2 for 16+, 3 for al

20.

Elfern

(2p, 32c) A primitive German game akin to Bohemian Schneider.

(2p, 32c) A primitive German game akin to Bohemian Schneider.

Elfern means ‘making elevens’. Its alternative title, Figurenspiel,

means ‘the honours game’. Though not an ‘Ace-11’ game, it may be

ancestral to the family.

Deal six each from a 32-card pack ranking AKQJT987 and stack

the rest face down. The aim is to capture, in tricks, at least 11 of the

20 honours – Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks and Tens. Eldest leads. Suit