Briscola Briscola is an Italian trick-taking card game, played with a standard Italian 40-card deck. Two to six players can participate; a minimum number of cards must be removed from the deck to ensure the number of cards in the deck is a multiple of the number of players. Only twos are removed. The four- and six-player version of the game requires players be partnered in two groups, in which every player is adjacent to two opponents. Below is a table identifying card rank and point values. Unlisted cards have no point value, and are ranked in descending ordinal value, from seven to two (Italian playing cards do not have eights, nines or tens). Note however the odd ranking of the three. Rank and point value of cards Cards, by Rank Point Value Ace 11 Three (3) 10 King 4 Knight 3 Jack 2 In total, a deck has 120 points. To win a game, a player must accumulate more points than any other player. Contents 1 Game play 2 Briscola Bastarda 2.1 Scoring 2.2 Variation Game play After the deck is shuffled, each player is dealt three cards. The next card is placed face up on the playing surface, and the remaining deck is placed face down, sometimes covering half of the up-turned card. This card is the Briscola, and represents the trump suit for the game. The deal, and game play itself, proceeds counter-clockwise. The player to the right of the dealer leads the first hand (or trick) by playing one card face up on the playing surface. Each player subsequently plays a card in turn, until all players have played one card. The winner of that hand is determined as follows: the person that led wins the trick, irrespective of card rank, unless a player played the same suit as the lead, but of higher rank; this player wins the trick, unless a player played a Briscola; the player who played the highest-ranking Briscola wins the trick. Unlike other trump card games, players are not required to follow suit, that is, to play the same suit as the lead player. Once the winner of a trick is determined, that player collects the played cards, and places them face down in a pile. Each player maintains their own pile, though the four- and six-player versions may have one player collecting all tricks won by his partners. Then, each player draws a card from the remaining deck, starting with the player who won the trick, proceeding counter-clockwise. Note that the last card collected should be the up-turned Briscola. The player who won the trick leads the next hand. After all cards have been played, players calculate the total point value of cards in their own piles. For multi-player games, partners combine their points. Briscola Bastarda Briscola Bastarda (english: Bastardized Briscola) is the five-player version of Briscola. Every player is dealt eight cards, so that no cards remain undealt. Then, each player, starting from the dealer's right and proceeding counter-clockwise, bids in an auction to declare how many points they will score. A player may pass, and hence cannot bid again in that game. The bid represents the number of points that player believes he is capable of accumulating. Bidding continues until all but one player have passed in a round. This bidder then declares the Briscola, analogous to the up-turned card in the regular version of the game. The holder of the Briscola is the partner of the person who won declared it, but does not announce it to the other players. The remaining three players are partnered with each other, without their knowledge. Each player, other than the one holding the Briscola, acts independently, until it is clear which players are partners. Infrequently, the declarer may declare a card he holds as Briscola, in which case the other four players are partenered against him. Because of the unique method of declaration and blind partnering in this variation of the game, it is considered to be one of the most entertaining variations of the game. Game strategy is often devised to determine which player is partnered with the declarer, whereas the declarer's partner may devise ruses and decoy strategies to fool the other players, such as not taking a trick, or playing points on a trick that will be won by an opponent. Scoring Briscola Bastarda also features a unique scoring system. Each player collects tricks as per the regular version of the game, and counts points collected similarly. Partners, which are known by the end of the game, then combine their points. The partners with the highest scores are the winners. Once winners are determined, card points are ignored, and game points are assigned as follows: if the declarer and partner accumulate more card points than declared the declarer earns two game points the partner earns one game point the other players each lose one game point if the declarer and partner accumulate fewer card points than declared the declarer loses two game points the partner loses one game point the other players each earn one game point These points are accumulated after every game. The grand winner is the player with the most points at the end of the last match. Note that if the declarer calls a Briscola he holds, then the declarer will win or lose four points, and every other player will win or lose one point. Usually, players determine the number of game points to accumulate in order to declare the grand winner, typically ranging from 10 to 20 points. Variation A modified version of Briscola Bastarda requires the players to bid the rank of the Briscola they wish to call. As the bidding progresses, the rank is reduced, until a two is bid or all other players pass. Then, the last bidder may declare the suit of the Briscola. In this version, the objective is for the declarer and his partner to earn at least 61 points. This version has a secondary variation, in which bidding can continue once a two has been bid; in this case, players start bidding the point total they must earn to win the match, starting from 62 (since 61 is the minimum possible to win during normal bidding). THE ORIGINS OF BRISCOLA Today, briscola is considered by many to be a traditional Italian game, but the truth is that an early version of it seems to have originated in Holland, where it became quite popular by the end of the 16th century. The game then passed through France where, with some modification, it was called Brusquembille (ancestor of two other French card games, Briscan and Bezique) and was played with a 32-card deck. Eventually, it arrived in Italy. It soon became a much-favored card game played with the customary Italian deck of 40 cards. The game had been so completely modified that, for all intents and purposes, it was considered to be an Italian game. Italians play several varieties of briscola. It can be played between two people, or, more commonly, two sets of partners. It can also be played among three players, but in this case, one must first remove the card of lowest value in the briscola deck, the deuce of any suit. There is a five-man variation called briscola chiamata (declaration briscola). Finally, another variation, briscolone, is a no-trump variety usually played between two players. HOW TO PLAY BRISCOLA Briscola is a bridge-like game--the word means "trump," and refers to the trump suit and the trump cards. It is played with a deck of 40 cards, either the traditional "Italian" cards which contain four suits of ten cards each (coppe, denari, bastoni and spade), or the "French" cards. In briscola, cards have points used to calculate the final score at the end of the game, and numerical equivalents that establish who wins each trick. The scoring in briscola is as follows: Asso (Ace): 11 Points (numerical equivalent = 11 points) Tre (Trey): 10 points (numerical equivalent = 10 points) Re (King): 4 points (numerical equivalent = 10 points) Cavallo (Horseman) or Regina (Queen): 3 points (numerical equivalent = 9 points) Donna (Lady) or Fante (Valet): 2 points (numerical equivalent = 8 points) Carte numeriche (numbered cards) 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 = 0 points In southern and central Italy, the picture cards depict una donna (a lady) whose numerical equivalent is eight, and un cavallo (a horseman) whose numerical value is nine. In northern Italy, the corresponding picture cards depict un fante (a valet) whose numerical value is eight, and la regina (queen) whose numerical value is nine. Occasional confusion is encountered because the lady is mistakenly considered to correspond to the queen. Within the same suit (either trump or non-trump), the card with a higher ranking always beats the card of lower rank or value. Yet, whenever two non-trump cards of different suits are played, the first card played always wins regardless of its relative ranking or point value. If, instead, one card is a trump, it always wins, regardless of its relative ranking or point value. As noted above, briscola can be played with any number of participants. For the sake of simplification, the most popular version--a four-player, two-team game--will be described here, although the same rules are applicable for two- and three-player games. Before the game begins, one of the four players (as a courtesy, usually, the host) opens a new deck of cards and shuffles them thoroughly. He places one card, face up, in front of each player; the player with the highest ranking card becomes the dealer. (In case of a tie, a second card is placed in front of each tied player.) The dealer takes the deck of cards, reshuffles them, places the deck in front of the player to his left who must "cut" them. The dealer then distributes three cards to each of the four players (either singly or all three at once), in a counterclockwise rotation, beginning with the player on his immediate right. He then uncovers the thirteenth card and places it prominently in the center of the table. This card, regardless of its rank, identifies the trump suit, referred to as briscola. The remaining cards are usually placed, face down, as a stack on top of the trump card, but not obscuring it. The game begins with the player to the dealer's immediate right, and goes around the table until the dealer has played last. Each round of four cards played constitutes una giocata (a hand). The winner of each hand gathers all four cards and places them, face down, on his side of the table (one of the partners is usually selected to accumulate all the cards won by either partner). The winner of each hand is determined solely by the rank of the cards; of course, trump cards win over non-trump cards. The winner of each hand then draws one card from the deck. Then the others also draw one card, in sequence. Play continues until all the cards have been drawn. Once the final cards are drawn, just before playing il gioco finale (the final hand), team members are permitted to exchange cards to learn what cards their partners possess. (In parts of Italy, more than one exchange may be permitted. Recently, I played with a group in Cattolica, a resort near Rimini, on the Adriatic Riviera, where cards were exchanged twice, once before the second hand, once before the final hand.) This traditional exchange of hands allows the two partners to develop the final strategy together and enables the stronger partner to direct the play of the other. At the end of the game the total number of points is added up for each team, using the point values for the cards delineated above. At this time, trump cards have no greater value. As there are 30 points for each suit in a deck of briscola cards, the maximum number of points is 120. (It is extremely rare for a team to score un cappotto (a "skunk"), scoring 120 points in the first game.) The winner of the game is the team which scores 61 or more points. The winner of una partita (a set) is the first team to win two games. Go to top of page BRISCOLA'S SECRET LANGUAGE One of the most colorful features of briscola is the secret signals and code words that partners use to direct the game. These signals and conversation are permitted during the game, except for the first hand, when it is severely forbidden. I have never been able to discover the reason for this exclusion, since the rest of the game is always full of non-stop banter, colorful exclamations and traditional curses. As the game progresses, nearly everyone develops a variety of tics. When one partner wishes to tell the other that he has specific cards, he uses pre-established tics and gestures when his opponents are not looking. Although there are probably regional differences, briscola champion Alderano Minelli notes that there are a series of recognized "secret" signals. Of course, some players have been known to use non-traditional, "secret signals," and no rule precludes this option. For the past four years, this writer has been part of a Circolo della Briscola, or Briscola Club, in the Washington, D.C. area, consisting of nearly 50 Americans of Italian heritage and several Italians employed by Italian companies with offices in the vicinity. We play once a month; award a briscola tie to the monthly winner, who wears it until the next session; publish our own newsletter, the Briscola News, and have recently designed a torneo di briscola (briscola tournament), the monthly scores of which will be tallied in December. The winner will receive an engraved cup. With briscola, our club has rediscovered a game our forefathers brought to America at the turn of the century. When we gather to play, I think about the flat on Hester Street, my big family, and Nonno Bruno. He was my hero and mentor, who taught me to remember the cards - and so much more.