Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (65 page)

The other players have two choices: meet or beat the rank of the previous card, or play their lowest-ranking card. If 7 of hearts leads, for example, the following
player may play another 7, a higher-ranking card in any suit, or his lowest-ranking card in any suit. The highest card wins the trick. If cards of equal rank are played in the same trick, the most recently played high-card wins. Scores are tallied once all cards are played, and the deal shifts clockwise.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   low
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   medium
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

If you’ve spent any time in small Italian towns watching old men play cards, odds are they were playing Briscola. It’s both the Italian word for “trump” and one of Italy’s most popular card games.

Briscola is a simple multiplayer game, easy to learn and even easier to master. If you’re not quickly charmed by Briscola, try Briscola Bastarda instead. The
five-player variant
features a mystery card, an unknown partner, and three-against-two game play. Still not loving Briscola? That’s OK, when all else fails, try the two-person game of Bura, which closely resembles this game but is more strategic.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS
2 to 6

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and remove all 8s, 9s, and 10s for a total of forty cards. For three-player games, remove one 2 from the deck, for a total of thirty-nine cards. For six-player games, remove all 2s from the deck, for a total of thirty-six cards. In Briscola, cards always rank (high to low) A, 3, K, Q, J, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2.

The dealer is chosen at random. Each player receives three cards dealt face down, one at a time. The dealer then turns over the top card to determine trump, and places that card at the bottom of the stock so that it remains partly visible.

SCORING
The goal is to win tricks that contain point cards. With 120 possible points in play (see scoring chart below), the winner of each round is the player
who scores 61 points or better. Briscola is typically played to the best of three or five games.

HOW TO PLAY
The player to the left of the dealer leads the first trick, playing any card from her hand. The other players are not required to follow suit—with the caveat that a trick is won by the highest card of the leading suit, or by the highest trump played.

After each trick all players (starting with the trick winner) take an extra card from the stock. The trick winner leads the next trick.

The game continues until players first exhaust the stock and then play the remaining cards in their hands. At this point, the game ends, players tally their points, and the player with the most points wins.

VARIATION 1: FOUR-HAND BRISCOLA

The four-player version is identical to the standard game, except that the players form two teams. The scores of each team are added together, and the team with the highest total score wins. If you’re new to partnership games, here’s
one small piece of advice: If your partner leads with a high trump, don’t over-trump (play a higher trump). This will only make your partner sad and irritable.

VARIATION 2: BRISCOLA BASTARDA

This Briscola variant is exclusively for five players. For added spice, there is a round of bidding, with the winner earning the right to declare the Briscola, or trump, for that round. The twist is that the player who declares trump does so by naming a card that may or may not be in his own hand. If the player calls a Briscola that he is already holding, the game is played four against one. If the player instead calls a Briscola he does not have, the player holding the Briscola is secretly partnered with the bidder and is not allowed to disclose her identity until the Briscola card is finally played.

Deal each player eight cards, so that all forty cards are in play. Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, each player is asked to declare how many points he or she will win in the hand. Each subsequent bid must be higher than the previous bid. Players who pass once are ineligible to bid again.

When all players but one pass, the highest bidder declares the Briscola, or trump card. You may select a card you already hold, or choose a card that will strengthen your hand. For example, if you are long in spades but lack the A of spades, you could declare A of spades as the Briscola. This makes spades the trump suit and partners you with whichever player holds the A of spades. The remaining three players form an ad hoc team with the goal of preventing the two-player partnership from winning points.

If the bidder calls a Briscola he or she already holds, then it’s four against one (though other players may not realize this until the bidder actually plays the Briscola, since it’s unclear who—if any—of the other players might also be holding the Briscola).

The rest of the game is identical to the standard version of Briscola, except when it comes to the final scoring. The bidder and the Briscola holder add their points together. If the total is greater than or equal to the original bid, the bidder scores 2 points, the holder scores 1 point, and the other three players each score -1 point. On the other hand, if the total score is less than the original
bid, the bidder scores -2 points, the holder scores -1 point, and each of the three opposing players score 1 point.

If the bidder was playing alone (if she declared a Briscola that was already in her hand), the bidder wins or loses 4 points and all other players win or lose 1 point. Games of Briscola Bastarda are typically played to 15 points.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   low
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   short
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

Here’s a game that rewards bald-faced lying and cuss words. How refreshing. If kids are playing, you can recast the game as “Cheat” (its name in England) or “I Doubt It!” (its name in Russia).

NUMBER OF PLAYERS
3 to 10

HOW TO DEAL
Deal out a fifty-two-card deck to all players, face down. It’s OK if some players have an extra card or two.

SCORING
The goal is to be the first player to lose all your cards.

HOW TO PLAY
The player to the left of the dealer goes first. Play, face down, as many aces as you have, and say something like “two aces” or “three aces.” It is absolutely fine if you don’t really have any aces—the name of the game is bullshit, and lying is an integral part of the game (in fact, it’s the whole point of the game).