Briscola

Briscola is the Italian trick-taking game, known in Spain as Brisca. Two players play alone, or four play in fixed pairs. There is no obligation to follow suit. The Ace and the Three outrank every court card, and the side that takes more than half the card points wins the deal.

Turns pass to the next seat. The dealer is chosen at random for the first deal and rotates to the next seat after every deal, including a drawn one.

A 40-card Spanish deck in four suits: Coins (oros), Cups (copas), Swords (espadas), and Clubs (bastos). Each suit is Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Jack (Sota), Knight (Caballo), and King (Rey). There are no 8s, 9s, or 10s.

Trick strength is not the number printed on the card. From strongest to weakest:

Aces and Threes are the loads. A Three beats a King. A Two is the lowest card in its suit. Each suit is worth 30 points, and the deck totals 120.

The dealer gives three cards to each seat, face down. The next card is turned face up: that card is the briscola, and its suit is trump for the deal. It stays visible, tucked under the stock, and it is the last card drawn.

The seat after the dealer leads the first trick.

On your turn, play any one card from your hand. You may follow the suit led, trump, or throw an off-suit card. Nothing is compulsory.

The trick is won by the highest trump in it. If nobody played a trump, the highest card of the suit led wins. An off-suit card that is not trump never wins.

The winning side takes the trick, face down. The trick's winner leads the next trick.

While cards remain, the winner of the trick draws first, then each other player in turn order, one card each, restoring every hand to three. The face-up briscola is the last card. It goes to the seat immediately before the trick winner: the loser, when two are playing, and the fourth drawer, when four are.

Once that card has been drawn, everyone still knows what it is and who holds it, until it is played. The stock order itself stays hidden.

After the briscola is drawn, three tricks are played with no further draws. The winner of a trick still leads the next one, including the last.

You see your own three cards. In a partnership game you do not see your partner's hand.

The two partners (or each player, when two play) pool one total. Points are not shown while the deal is being played, and won tricks cannot be looked through.

When the last trick is taken, the cards are turned up and counted: the loads first, then the court cards. More than 60 points wins the deal. Exactly 60 each is a draw, and a draw counts for neither side.

Before the first deal, the table chooses how many deals a side must win: 1, 2, 3, or 5. Two is the usual match. Drawn deals do not move the match score. The first side to reach that number wins the match.

Your hand sits at the bottom. The stock is at the side, with the face-up briscola tucked beneath it. The current trick is in the center, and each side has a face-down pile of tricks it has won. With four players your partner sits opposite and the opponents sit to either side.

A gold badge names the trump suit and stays up after the face-up card has been drawn, including the name of the seat holding it. Holding a card shows its trick strength and its point value. Loads carry a small gold mark.