This small group of games is played with a pack unique to Bologna, sometimes called the Tarocchino due to its reduced size. The pack consists of 62 cards, having the 2 to 5 removed from each of the plain suits. There is a further uniqueness in the arrangement of trumps, most notably because they have the Popess, Empress, Emperor, and Pope replaced by four equally ranking trumps called the Four Moors. While the change was requested by the church, it was not from offence, instead it was a face saving compromise after a series of political gaffs by a card maker and the church authorities.

The card makers Dal Negro sell a reproduction pack whose designs predate the introduction to the four moors, that you might be interested in. The trumps were then un-numbered and the Popessa, Empress, Emperor, and Pope were known collectively as the Papi. It seems that they were also treated as being of equal rank, so this feature was not new to the game when the church made its demands for change. One theory to account for the strange numbering of the cards is that their order was fixed before people began to print numbers on them, and that the numbers were arranged to ensure that Death retained it’s traditional number of 13.

Until Michael Dummett’s book, these games and the cards they are played with were probably unknown outside of the region. Since then, rules for one of the games, Ottocento, have also been published in David Parlett’s Penguin Encyclopaedia of Card Games (sadly out of print for several years now) and on John McLeod’s web site. The fact that the cards are made available through importers at all, testifies to an interest in the game that I hope to add to with this book. Ottocento is not a simple game on first inspection but the principles are straight forward and once understood, will prove no obstacle. In my opinion, Ottocento is perhaps the best card game I have ever played and I do recommend that you try it out.

The other Bolognese games I have given here remain unpublished outside of Dummett, which is a shame, as they are also good games using the same principles as Ottocento. The leaflet supplied with the tarocchino pack published by Dal Negro mentions all of these and so I must assume that they are still in play today.

Unlike the previously listed games, where I have allowed myself repetition of shared principles, those shared by this game are perhaps a little more involved. So, I’ll start with the shared elements and then move on to the individual games played with them.


The Tarocchino

There are four regular Latin suits of Swords, Batons, Cups, & Coins of just 10 cards each using irrational ranking. There are then 21 trumps with unusual numbering and a Fool, that is played as an excuse.

Swords & Batons
King, Queen, Cavalier, Valet, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, A

Cups & Coins
King, Queen, Cavalier, Valet, A, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Not all of the trumps are numbered and those that are have an unusual arrangement. They rank in the following order with the numbers given. There are not many unnumbered cards, so they aren’t difficult to remember.

Angel
World
Sun
Moon
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
Four Moors (four cards of equal rank, two of which share the same design)
Pagat

There are four Honours for these games: the Angel, World, Pagat, and Fool.

The card values are:

Cards are counted in pairs subtracting 1 point for every pair. This is like the counting for the French game, so the same methods can be used here of either pairing one counter with one empty card or of counting the cards as if their value was one half point less. With an additional 6 points awarded for the last trick, there are effectively 93 points in the pack.

However, a hand is rarely, if ever, won or lost on the card points.


Combinations and Sequences

In these games, a hand may be won on the bonuses for combinations, called cricche, and sequences. The forming and scoring for cricche is straight forward.

Honours 36 points for 4 cards18 points for 3 cards
Kings 34 points for 4 cards17 points for 3 cards
Queens 28 points for 4 cards14 points for 3 cards
Cavaliers 26 points for 4 cards13 points for 3 cards
Valets 24 points for 4 cards12 points for 3 cards

If three or more cricche are scored at one time, then their score is doubled.

Sequences are made a little more complicated because of the privilege given to The Fool and the Pagat to function as wild cards. Each wild card may only be used once within any single sequence but can be used in more than one sequence. However, if a sequence is complete without wild cards, they may (both) still be added to the end to score extra points – so, for example, it is possible to score a sequence of six aces. Likewise, if three aces were held with both wild cards, then a sequence of five could be scored.

Trumps: Beginning with the Angel down, a sequence of 3 or more trumps. The player must have at least the Angel and one of the other unnumbered trumps (World, Sun, or Moon) before being allowed to fill gaps with wild cards – but they may not replace two consecutive trumps. Further, the sequence can continue to the numbered trumps after just three unnumbered ones. For example, a trump sequence might run Angel, Wild Card, Sun, 16, 15.

According to David Parlett, it is allowed to use two wild cards consecutively in a Trump sequence if and only if the cards replaced are an un-numbered trump and the 16.

Suits: Beginning with the King down, a sequence of 3 or more court cards plus the ace. The player must have at least the King and one of the other court cards before being allowed to fill gaps with wild cards. The wild cards may not be used to replace two consecutive cards.

Moors: A sequence of three or more moors. The player must have at least two moors before being allowed to use wild cards.

Aces: A ‘sequence’ of three or more aces. The player must have at least two aces before being allowed to use wild cards.

Sequences each score 10 points for 3 cards and a further 5 points for each additional card. If three or more sequences are formed at one time, then they score double. This makes the Fool and the Pagat easily the most important cards in the game – winning or protecting the Pagat should always be a priority