"Briscola" is a traditional Italian card game, played mostly with two or four players (in this case the players play together in pairs), with a 40-cards deck.
The Deck
The deck used when playing Briscola is very peculiar: a classic Poker deck could be used as well, but the most commonly used cards are the traditional "Napoletane" (cards from Naples) or "Piacentine" (cards from Piacenza).
The difference between the two lies in the drawings of some cards... choose the ones you like best!
The cards are divided in four suits: Denari (also known as Ori ) , which corresponds to Diamonds, is perhaps the most important, Bastoni (which corresponds to Clubs), Spade (Swords, the same as Spades), and Coppe, (cups, corresponding to hearts).
The values of the cards are the following in order of importance (in the sense that they allow you to take the card on the table): Ace, Three, King, Horse, Jack, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Two.
The Rules
At the beginning the dealer (who changes at each hand) gives three cards to each player, and puts one uncovered on the table. This card determines the suit of Briscola. The cards with the suit of this card are called Briscolas.
Figure 1 : Start of the game. (The cards of the opponent are covered)
Then, the player to the right of the dealer starts the game putting a card on the table.
Each player puts a card on the table, and then the winner of the hand is determined using
the following rule:
the winner is the player who has played the highest Briscola, or if there are no Briscolas on
the table, the player who played the highest card of the suit of he first card played.
It is not mandatory to play a card of the same suit of the first card played.
The winner then takes the cards on the table, picks a card from the deck (followed by all the other players) and starts a new hand by putting a card on the table.
The card uncovered on the table is to be considered the last of the deck.
When the deck is over and all the cards have been played, the score is calculated to find out who is the winner of the match.
The game ends when a player wins three (or five or seven) matches.
Figure 2 : The Ace of Briscola wins against every other card!
Figure 3 : When the suits are different, the player who played first wins.
Figure 4 : When the suits are the same, the player who played the highest card wins.
The Score
There are 120 points in total. A player wins when he or she scores more than 60 points.
If it is a draw, usually a match is counted for every player.
The cards have the following scores:
11 for the Ace,
10 for the Three,
4 for the King,
3 for the Horse,
2 for the Jack,
0 for every other card.
Briscola between humans
Remember that there is no need to use a computer to play Briscola, you can play with your friends as well!
The rules when you play in four people are even funnier: in the first hand no one can speak, but from the secon hand on, you can speak with your mate or make gestures to let him or her understand what cards you have, but be careful because the "enemies" are listening too!
At the last hand it is allowed to see the mate's cards, and you can even count the points you have made so far to use the best strategy.
