Pack: A reduced tarot of 63 cards consisting of four nation suits, a suit of 21 trumps, and The Fool.
Card Points:
| Honours | 10 points |
| Kings | 5 points |
| Queens | 4 points |
| Cavaliers | 3 points |
| Valets | 2 points |
| XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX | 5 points |
| All Others | No value |
Ranking: Standard ranking is used...
Cups, Coins, and Batons rank from high to low:
King, Queen, Cavalier, Valet, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5
Swords ranks from high to low:
King, Queen, Cavalier, Valet, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, Ace
Empty Cards: These are cards have no value.
Honours: The Juggler, The World, and The Fool are called The Honours. They are always among the highest scoring cards.
A game consists of four hands.
Deal:
First Dealer is chosen at random or by consent with the role moving
to the player on the left after each hand.
Each player is dealt two packets of five cards
before three are dealt to a stock pile. Players are then dealt a
final packet of five.
Bargaining:
After examining their hands, there is an opportunity for players to
bargain to throw in the hand for a re-deal. Each player may speak
once in this round but in no particular order. Their options are to
call:
-
“I throw for___” citing the number of game points they will accept to throw in the hand.
-
“I’ll pay ___” citing the number of game points they will give to throw in the hand.
-
“I take” to accept an offer to throw in the hand.
-
“I hold” to play the hand.
If any player calls to hold, or else if nobody
accepts an offer, then the hand must be played.
Auction:
There is then a round of bidding in which players may bid to become
declarer, playing against the others who will be the Defenders, or to
play as declarer in partnership with another player.
Solo: The round begins
with the players in turn – starting with Eldest and ending with
Dealer – either calling Solo or Pass. The first to do so becomes
declarer, showing the cards of the stock to the other players before
taking them into his/her hand. Declarer must them discard three cards
that will count toward his/her tricks – these may not include any
cards worth five or more points, or, unless there is no option,
trumps.
Prop: If no player accepts
the offer to play Solo, then Dealer takes the stock and discards
three cards as above that will count toward his/her tricks at the
end. Players in turn – starting with Eldest and ending with Dealer
– may then call “Prop” if they want a partner –
however, they may only do this if they have 5 and 10 point cards
totalling at least 20 points.
If all players pass, then the hand is thrown in
and the deal passes to the next player. Otherwise, each player in
turn – starting with Declarer’s right – may either call “Pass”
or, if they have 5 and 10 point cards totalling at least 15, then
they may call “Cop” to take the role as Partner to
Declarer.
If all players pass, then if there is at least one
King that Declarer does not hold, then he/she will call “I Rally
the King of________” naming a suit. The King called must be
that of their shortest suit (ie the suit with the fewest
cards),excluding void suits (ie suits in which no cards are held), in
which The King isn’t held. If two or more suits qualify, then the
one with the best courts must be called, if two or more are still
equal, then Coins must be called – unless they are either void with
with the King, in which case, any suit may be called.
If all Four Kings are held, then Declarer will
call “I Rally the Queen of________” under the same rules.
Whoever holds the rallied royal will then be
partner but they may not announce themselves as such – their
identity will be revealed through play.
Play:
Declarer leads to the first trick by placing a card face up on the
table. Each player in turn, moving to the left, must play a card from
their hand of the suit led – this is called following suit. If they
do not have any cards of the suit led, it is called being void in
that suit and they must play a trump card instead. However, if they
have no trumps, they may then play any other card, though it will not
win. Whoever plays the highest trump to the trick wins it, or if
trumps are not played, then whoever played the highest card of the
suit led wins it. The winner takes the cards and places them face
down in their trick pile to be counted at the end.
The player that wins the trick then leads to the
next one and play continues until the hand has been played out.
If The Fool is held, then it may be played at any
time instead of a card that the rules might otherwise require and
although it will not win, it is seldom lost. When played, The Fool is
returned to to its player who then places it face up beside them
until the end of the hand when they must pay the player who won the
trick with a card from their trick pile (obviously, they will choose
an empty card if they can). However, if they have taken no tricks,
then they must surrender The Fool instead.
Scores:
Players keep their own trick piles, combining them at the end of the
hand within partnerships. Card points are counted individually,
adding 1 point for each trick. Along with a bonus of 5 points winning
the last trick, there are 126 points in the pack. Teams win or lose
against their opponents a game point for every card point over or
bellow 63.
No comments:
Post a Comment