In France this is simply Jeu de Tarot, which just means The
Game of Tarot. Well, there may just be the one game in France but
this book is full of games of tarot and so I’ve chosen an archaic
French spelling with a nice Gallic note to distinguish it. The basic
game is for four players but there are variants for three, five, and
six players that I shall give at the end. This is possibly the most
widely played tarot game and I have known players as far a field as
Spain to Ukraine – this alone makes it worth adding to your gaming
repertoire but it is also a very good game in its own right and I
particularly recommend the five player version as one of the best and
most fun games I have ever played.
In France there is a nationwide Tarot Federation that oversees
‘official’ rules – but really, those are just the rules
official to it and the tournaments organised for its members.
In fact there is a great deal of ‘unofficial’ variation in how
this is played and as according to Bunbury is no more according to a
Federation than it is to Hoyle – the rules given here are the ones
found most fun according to Bunbury.
Pack: A Loka
of 78
cards is used consisting of four regular suits of 14 cards, a suit of
21
trumps (excluding
the Good & Evil cards),
and The Fool.
Ranking: Rational ranking
is used...
Pip cards rank in suit from high to low:
King, Queen, Cavalier, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace
Trumps rank by their number, 21
high, 1 low.
Empty Cards: These are cards that have values of 1 point or
less.
Honours: The magician, The World, and The Fool are called
The Honours. They are always among the highest scoring cards.
Card Points are:
| Honours | 5 points |
| Kings | 5 points |
| Queens | 4 points |
| Cavaliers | 3 points |
| Jacks | 2 points |
| All others | 1 point |
A game consists of as many hands as there are players
Deal: First Dealer is chosen at random or by consent with
the role moving to the player on the left after each hand.
Four Players: Dealer hands out eighteen cards to each
player in packets of three, dealing six cards (neither the first six,
nor the last) to the stock.
Three Players: Dealer hands out twenty-four cards to each
player in packets of four, dealing six cards (neither the first six,
nor the last) to the stock.
Five Players: Dealer hands out fifteen cards in packets of
five, dealing three cards (neither the first three, nor the last) to
the stock/
If a player has no trumps save for The Magician, then they may
either call for the hand to be re-dealt (by the same Dealer) or
declare that they have “Brass Balls”. In such a case, the
hand is played out normally but The Magician behaves in the same way
as The Fool and accordingly cannot be lost.
Auction: In turn moving to the left and starting with
Eldest (Dealer’s left), players may bid for the role of Declarer,
playing for themselves against the others who will be the Defenders.
From low to high the bids are...
I’ll Play: If won, Declarer reveals the cards of the
stock for all to see, then takes them into his/her hand. Declarer
must then discard as many cards as there were in the stock, which may
not include Kings, Honours, or Trumps. If there is no alternative
however, then trumps may be discarded but must be shown to the other
players first. The discard will count toward Declarers tricks at the
end unless no tricks have been won.
Solo: If won, this is played as I’ll Play, save for
higher stakes.
Solo with the stock: If won, then the stock goes unseen to
Declarer’s tricks. However, if Declarer fails to win any tricks,
then the stock is lost to the Defenders.
Solo against the stock: If won, then the stock goes unseen
toward the Defender’s tricks.
If all players pass, then the hand is thrown in and re-dealt by
the same Dealer.
Rally a King: If a five player game is being played,
then Declarer must now call for a partner. This is done by calling
for a king not held and whichever player holds it will be Declarer’s
partner – though they cannot announce that until the end (their
identity should become clear enough from their game play however).
Declarations: Before play commences, players have the
opportunity to declare for bonus points.
Abundance: If players have enough trumps in their hand,
then they may declare them for bonus points by laying them face up
for the other players to see. There is no obligation to declare an
Abundance and a player who does so need not declare all they can –
just the minimum of score. However, they can only score for what they
declare.
Number of Players
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
The Sparrow: When announced, the player contracts to win
the last trick with The Magician, scoring 20 points against the other
side (Declarer scores against each of the Defenders, the Defenders
each score against Declarer). However, if announced and failed, a 20
point penalty is due instead.
Slam: When announced, the player contracts to win every
trick for 400 points scored against the other side. If failed, then a
400 point penalty is due instead.
Bonuses: Players may win bonuses for unannounced
achievements (The Sparrow and a Slam) but they score fewer points.
The Sparrow: Won unannounced in the Declarations round,
this will only score 10 points.
Slam: Won Unannounced in the Declarations round, this will
score 200 points.
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 trumps have already been played to the trick,
then if they can, they must play a higher trump than any already
played. If they cannot follow suit or play a trump, then 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: Scoring in tarot games is notoriously odd and up
until now, I have simplified it for you. However, this is a game so
widely played, that it would be a disservice to you not to use the
recognised method.
Card points are counted in pairs of cards, subtracting 1 point for
every pair. There are therefore 91 points in the pack. The number of
points that Declarer needs to win the hand depends upon how many
Honours are in his/her trick pile.
No Honours
|
56 points needed to win
|
One Honour
|
51 points needed to win
|
Two Honours
|
41 points needed to win
|
Three Honours
|
36 points needed to win
|
As The World and The Fool cannot be lost, winning or protecting
The Magician is a priority in this game.
Once the winner is determined then points can be calculated.
First, 25 points are scored for winning the hand, then add to this
the difference between the number of card points needed to win
against the number of points Declarer actually took, then add points
for winning The Sparrow. Multiply this result according to the bid
being played:
I’ll Play
|
x1
|
Solo
|
x2
|
Solo without
the stock
|
x4
|
Solo against
the stock
|
x6
|
Finally, points for a Slam can be added. If Declarer won, then the
result is won against each of the Defenders, if lost however, it must
be paid to each of them.
Scores between Partners: If the five player game is played
then winnings and losses are both divided between them 2:1. So, if
Declarer’s side wins, then one defender will pay Partner their
share, while the other two Defenders pay Declarer. Conversely, if
Declarer’s side loses, then Partner will pay one of the Defenders,
while Declarer will pay the other two.
No comments:
Post a Comment