Bunbury's Rules of Tarot

This is a three player game where all play for themselves. It’s twist has players keep tally of their scores as they play and going out when they reach 35 card points.

Pack: A reduced tarot of 54 cards is used consisting of four regular suits of 8 cards, a suit of 21 trumps, and The Fool.

Card Points:

Honours	5 points
Kings	5 points
Queens	4 points
Cavaliers	3 points
Valets	2 points
All Others	1 point

The cards are counted individually and total 105. Players are expected to keep a track of the points they win during the game. The point values differ a little from the norm in that The Fool is only worth 4 instead of the usual 5. This is to make a round number for players to go out on.

Ranking: Standard ranking is used...

Pip cards rank in suit from high to low:

King, Queen, Cavalier, Valet, 10, 9, 8, 7

Empty Cards: These are cards that have values of 1 point or less.

Honours: The Juggler, The World, and The Fool are called The Honours. They are always among the highest scoring cards.

A game consists of three hands.

Deal: First Dealer is chosen at random or by consent with the role moving to the player on the left after each hand.

Dealer hands out 17 cards to each player, taking the remaining cards into his/her own hand. Dealer must them discard 3 which may not include Kings or Honours and may only include trumps if there is no option, if trumps are discarded then they must be shown to the other players. The discards will count towards Dealer’s tricks at the end of the hand.

Play: Eldest (Dealer’s left) 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. When more than one of the Powers are played to a trick, the last one to be played trumps any of the others (save a higher trump). 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 its player who then places it in their trick pile and gives another card from their trick pile in exchange. However, if they have not won any tricks by that time, then The Fool is forfeit.

Signals: When leading to a trick, there are three signals that players are obliged to make. If an opponent requests that they be repeated, then you must do so.

• If you lead to a trick from a suit in which you have four or more cards, then you must drag it from you right to your left before playing it.
• If leading a card to a suit in which you hold the King, then you must call “King” as you play it.
• If leading with a nation suit and you believe that the last player will trump it, then you must knock the table with your fist.

Going Out: During a hand, when a player reaches 35 points, they must declare that they are out. In reckoning their score, they may include an unplayed World or Fool, as these cannot be lost. The player then continues to play but to these rules:

• The Fool, if still held, may not be played until the last trick.
• When leading to a trick, the highest trump must be led. If no more trumps are held, then the highest card of any nation suit must be led instead.
• When playing to a trick, if it is clear that the trick cannot be won, then the lowest card allowed must be played. If it can be won, then it must be won with the highest card held.