Jeu de Tarot

 

 

These are the rules that you will most commonly find in books and on the inter-net, so they are a good place to start.

 

 

The Cards

 

It is played with a full 78 card pack with rational ranking.

The Fool, I-XXI of trumps, and then in the suits:

 

All suits rank:

King, Queen, Cavalier, Valet, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

 

Card points are:

 

Honours  5

Kings   5

Queens   4

Cavaliers  3

Valets   2

All Others  1

 

 

 

 

At the end of the hand, the cards are counted in pairs, subtracting 1 for each pair, giving a total of 91 card points in the pack.

 

You might also find it easier to think of the cards as having one half point less, so that an honour or a King would be 4.5, a Queen, 3.5, etc. This way, you can pair one counter with one empty card for easier counting.

 

 

Deal

 

The first Dealer is chosen at random with deal moving to the right after each hand. Each player is dealt 18 cards in packets of 3, with 6 cards (neither the first, nor the last 6) dealt face down to the middle as the stock. A deal may be annulled if one player has no trumps bar the Pagat.

 

 

Bidding

 

There follows a quick round of bidding to determine who will be Declarer pitted against the other players. There are four bids available:

 

Petite: Declarer turns the stock cards face up for all to see, then takes them into his/her hand and discards six cards into a scart pile that will be counted toward Declarer’s tricks. Kings, honours and trumps may not be discarded – though if this rule cannot be obeyed, then trumps may be discarded if they are shown to the other players and do not include any honours.

 

Garde: This is played as the Petite but for a higher reward and risk

 

Garde without the stock: The stock cards go unseen and count toward Declarer’s tricks.

 

Garde against the stock: The stock cards go unseen and count toward the defender’s tricks.

 

The player who bids for the highest game (petite being the lowest) becomes Declarer and leads to the first trick. The others play together as the defenders. If all pass, then the cards are re-dealt.

 

 

Bonuses

 

Before play commences, players have the opportunity to announce for bonuses. Only an Abundance has to be announced to score - but a Slam will score more points if it is announced. These are different from card points – only card points can count towards winning a hand. These are instead game points, won from your opposition.

 

Pagat Ultimo: If the Pagat is played to the last trick, then the side that wins it receives a bonus of 10 points.

 

Slam: 200 points awarded for winning all the tricks in a hand. If playing for a Slam, then on the last trick, if all previous tricks have been won, the Fool may be played as though it were the highest trump. Before playing out the hand, players have the option of declaring that they intend to play for a Slam. In this instance, if won, the Slam scores 400 points, however, if lost, then the opponents score the bonus.

 

An Abundance: If players have 10 or more trumps in their hand, then they may declare them for bonus points. This is called an Abundance. There is no obligation to do so as it does reveal information about your hand to other players. Also, the bonus is scored for the side that wins the game – for example, if Declarer announces for an Abundance but fails to win the game, then the defenders will score for the bonus. When declared, the player must place the trumps face up on the table. Players are allowed to include the excuse for the bonus but only if they have not enough other trumps.

 

Single  10 trumps 20 points

Double 13 trumps 30 points

Triple  15 trumps 40 points

 

 

 

 

Play

 

Declarer leads to the first trick, playing any card in his/her hand to the middle of the table. Each player in turn, moving to the right, must then play a card of the same suit (follow suit). If a player cannot follow suit, then they must play a trump, if they cannot play a trump, then they can play any card, though it will not win. If no trumps have been played, then the highest card of the suit led wins the trick and that player takes the cards and puts them into his/her trick pile. Otherwise, the highest trump played wins the trick.

 

When playing a trump, players must observe the overtrump rule. This states that if a trump has already been played to a trick, then, if another player wants to play a trump to it they must, if they can, play a higher trump than any already played.

 

The Fool may be played to any trick as an excuse for not playing a card you are obliged to play, but may be neither won nor lost. At the end of a trick to which the Fool has been played, the person who played it takes it into his/her own trick pile and gives the player who won the trick, an empty card from their trick pile in exchange.

 

 

Winning the Hand

 

The number of card points that Declarer needs to win the hand actually varies with the number of honours in his/her trick pile. Only card points count towards winning the hand, bonuses are game points won from the opposition.

 

No honours  56 points

One honour  51 points

Two honours  41 points

Three honours  36 points

 

 

 

 

So, the more honours you have, the easier it is to win.

 

Once the winner(s) have been determined, you must calculate the winnings in game points.

 

The winners score 25 game points for the hand, then they add the difference between the card points required by Declarer and those actually won - for example, if Declarer won 52 card points and had two honours, only 41 card points were needed to win, so 11 points are added. The Pagat Ultimo bonus, if won, is added to this and the total is multiplied according to the game being played:

 

Petite    x1

Garde    x2

Garde without the stock x4

Garde against the stock x6

 

 

 

 

Finally, the remaining bonuses of an abundance and slam are added or subtracted if won or lost.

 

If the Declarer has won, then the score is paid by each of the defenders, otherwise, this is what Declarer must pay to each of them.

 

 

Three Player Version

 

Each player is dealt 24 cards in packets of 4.

 

The requirements for an Abundance become:

 

Single: 13 trumps  Double : 15 trumps  Triple: 18 trumps

 

 

Five Player Version

 

Each player is dealt 15 cards in packets of 5 with just 3 cards dealt to the stock.

 

The requirements for an Abundance become:

 

Single: 8 trumps  Double : 10 trumps  Triple: 13 trumps

 

Before taking the stock, Declarer must call for a King, or, if Declarer has all the kings, then a queen. Whoever holds the called card becomes Declarer’s partner, sharing both the risk and the reward – however, partners may not announce themselves, their identity becomes clear only from play (and obvious once the called card is played to a trick). If the called card was in the stock, the Declarer must play alone.

 

 

Six Player Version

 

The account of this given in Dummett & McLeod has some gaps but we had a go at filling them in and feel that this makes for a good game.

 

 

Players

 

Six play in three fixed partnerships, seated with partners opposite one another.

 

 

Deal

 

First Dealer is chosen at random and then deal moves to the right after each hand. Players receive 12 cards in three packets of 3, with 6 cards being dealt to the stock.

 

 

Bidding

 

There is then a round of bidding to decide which partnership shall be the Declarers playing against the other four. Each player must make a higher bid than the previous bid, however, a players may bid more than once, even when they have previously passed. A player may also call contra to a bid made by another partnership, a member of which may then reply re-contra. Bidding continues until there have been five passes.

 

There are five available bids, although the first two are reduced to dummy bids and are used only to communicate information. If bidding ends with either a Petite or a Pousse (an old bid no longer used in modern games), then the hand is thrown in a re-dealt by the same Dealer.

 

Petite – dummy bid

 

Pousse – dummy bid

 

Garde: The stock is exposed and the winning bidder chooses either the first three cards or the second three to take, bidder’s partner then takes the remaining three cards. Each partner discards three cards into their scart (discard) pile that will count towards their tricks. Kings, honours and trumps may not be discarded – though if this rule cannot be obeyed, then trumps may be discarded if they are shown to the other players and do not include any honours.

 

Garde without the stock: The stock cards go unseen and count toward Declarer’s tricks.

 

Garde against the stock: The stock cards go unseen and count toward the defender’s tricks.

 

If a player bids Petite or Pousse, or calls contra to one of these, it is to communicate that they hold at least one of the Honours.

 

 

Bonuses and Winning the Game

 

Bonuses and scores are as for the four player game. However, the requirements for an Abundance become:

 

Single: 6 trumps  Double : 8 trumps  Triple: 11 trumps

 

If won, each opposing partnership pays one of the Declarers. If lost, each declarer pays one of the opposing partnerships.

 

 

Two Player Games

 

There are a couple of two player French games given by Dummett & McLeod that are definitely worth learning. They don’t seem very keen on the games but they are still fun and sometimes, we hope, three is a crowd.

 

 

La Découverte

 

This game uses the same device as the Austrian game of Straw Man Tarock, though not, I think, as successfully. None the less, it is still a fairly good two player.

 

 

Deal

 

The first dealer is chosen at random and deal then passes back and forth between the two players. Each is dealt 12 cards to their hand in packets of 4, then each has dealt 12 packets of two cards in two rows in front of them, the top card of each packet is turned face up at the end of the deal. 6 cards are dealt to the stock in two packets of 3 cards at any stage in the deal.

 

 

Bidding

 

Bidding takes place as per the normal game, as does the scoring, though there are no bonuses for an Abundance.

 

 

Play

 

All as per the normal game, however, the exposed cards are treated as though they are part of the player’s hands and are subject to the usual rules of play. As one of these face up cards is played, the card below it is exposed.

 

 

La Tirette

 

 

Deal

 

The first dealer is chosen at random and deal then passes back and forth between the two players. Each is dealt 24 cards in packets of 4 with 6 being dealt to the stock. The remaining cards are set aside until play begins.

 

 

Bidding

 

Bidding takes place as per the normal game, as does the scoring, though there are no bonuses for an Abundance.

 

 

Play

 

The remaining 24 cards now come into play as a second stock. The bottom card of this stock is first taken out and placed on the table face up. Each player takes the top card of the stock and after exposing it, takes it into their hand. The player who wins the 12th trick, wins the exposed card. Once the stock has been emptied, the remaining cards are played normally.

 

 

Tarot with a Dummy

 

 

Deal

 

Three hands are dealt, one to each player and one dummy hand, each with 24 cards in packets of 4, then with 6 cards dealt to the stock.

 

 

Bidding

 

Bidding takes place as per the normal game, as does the scoring, though there are no bonuses for an Abundance.

 

 

Play

 

Dealer’s opposite always leads to the first trick. Once the first card has been played, the dummy hand is exposed and is played from by the defending player.