User:Vikreykja/Tarot (game)

Warning: The game of Tarot has nothing to do with fortune telling. Click here if that is what you are looking for.

The game described here is very popular in France.

The deck

The deck is composed of 78 cards:

Four suits: Clubs (♣), Diamonds (♦), Hearts (♥), and Spades (♠). Each suit contains 14 ranks, from highest to lowest: King, Queen, Knight, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
A fifth trump suit numbered from 1 to 21
The excuse, or joker.

The one of trumps, called the petit [puh-tee], the twenty-one of trumps, and the excuse are three key cards in the game. These cards are known as bouts [boo].

Overview

Similar to bridge, Tarot is a trick-taking game played by four players. (There are a few variations to allow for three-player and five-player games; see below for details.) Each round of the game features one attacker against three defenders, but the role of each player may change each round.

Dealing

The first dealer is chosen by an arbitrary (or even random) selection. Thereafter, the turn to deal rotates counter-clockwise.

The dealer, always in a counter-clockwise fashion and starting with the player to the right, deals cards three by three to each player until all the cards have been dealt. At any time during this deal, the dealer may place one card into the talon (fr: chien) with the exception that neither the first nor the last card may be used in this way.

An example deal might be: 3-1-3-3-3-1-3-1-3-3-3-1-3-3-1-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-1-3-3

The result is each player will hold 18 cards and the talon will have six cards.

Bidding

Starting with the player to the right of the dealer, each player places a bid.

The bids are (from weakest to strongest):

pass: the player does not wish to bid
voice: the player will take only if every one else passes
take: the weakest attack
push: the same as a take
guard: a more offensive attack
guard without: a very strong attack
guard against: the strongest attack

Only one round of bidding is allowed (unlike poker) and if everyone has passed, the cards are collected and a new deal is made by the same player. Except for pass, a player must bid higher than the previous player. Only one player may voice.

The winning bidder becomes the taker (or the attacker) and must fulfill a contract. The three other players become a team for the round, and collectively try to prevent the taker from completing the contract. Except through playing styles as described in the Strategy section below, defenders may not communicate amongst themselves.

The strength of the winning bid does not affect the contract to be completed, but does affect the difficulty required. (see Scoring below)

For a take, push, or guard, the taker shows the talon to the table, then collects it. The talon is then secretly replaced with six cards of the takers choice and placed in the takers trick stack. Kings and trumps are not allowed in the replacement. If this is not possible, the taker must show which illegal cards are being "discarded".

For a guard without, the talon is placed unrevealed in the taker's trick stack.

For a guard against, the talon is placed unrevealed in the defense's trick stack.

Play

The player to the right of the dealer (regardless of who the taker is) leads the first trick by playing any card. In a counter-clockwise fashion, each player must play a card of the same suit. The player to have played the highest ranking card wins the trick for his or her team (the taker is considered to be a team of one) and leads the next trick.

If the player cannot follow suit, a trump may be played. If a trump card has already been played, the player must play a trump of higher rank. Trumps out-rank suits when deciding who wins the trick regardless of what is led.

If the player does not have a higher trump (for example, if the 21 is played), then any trump may be played — but cannot win the trick.

A player possessing neither the suit led nor a trump is said to be bleeding (fr: il pisse) and may play any card. Such a player is incapable of winning the trick.

Playing the Excuse

The excuse may be played at any time by any player. If the excuse is the first card played in a trick, the second player leads. The excuse never changes hands. If the team to play it loses the trick, a low value card is substituted. (If no low cards are available, the substitution is postponed until possible)

There are two rare exceptions to these rules: If the excuse is played on the last trick, the team to win the trick takes the excuse. If a team has won all previous tricks and leads the last trick with the excuse, the excuse wins the trick.

Scoring

Calculating points

At the end of a hand, the taker counts the total number of points in his or her trick stack, including the talon unless a guard against was bid.

Bouts and Kings are worth 4½ points, Queens are worth 3½, Knights 2½, Jacks 1½, and all other cards ½.

The entire deck contains 91 points.

Contracts

The number of points required to fulfill a contract depends on the number of bouts possessed at the end of the round. (Remember: the petit may be captured during the round)

With 3 bouts the taker needs at least 36 points to win
With 2 bouts the taker needs at least 41 points to win
With 1 bout the taker needs at least 51 points to win
With 0 bouts the taker needs at least 56 points to win

Petit bonus

If the petit is played in the last trick, and the taker wins the trick, the taker receives a bonus of ten points.

Bid multipliers

The difference between bids is only found in the bid multiplier. Requirements for completing the contract are identical. Here are the multipliers:

take or push: 1
guard: 2
guard against: 4
guard without: 6

Variations

Tarot for three players

The rules for three players are identical to those for four players except each player is dealt 24 cards.

In the case of an odd ½ card, the total is rounded up if the taker wins, and rounded down if the taker loses.

Tarot for five players

The rules for five players are identical to those for four players except each player is dealt 15 cards and the talon contains only three cards.

In the case of an odd ½ card, the total is rounded up if the taker wins, and rounded down if the taker loses.