Playing Briscola On Canal Street Manhattan

Lock-Top Card Case

I found this 0.65 cup snack container at the local discount store. It is a little larger than an altoids tin and has waterproof lock-top cover.  It turns out to be the right  size for a deck of cards. These could be used to make some great mini game kits for backpackers. If any readers have ideas or suggestions on what to fill them with or modifications to the container please share them in the comments.

Zolite

This card game  is favorite in Latvia. Has the feel of Tarok, but with very small deck an easier to learn rules.

Players 3

Equipment

Deck of cards with  the 2-8 cards of clubs, spades, and hearts, removed. From the diamond suit the 2-6 cards are removed.

Chips for keeping score.

How to play

The dealer deals eight cards to each player and two cards to the middle of the table.

Starting from the dealer’s left, each player in turn declares whether they want to play with or without a partner. The first player to chose playing without a partner is called the big one or Ilielais . The big one gets to take the two cards in the middle of the table, and discard two cards into his or her trick pile. 

The big one may decide to declare a Zole. In this case they feel thier hand is good enough not to need the two cards from the middle of the table and those cards are put unseen it the small ones trick pile.

After a player choses to be the big one the other two players are automatically the Small Ones or  mazais. 

  If all three players decline to be the big one, the hand is  re-dealt and a chip from each player is put in the center of the table. The winner of the next hand wins the chips from the pool in addtion to the chips won for that hand.

The first trick is led by the player on the dealers left. The winner of the last trick leads the next trick.

Players must follow suit. If they cannot follow suit they may play any card they chose.

The trick is won by the highest trump card played. If no trump card was played the trick is won by the highest card in the suit led.

The ranking of the cards are high to low as follows

In the suit of Hearts, Spades, and Clubs: Ace, Ten, King, and Nine

In the Trump suit :Queen of Clubs, Queen of Spades, Queen of Hearts, Queen of Diamonds, Jack of Clubs, Jack of Spades, Jack of Hearts, Jack of Diamonds, The Ace, Ten, King, Nine, Eight, and Seven of Diamonds

After all eight tricks have been played the players count the points they have captured in their tricks. The two small ones combine their score.

The value of the cards are as follows

Aces   11 points

Tens  10 points

kings 4 points

Queens 3 points

Jacks 2 points

Nines, eights, and seven 0 points

The player or  team that collected over 60 points wins the hand. The player or team that wins with 61 -90 points wins a chip from each of the losing players. A win of 91-119 points earns the winning player or team two chips from each the losing players. A win of 120 points earns the winning player or team three chips from each the losing players.

If the player has declared a Zole that an extra four chips is won by the winning player or team from each losing player.

Hidden Xiang Qi

 
I discovered an intriguing Xiang Qi variant. It is played like tradtional Xiang Qi with the following differences. 

At the begining of the game all  of the player’s pieces  except the general are mixed up face down . The player then places the general on it’s normal postion in the fortress. The remains pieces are put  face down on spots for a normal starting postion.

A piece that is upside down moves like a piece whose starting postion it occupies. For example, an upside down piece that starts on the intersection where a chariot starts the game moves like a chariot. After a piece has had it’s first move, it is flipped over showing what kind of piece it is. A  piece that is flipped over moves as it tradtionaliy does in Xiang Qi. Elephants and Advisors may cross the river.

If anyone has experience playing this style of Xiang Qi, please write about it in the comments. 

Skelly, A New York Street Game

  

While visiting New York I wanted to find a place to play one of my favorite street games. After much searching, a Skelly court was found in a playground on Mulberry street.

Skelly is best with 3 to 6 players. Players use their  fingers to flick a bottel cap into each of the numbered boxes in order 1 thrue 13, and then back down 13 to 1. If the player’s cap is not inside the lines of the numbered box they were shooting for, the cap stays where it is and it is the next players turn. 

If a player’s cap lands in the outer box surrounding number 13( the dead box), the player is trapped untill hit  by another player who gets moves up two boxes in his or her sequence for knocking the player out of the dead box.

If a player’s cap hits another player’s cap, the shooters cap is moved to the next box in his or her sequence.

When a player has completed the full course from 1 to thirteen and back to 1, he or she can become a killer. The cap is flicked  from the 1 box to the 13 box. After reaching the thirteen box the player shoots to each of the 4 quadrants of the dead box and becomes a killer. If the player misses any of the four quadrants they must start again from the one box.  

A cap that is a killer can go into the dead square without being trapped.

When a killer hits another cap, that cap it is removed from the game.  When all but one cap is left in the game that player  is the winner. 

Some play if a killer cap is hit the shooters cap becomes a killer, other play that it he shooter’s cap is removed from the game.

If you have an experiences playing Skelly or making Skelly caps please share them in the comments.

Tysiąc

When asked what game should I learn before going on a trip to Poland, the answer was Tysiąc.  This three player trick taking game has an interesting rule that allows the trump suit to change mid hand. Chcesz ze mna zagrac? 

Players 3

Equipment 

A deck of cards with the 2-8 cards removed

Score pad

How to play

The ranking of the cards and the points earned when collected in a trick are as follows

Ace     11 points

Ten.    10 points

King.     4 points

Queen  3 points

Jack       2 points

Nine      0 points

A player also earns points by declaring a combination of a king and queen of the same suit( called a mariage)

King and Queen of Hearts		100 points
King and Queen of Diamonds		80 points
King and Queen of Clubs		60 points
King and Queen of Spades		40 points

The dealer is chosen at random. The dealer deals seven cards to each player and three to the center of the table. The three cards in the center are called the prikup. 

The bids are numbers: the lowest bid is 100 and all bids must be multiples of 5, so the possible bids are 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, etc. The highest bidder undertakes to win at least this number of points from cards in tricks plus declarations.

The player to the dealer’s left bids first must  bid at least 100. The bidding continues clockwise and each player must either bid higher than the previous bid or pass. A player who has passed cannot bid again. The bidding continues  until two of the players have passed. The winner of the biding is the declarer.

Since there are only 120 card points, higher bids can only be fulfilled by declaring king-queen pairs. A player can only   bid more than 120 unless if he or she  has at least one king-queen pair in thier  hand.

The declarer then turns over the three prikup cards  for the other players to see. The declarer then adds them to his or her hand. The declarer next gives away any two unwanted cards from his or her hand. One card is passed face down to each of the other two players. Every player will now have eight cards.

After the card exchange the declarer is allowed to increase the bid to any higher multiple of 5, or to keep his or her original bid.

After the prikup has been exchanged, if any player has all four nines, that player can show his or her cards and demand that the hand is abandoned, with no score. The cards  are shuffled, cut and redealt by the same dealer. 

Play begins with the declarer leading the first trick, and the winner of each trick leads to the next. 

There are no trumps trumps at the start of the game. This changes when the winner of a trick holds the king and queen of a suit. He or she may announce them and the suit  of the king-queen combination then  becomes trumps. The trump suit stays the same  until another king-queen combination is declared or the hand ends.

To declare a king queen combination the player must have won the previous trick, have both cards in his or her hand at the time of the declaration, and  must lead the next trick with the King or the Queen.

Players must  follow suit if possible. When there are no trumps, a player who is unable to follow suit may play any card. When there is a trump suit, a player who cannot follow suit must play a trump if possible. A player unable to follow suit who has no trumps may play any card. A trick is won by the highest trump played to it, or, if it contains no trump, by the highest card of the suit led. 

After all the tricks have been played each of the three players adds up the card points in their own tricks and adds the value of any king-queen combinations they announced. 

If the declarer’s points total is at least as much as the bid, the bid is added to the declarer’s  score. If not, the bid is subtracted from the decalarer’s scoreea

Each of the other players rounds the point value of their tricks and announcements to the nearest 5, and adds the result to his or her  score.

The first player to reach 1,000 points wins.

Variations

To make a more challanging game many players use the following extra scoring rules.

A player may not to have a score between 880 and 1000. If a player whose score was previously below 880 scores enough points to take it to 880 or more (but less than 1000), the player’s score becomes 880 and a box is drawn around it  is to show that the player is on the barrel. 

A player on the barrel has three chances to be the declarer and score at least 120 points on a hand to win the game . If the player is still on the barrel after three hands they fall off the barrel and lose 120 points.  If the player on the barrel is not he declarer, they do not get to keep any of the points collected in thier tricks. If a player is on the barrel and loses a bid as the declarer, they are no longer on the barrel. 

An opponent of the bidder is given a horizontal line in thier score colum if , they not on the barrel and take no points in  thier tricks. The player has 120 points subtracted from his or her score for every thrird horizontal lines in thier score colum.

If the declarer thinks he or she can not make thier bid after having seen the prikup, they  may declare a Rospisat’ (Росписать). The hand is discarded and a P is entered into the decalarer’s score column. Each opponent earns 60 points. A player loses 120 points for every three P in thier score column. A player on the barrel may not declare a Rospisat 

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Rengo………The Tag Team Go Game

If you are a Go player searching for a new challange, then try this variation of partnership Go. Players  playing with a partner take turns placing the stones on the board for the team. And just to make it a little more challanging, the players can not  consult with each other about what moves they should make.

Rengo is played like tradtional Go with the following changes.

A team is made  up of two players. One team plays black and the other plays white.   A player from one team plays a stone and then a player from the other team. Afterwards the player from the other team who did not place a stone that turn places a stone followed by the oposing teammate who had not placed a stone last turn.

During the game, the partners can not talk about the game except about the following execteptions. 

They may ask if it thier turn. 

Alert a player that they played out of sequence.

Ask  if the team can resign.

If an out of sequence play is noticed before the next play and it was intentional, the game is forfeit by the player. If unintentional there is a 3 prisoner penalty and normal rotation continues from the player who just played. No moves are undone.

Improvised Tarok Deck

  

Want to play Tarok but do not have the right deck, here is a solution. All you need is two decks of regular playing cards  with the same backing and a marker. From the first deck take out all the face cards, the Ace-4 of hearts and Diamonds, and 7-10 of Clubs and Spades. From the other deck we are going to take cards to be the trump suit and the cavaliers. Take all four Jacks and with the marker write a C next to the J in the corners. These are for the cavaliers. Take the Joker out and that will be used for the Škis. Finaly take the Ace-6 of spades and the 7-10 of Hearts and Diamonds. With these cards you can make the 21 cards needed for the trump suit. In the corners of the card write it’s rank Roman numerals. The Ace of spades is I all the way to the 10 of Diamond which is XXI. Now you are ready to play.

Slovenian Tarok

  

A challanging  trick taking game with hidden partnerships and daring plays.

Players 4

Equipment

Slovenian style Tarok deck

Score pad

How to play

The cards are ranked as follows

In the trump suit( also called Tarocks) the cards are highest to lowest Skis and then the XXI of trumps down to the I of trumps

In the suit of Clubs and Spades from highest to lowest is King, Queen,Cavaliar, Jack, and 10-7.

In the suit of Hearts and Diamonds from highest to lowest is King, Queen,Cavaliar,  Jack, and 1-4

From left to right is the Skis or fool, the XXI of trumps or Mond, and the I of trumps or Pagat

  

Face cards are ranked King, Queen, Cavaliar, then Jack

   

 

Cards from the suit of Hearts and Diamonds are ranked from Ace down 4. Cards from Spades and Clubs are ranked from 10 down to 7.

 

When collected tricks cards have the following hand point value

 Skis………………………………………..4 points

XXI of trumps………………………….4 points

I of trumps……………………………..4 points

King………………………………………..4 points

Queen ……………………………………3 points

Cavalier …………………………………..2 points

Jacks…………………………………………1 point

For every three cards collected…1 point

The dealer gives each player gets 12 cards (in batches of 6 going counter clockwise) and 6 cards are put in the middle of the table (the Talon).

Players look at thier cards and  begin  bidding to decided who will be the declarer. The Players speak in turn going counter clock wise.  The player to the dealer’s right  is obligated to bid during the first round of bidding, he or she may pass later if another player makes a higher bid.  The other players may  make a higher bid  or pass, but after passing the player takes no further part in the bidding. A player may also make an equal bid if the player who made the current highest bid comes after that player in the bidding order. Biding  continues around the table until all but one player has passed.  After the bidding is complete the declarer may further raise the bid if he or she choses including a special bid of Color Valat. A bid of Color Valat maybe chosen after the discarding , if the declarer wins the auction with a bid of solo three- solo one.

The bids are from lowest to highest

Three

Two

One

Three solo

Two solo

One solo

Beggar

Solo without

Open Beggar

Color Valat without

Valat  Without

If  the declarer won with a bid of three, two, or one then a king is called. The declarer calls the suit of a king  and the player who has that King is his or her hand becomes the declarer’s  partner for that hand. However the partner can not comunicate to the declarer that they hold the king. If the declarer won with a bid higher than one he or she plays  without a partner.

When the player to the dealers right makes a opening bid of three and every other player passes the player may call Klop rather than call a King. When playing a Klop all players are trying avoid winning tricks, and the Klop has rules different from the normal game. If a player has no trumps in his or her hand, the hand is shown and a new hand is dealt. During this new hand if there is no player willing to bid solo without or higher, this hand is played as a Klop. A Klop is also played after a players score returns to exactly zero from a positive or negative score.

If the declarer won the auction with a bid bellow Beggar, the talon is then exposed for all players to see. A bid of Beggar or above the Talon is left face down. If the declarer bid a three or three solo, he or she may take the top three or bottom three cards of the Talon. With a bid of two or two solo the top, middle, or bottom two cards may be picked up. With a bid of one or one solo any card may be picked up. 

After the declarer picks his or her cards they discard to the same number of cards as they picked up. He or she may not discard Kings, the XXI of trumps, or the Skis. Trumps can only be discarded if there is no other legal card that can be discarded, and the trumps must be shown to the other players. The discarded cards are scored with cards won by the declarer in tricks at the end of the hand. The remaining cards in the Talon are added to the cards won by the declarer’s opponents. 

If the king that was called is in the Talon, the declarer may forfeit the hand. The lose 10 points for a bid of 3, 20 points for a bid of 2, or 30 points for a bid of 1. He or she may also continue the hand. If the declarer picks a group of the Talon that has the called King, the remaining cards of the Talon are won by the player who wins the trick containing the called King.

Players may announce certain bonus after the declarer has discarded but before the first trick is played. Announcements are made in turn starting with player to the dealers right and continuing around the table counter clockwise. 

The bonuses are as follows

Trull– The player’s team that wins the Skis, XXI of trumps, and the I of trumps in thier tricks earns this bonus

Four Kings– The player’s team that wins all four Kings in thier tricks earnss this bonus

Pagat ultimo- The player who wins the last the last trick with the I of trumps earns this bonus. This can only be called by the holder of the I of trumps. The player may not play the I of trumps untill the last trick, unless it the only legal play.

King Ultimo–  The player whose team wins the last the last trick ,and that trick contains the called King earns this bonus. The player who calls it must hold the called King. The player may not play the called King untill the last trick unless it is the only legal play.

Valat- The player’s team that wins every trick wins this bonus. The team wins 500 points if the succeed or lose 500 if they fail. There are no other scores or bonus collected if this announcement is made. 

A player may also call Kontra or double on the bid or announcement. A player calls Kontra when they do not think the opponent will succeed in winning the hand they bid or achieving an announcement. A player can not a call a Kontra against his or her partner. If the player is not sure if the player is his or her partner, they may not call Kontra against them. A Kontra of the bid doubles the value of basic score of the game that was bid. If a Kontra is called on a announcement, it value is doubled. After a Kontra has been called the other side may Rekontra making the value four times the orignal value. The team that called Kontra may call SubKontra after a Rekontra making the value eight times it’s orignal value. Finaly the team that called Rekontra may call Mordkontra making the value sixteen it’s original value. 

After any announcements  or Kontras are made play begins. If the declarer won the auction with a bid of 1 solo or lower play is as follows. 

The player to the right of the dealer leads the first trick, and the winner of the last trick leads the next trick.

A trick is won by the highest trump card. If there is no trump card it is won by the highest card of the suit that was led. Players must follow suit. If they can not follow suit they must trump. Players who can not follow suit or trump may play any card they chose.

There is an exception to the above rule called the Emperor’s Trick. This occurs when the Skis, XXI and the I are played to the same trick. This trick would then be won by the player who played the I of trumps.

The declarer wins  if his or her team wins 36 or more points in the tricks collected.

If the declarer won the auction with a bid of Beggar is played differently than described above. The declarer trys to lose every trick that hand . The Talon is left face down in the middle of the table. The declarer leads the first trick. A trick is won by the highest trump card. If there is no trump card it is won by the highest card of the suit that was led. Players must follow suit, and must play a higher card than the highest one currently played if they are able. If they can not follow suit they must trump. The I of trumps can not be played until the player holding it has no other legal play. Players who can not follow suit or trump may play any card they chose.

A player may announce before leading to the first trick that he or she is playing with the Emperor’s Trick. He or she then leads the Skis. If the other players have the XXI of trumps or the I of trumps they must play it to this trick. If the the Skis, the XXI of trumps, and the I of trumps are played to this first trick, the I of of trumps wins and play continues.

There is no penalty for losing the XXI of trumps during a Beggar.

The tricks played in a Beggar are not collected by the player who won it. Instead the cards are left face up in front of the player who played it.

  
If the declarer won the auction  with a bid of Open Beggar the cards of  his or her hand is placed face up on the table for the other players to see during play. Otherwise it is played the same as a Beggar.

If the declarer won the auction with a bid of solo without it is  played  as a bid of one solo with following exceptions .The  Talon is not exposed, and is added to the opposing players won tricks at the end of the hand. No bonus can be announced, but players can call Kontra. Declarer leads the first trick. If one side wins all of the tricks the score is increased to 250 points. There is still the 21 game point penalty for losing the XXI of trumps.

If the declarer won the auction with a bid Valat Without , hand is play like a solo without  with the following differences. The declarer wins if he or she wins every trick that hand without a partner and without taking from the talon. 

A bid of of Color Valat  and Color Valat  without is played like a Valat Without with the following differences. The trumps  suit are treated like just another suit. The declarer leads every trick, and may not lead trumps until all his or her suit cards are played. 

If a Klop was called every player attempts avoid taking tricks. When a Klop is called the Talon is left face down on the table. No bonus are announced. The player on the right of the dealer leads the first trick. Players must follow suit if they can. If they can  not follow suit they must trump. The players must also play a higher card than the highest one played if they are able. The player holding the I of trumps may not play it untill it is the only legal play they have available. After the trick is played the top card of the Talon is placed face up with the cards in the trick. This happens for every trick untill the talon runs out of cards.  The winner of the trick collects all five cards.  After all the tricks have been played the players score their hand. If every player has won a trick but no player has more than 35 points, each player loses the points they have collected. If there are players that did not collect any tricks or a player has more than 35 points in thier tricks, then only these players scores are changed. Any player who took no tricks wins 70 points. A player who who takes 36 or more points loses 70 points. There is no penalty for losing the XXI of trumps

At the end of the hand the declarer and his or her partner add the points won in tricks. If the the points add up to 36 point or more the declare scores the following points. If the declare and his partner won less than 36 points in the tricks the declarer and his or her partner lose the following points. For bids of Beggar and higher see the description for the condtions for winning the hand.

Three  bid  earns or loses 10 points + the difference between thier score and thirty five

Two bid earns or loses 20 points + the difference between thier score and thirty five 

One  bid earns or loses 30 points + the difference between thier score and thirty five 

Three solo bid earns or loses 40 points + the difference between his or her score and thirty five 

Two solo bid earns or loses 50 points + the difference between thier score and thirty five 

One solo bid earns or loses 60 points + the difference between thier score and thirty five 

If the declarer bid Beggar and loses every trick he or she wins 70 points. The declare loses 70 points if he or she wins any trick.

If the declarer bid solo without and has 36 points or more in his or her tricks, he or she wins 80 points. He or she loses 80 points if they have less than 36 points in his or her tricks.

If the declarer bid  Open Beggar and loses every trick he or she wins 90 points. The declare loses 90 points if he or she wins any trick

If the declarer bid Color Valat or color Valat without and wins every trick he or she wins 125 points

If the declarer bid  Valat Without and wins every trick he or she wins 500 points

The following bonus are added to the score of the player or team who achieves them or the oposite team if the bonus was anounced   and not achieved. 

Trull 20 points if announced or 10 points if achieved but not announced 

Four kings 20 points if announced or 10 points if achieved but not announced 

Pagat ultimo 50 points if announced or 25 points if achieved but not announced 

King Ultimo 20 points if announced or 10 points if achieved but not announced

Valat 500 points if announced or 250points if achieved but not announced. No other points are scored when this bonus is achieved. If the player fails to achieve the Valat after anounced they lose 500 points.

Losing the XXI if a player loses XXI of trumps  in a trick that player loses 21 points

Game scores and/ or bonus are double if a Kontra has been call on them.

After a Klop has been played ,a bid of Beggar or higher is made, or a Valat is anounced or achieved, a circle is drawn over each players score column .  This circle is called a wheel. A wheel  is crossed out over the declarer and his or her partner score column after a winning a bid. If the declarer has one or more wheels  not crossed outover his or her score,  the total score for that hand is doubled for each circle over the declarer’s score column. At the end of the game the players lose 100 points for ever wheel above thier score column.. 

The game ends with the announcement of a Skis round. The players may decide that a certain time or when player reaches a certain score ,a Skis round will be anounced. On the next hand the player who is dealt the Skis is the last dealer of the game. The game continues till it is that player’s turn to deal and that is is the last hand of the game.

The Accidental Tarok Player

  

I discovered a new card game. by accident this month.  While was shopping online for a Jeu De Tarot deck I thought found a deck that I could afford. . When it arrived it did not look like the deck I remembered playing with.  I had bought a Slovenian Tarok deck by mistake. Luckily I was introduced to a man from Slovenia who explained some fine points Slovenian Tarok to me ,and now I am looking forward to my first game.