Tarabish - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Tarabish, also known by its slang term Bish, is a Lebanese trick-taking

Trick-taking game

A trick-taking game is a card game or tile-based game in which play centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called tricks. The object of such games then may be closely tied to the number of tricks taken, as in plain-trick games such as Whist, Contract Bridge, Napoleon, Rowboat, and...

card game

Card game

A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...

of complex rules derived from Belote

Belote

Belote is a 32-card trick-taking game played in France, and is currently one of the most popular card games in that country. It was invented around 1920, probably from Klaverjas, Klaverjassen, a game played since at least the 17th century in the Netherlands...

, a game of the Jass

Jass

Jass is a trick taking card game and a distinctive branch of the Marriage family, popularly supposed to be the progenitor of the American game of Pinochle...

family. The actual pronunciation of the name is "tar-bish", even though it can be spelled "tarabish".. It is played primarily by the people of Cape Breton

Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....

, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, where it was brought in 1901 by a Lebanese immigrant called George Shebib..

Object

The game is over when one or both teams accumulate 500 points or more. Points are counted at the end of each hand and both teams always count their points. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

The deck

A Tarbish deck consists of a normal deck of playing cards with the 2 through 5 of each suit removed. In preparation for the hand the dealer shuffles the cards in the usual manner. When finished the person to the right of the dealer cuts the cards. The cut must leave at least four cards in each portion of the deck. Once the cards have been cut, no further shuffling is allowed.

The 36 Tarbish cards are dealt in groups of three beginning to the left of the dealer and proceeding clockwise until all the cards are passed out. Players look at their first six cards and the last three, called the kitty, remain face down until after the bid is complete and a trump suit has been chosen.

Cards value

The cards have a strict point value in trumps:

J = 20 points
9 = 14 points
A = 11 points
10 = 10 points
K = 4 point
Q = 3 point
8 7 6 = no value

The order and value in a non-trump suit are:

A = 11 points
10 = 10 points
K = 4 points
Q = 3 points
J = 2 points
9 8 7 6 = no value

The bid

The bid is the process of determining the trump suit for the hand. The player to the left of the dealer has the first option of choosing the trump suit. If they pass the decision passes to the next person and so on. In the most popular variation, if the bid passes to the dealer, the dealer is forced to choose a trump suit. The less popular variation allows the dealer to pass in which case the hand is complete and the deal passes to the next player.

The team that goes must accumulate more than half of the points for that hand. If they get less than half, it is termed a bait and their points go to their opponents. If they get exactly half the points it is termed half-bait in which case they count zero while their opponents of course get to count their own.

The play

Play begins with the player to the left of the dealer and proceeds clockwise until each player has played a card. Each player must follow suit by playing a card of the same suit as the first card of each trick. If you don't have a card of the same suit you must play a trump if you have one. If you don't have a trump you can play anything. Any time you play a trump you must beat any other trumps on the trick if you can. The person with the highest card on the trick collects the cards and makes the first play for the next trick.

When you collect tricks it is important to keep them neat as they may need to be referred to in the event of a mis-play. Completed tricks must be kept face down. You may suspend play at any time and ask to see the last completed trick but none before it. Once a trick is turned over it is considered complete.

Misplay

Failure to comply with the rules outlined in the preceding sections is called a ‘’mis-play’’. If you suspect someone has mis-played you can stop the hand and ‘’call a mis-play’’. You must then prove it by examining the over-turned tricks and identifying the trick where the mis-play occurred.

As an example, consider a trick where the King of trump is lead and the second player places a 6 of trump on the trick. If later the second player plays the 9 of trump, a good tarbish player will remember that the second player didn't beat the King on the opening trick.

If you are successful in proving the mis-play your team gets all of the points for that hand, including any cards that have not yet been played. However, if you cannot pick out the mis-play, your opponents get all the points.

Scoring

Upon completion of each hand, teams count the points in their winning tricks to determine the scores. Base score for a hand is 162 points, before any runs or "Bella" is counted. This is derived from 62 points in trump values, 90 points in non trump values, and 10 points for taking the last trick.

The calling team must be able to score at least one more than half the points available (82 by default), otherwise all points are awarded to the opposition. This is known as "going bait".

The highest possible score for a team in 1 hand is 282 (2 "50's" and Bella) since only the highest straight is counted, but a single player can have more than 1 straight if their hand contains the highest straight among players.

Runs

There are two types of runs. Runs in tarbish are according to the customary card rank as in Poker (6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K,A). So the three best trumps (J,9,A) do not make a run.

A twenty is a run of three cards in a row of the same suit. (e.g. 6, 7, 8 of hearts or 9, 10, J of clubs)
A fifty is a run similar to a twenty however it is a run of four cards in a row. If you happen to have 5 or 6 cards in a row it is still just a fifty and the extra cards are in no way significant when comparing to other runs.
A player with a run must announce to the other players that they have a run before they play their first card. A player must show their run immediately before playing their second card.

One player can have multiple runs, but only one player can count runs in a hand. If more than one player announces a run, the player with the "best" run according to the following will get to count all of their runs. If a player has multiple runs, their best run is used for the following comparison:

A fifty always beats a twenty.
When comparing two runs of the same size, the one with the highest rank is best.
A run in trumps beats a run of the same size and rank in non-trumps.
Two runs of the same size and rank in non-trumps cancel each other out. In this case no one counts their runs even if one player has multiple runs. If a player announces a run, but fails to show it before the play of their second card, the run is not counted. A popular version suggests that if a player called a fifty but forgets to show it, before the third card is played, a twenty can be shown and counted, but only other players.

Bella

Bella (or Bells) is when a player has a king and queen of the trump suit in the same hand and is worth an additional 20 points when called. The player MUST call bella when playing the last of the 2 cards to get the points. Common practice allows to instead call the first of the bells rather than the last. This is adventageous in remembering to call it, but gives others information about one's hand and may be detrimental in giving away points if going bate.

Official rules state that calling "first of bells" is table-talk and an automatic forfeiture of points since it is telling your partner of another guaranteed trump you have in your hand.

In the event that bella is part of a valid run, the player has the option to announce Bella when they show their run or wait until played.

Tarabish terms

Bait - The team which "calls" trump and fails to accumulate at least one point more than half the points available.
Half Bait - The team which "calls" trump accumulates exactly half the available points. The calling team receives a score of zero, the non-calling team receives full credit for their score (1/2 of the total score of the hand).
Bella - When a player has the King and Queen of trump in a single hand.
Run - Three or four cards in sequence in the same suit.
Twenty - A run of three cards.
Fifty - A run of four cards.
Misplay - When a player doesn't follow the lead suit, or doesn't beat trump when he can. If a misplay is called against a team, all the points go to the team who called the misplay.
Last - Final trick earning an additional 10 points to the winning team.
Kitty - The three cards that are hidden to a player until after a trump is called.
Playing to beat - If at any time a player is forced to play a trump, he must beat the best trump card on the table.
Linganer - A 3-card run consisting of 6-7-8, named after the former 876 Lingan Coal Mine.
Johnny and the Nerf - The Jack and 9 of trump, respectably.
50 with the nuts and sluts - Calling and showing a 4-card run that includes the king and queen of trump (bella).
Dry Ten - When a player has only the 10 in a suit, after being dealt their cards
Forced - A popular variation. If a team has over 400 points, that team is forced to call trump. Therefore, they are not allowed to pass trump call to the dealer if the dealer is on the opposite team. If both teams are over 400 points, the team with the higher points is 'forced'.

External links

How to Play Tarabish The Centre of the world at the edge of a continent, at Google Books

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.