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Tarot (game)
Encyclopedia
The French game of tarot, also jeu de tarot, is a trick-taking
card game
for four players using the traditional 78-card tarot
deck. The game is enjoyed throughout France
and also known in French-speaking Canada
. French tarot is one of the older forms of tarot and has remained popular for centuries. Tarot is a member of the tarock
family of games.
, has been gaining popularity since the latter part of the 20th century, helped largely by the fact that the rules are very consistent wherever the game is played. The Fédération Française de Tarot
publishes official rules for tarot. In English, the game is sometimes referred to as French tarot; e.g., the French name of the annual Montreal
festival Festival International de Tarot de Montréal is officially translated into English as International Tarot Festival of Montreal. This is done to differentiate the card game from other uses of the tarot deck which are more familiar in the Americas and English-speaking countries, namely cartomancy
and other divinatory
uses, and also to distinguish it from other card games played with a tarot deck.
The game of tarot is played using a 78-card tarot
deck, which is composed of a numbered series of 21 trump
cards (atouts), one Fool
(l'excuse), and 4 suit
s (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs), divided into 10 numbers from 1 to 10, and then the face cards of Jack (Valet), Knight (Cavalier), Queen (Dame) and King (Roi). The tarot deck used in cartomancy was derived from the game deck and maintains the structure of the deck. The style of tarot deck most often used for game playing is known as the "Tarot Nouveau
" or "Bourgeois Tarot", which has card designs similar to the French styling of the 52-card deck.
The ranking of the hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades from the top is: King, Queen, Knight, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (Ace).
As an aside, the trumps and Fool can be removed to yield a 56-card deck very similar to a 52-card French deck but with the additional cavalier (knight, lit. horseman) in each suit. This deck, plus the Fool, was copied using culture-neutral suits and ranks to create the deck for the game Rook.
The only card with a special effect is the "Fool", called the Excuse. The Excuse may be played on any trick: it "excuses" the player from following suit. However, it never wins the trick. The card remains the property of the person who played it, not the winner of that trick: to compensate for this in the scoring count, the owner of the Excuse should instead give the winner of the trick a half-point card (a trump other than an oudler, or a suited number card; see Scoring) from his or her score pile.
However, two common exceptions to this are when the Excuse is played on the last trick, and what happens depends on whether the side playing the Fool has taken all the previous tricks (see Chelem/Slam below). If the side has taken all previous tricks, the card takes the last trick; if not, it changes hands to the other side, even if the trick is won by a partner or fellow defender of the person playing it.
The player at the left of the dealer cuts the deck. The dealer then deals out the entire deck, counter-clockwise; dealing 18 cards to each of the players, plus 6 cards to the "dog" (chien in French, also commonly translated as "kitty"), a face-down pile in the middle of the table. Each player is dealt his cards three at a time, and the dog is dealt one card at a time at any time the dealer wishes except for the first and last card dealt, which may not be part of the dog.
A maldonne (misdeal) occurs when the dealer makes mistakes in the dealing; if this happens, the hand is redealt, either by the same dealer or the next in rotation. Players inspect, sort and evaluate their hands and move on to the bidding round.
) is the one who wins this auction; they must try to meet the contract while all other players form the "defense" and attempt to prevent the taker from doing so.
The level of player's bid is based on the strength of their hand, usually estimated by counting the points within it. See evaluating one's hand below for a method to determine the points within one's hand.
The bids are, in increasing importance:
The taker may not set aside a king or a trump, except that if the player cannot discard anything else, in which case they may discard a trump. In this case, the taker has to display which trumps he sets aside. An oudler may never be set aside. If no one bids, another deal begins, the new dealer being the next player (to the right of the previous dealer).
In earlier rules, still played outside of competitions, in place of the prise and simple garde, there were two bids, in increasing importance: the petite (small) and the pousse (push). The prise is still sometimes known as petite. There are also some players who play without the prise contract, with garde as the minimum allowable bid.
Once the leader of a trick has played a card, everyone else must follow suit (play a card of that same suit, if they have one). If a player cannot follow suit, he must play a trump card. When playing a trump card, the player is compelled to play a higher value than any existing trump in the trick if he is able (The "Petit" is valued lowest, and the "21" is valued highest). If a player must trump but cannot overtrump, they can play any trump. If a player cannot follow suit or trump, he may play any card to the trick, however any card they play in such a situation cannot win the trick.
If the trick is led with a trump, all other players must play a trump, and each trump must exceed the rank of all trump previously played in the trick if possible. If this is not possible, a lower-ranked trump, or any card if the player has no trumps, can be played. If the first card played in a trick is the Fool, the required suit to follow is determined by the following card.
Cards for scoring purposes are divided into two groups: "counters" (any face card or oudler) and "ordinary" cards or cartes basses (everything else, including all trumps except the 1 and 21). Cards are paired, with each counter matched to an ordinary card, and remaining ordinary cards are also paired. The values of pairs are then counted and summed:
Each card thus has an individual value; the pairing simply makes it easier to count points. If a card cannot be paired, because there are an odd number in the scoring pile (common with three or five players) or more counters than ordinary cards:
There are 91 points to be taken in a round, so if the taker has :
To calculate the basic "hand score" that is to be added or deducted, the scorer starts with a basic score of 25 points, then adds the absolute (non-negative) difference between the points earned by the taker and the threshold, and, if any, the Petit au bout bonus. This quantity is multiplied by the appropriate multiplier for the taker's bid level (see Bidding), and then two additional bonuses may be added if they apply; the poignée or "handful" bonus, and the chelem or slam bonus (see below for descriptions of bonuses). Thus, calculation of the hand score is expressed by the formula :
where:
If the taker beats the target score, this hand score is deducted from the score of each defender. If the taker misses the target score, this score is added to the score of each defender. The opposite of the sum of the defenders' gain or loss is then added to or deducted from the taker's score to balance the scores; with four players, the taker will gain or lose three times the hand score depending on whether the taker made or missed the contract. The sum of all scores for each hand, and thus the sum of the running totals after each hand, should be zero.
For example, a Garde Sans bid with a simple handful won by player A by a margin of 12 points gives the following hand score : ((25 + 12 + 0) * 4) + 10 + 0 = 158 points. This score is deducted from the scores of all defenders and the sum of this loss is added to the taker's score, hence the scorecard :
Some players prefer to round the scores to the nearest 10 points after each game, however care must be taken as the scores should still sum to zero. Rounding each of the above scores independently yields 470 - 160 - 160 - 160 = -10. If rounding is to be done, the defenders' scores should be rounded and the taker's score adjusted accordingly. Doing so in the above example would make the taker's score 480, thus it balances out.
After each round, the cards are gathered, cut by the previous dealer, and dealt by the person to the right of the previous dealer. The cards are not commonly shuffled other than the "soft shuffling" that occurs as a natural result of playing the cards. By not shuffling, groups of desirable cards are kept together such that one person generally has a favorable enough hand to open the bidding. With shuffling between deals it is unlikely for any one player to be dealt a hand he is willing to bid on; this leads to multiple redeals before a hand is actually played.
This is not the only scoring method. The alternative is seen below.
for tournament purposes.
In the Austria
n version, Königrufen
, this king-calling mechanism is used so that four-player play two against two.
The King is called before anything is done with the dog; therefore, the taker may call a King that is in the dog. In this case, the taker plays alone; he has technically called himself as partner if the dog's cards are to be integrated into the hand, and in any case no other player has that King in hand.
In scoring, the taker's partner gets one "hand score" added to or taken from his score if the taker makes or misses his contract. So, if taker beats the target score, each defender loses the hand score, the partner gains the hand score, and the taker gets twice the hand score. If he misses, the gains and losses are reversed.
Another popular variant is setting the multiplier for the Garde Contre to 8 instead of 6.
but without the option of folding. Each player's wager remains in front of him, and the taker adds an extra matching stack for each defender. If the taker wins, he gets all the chips on the table. If the taker loses, the defenders divide the chips evenly.
Rules on what happens when someone runs out of chips or cannot cover the current wager vary. Most often the player who is short cannot win more than was wagered; if the taker is short and wins, he only wins an equal stack from each defender. If he loses, the defenders split his chips as evenly as possible. If a defender is short, the taker can only win, and must only cover, the amount the defender has remaining. The game may end when someone runs out, in which case the person with the most chips wins. Alternatively, play may continue, with the chip values of each bid level increased. The player who has run out must still play, and may or may not be able to win chips by helping to set the taker.
Each range of point totals suggests a different bid:
Example: Suppose the taker has 8 hearts, thus the Defenders have 6 hearts. In 5.3% of the cases, one Defender has 5 or more hearts. Notice that the sum from any column is 100%. If the taker has 9 trumps, thus the Defense has 12 trumps. There is a 1.1% probability that one Defender has 9 or more trumps.
Example: If the taker has no queen, he has a 30.5% chance of getting a queen in the dog, 4.4% of two queens. If the taker has 8 diamonds, thus there are 14-8=6 diamonds left, he has a 51.6% chance of not getting any diamond in the kitty at all. If the taker has 7 trumps, thus there are 21-7=14 trumps left, he has a 43% chance of getting 2 or more trumps.
has developed a system of conventional leads that lets partners communicate the value and number of the cards in hand. An outline of the system follows.
At the outset (indicated by 1 card)
With the Supply (indicated by 2 cards)
When a player indicates the strength of his or her hand by playing a king or an odd trump, it imposes a line of play to which the partners are duty bound to adhere.
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...
for four players using the traditional 78-card tarot
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
deck. The game is enjoyed throughout France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and also known in French-speaking 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...
. French tarot is one of the older forms of tarot and has remained popular for centuries. Tarot is a member of the tarock
Tarot, tarock and tarocchi games
Tarot, tarock, tarocchi, etc., are a group of card games played with the tarot deck. The first basic rules appear in the manuscript of Martiano da Tortona written before 1425...
family of games.
Official rules
Tarot, the second-most popular card game in France after BeloteBelote
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...
, has been gaining popularity since the latter part of the 20th century, helped largely by the fact that the rules are very consistent wherever the game is played. The Fédération Française de Tarot
Fédération Française de Tarot
The FFT or Fédération Française de Tarot was founded in Paris on October 1, 1973 for establishing official rules and tournaments for the French Tarot card game.-website:http://www.fftarot.fr/...
publishes official rules for tarot. In English, the game is sometimes referred to as French tarot; e.g., the French name of the annual Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
festival Festival International de Tarot de Montréal is officially translated into English as International Tarot Festival of Montreal. This is done to differentiate the card game from other uses of the tarot deck which are more familiar in the Americas and English-speaking countries, namely cartomancy
Cartomancy
Cartomancy is fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards. Forms of cartomancy appeared soon after playing cards were first introduced into Europe in the 14th century...
and other divinatory
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
uses, and also to distinguish it from other card games played with a tarot deck.
Deck
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
deck, which is composed of a numbered series of 21 trump
Trump (card game)
A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its normal rank in trick-taking games. Typically an entire suit is nominated as a trump suit - these cards then outrank all cards of plain suits...
cards (atouts), one Fool
The Fool (Tarot card)
The Fool or The Jester is one of the 78 cards in a Tarot deck; one of the 22 Trump cards that make up the Major Arcana. The Fool is unnumbered...
(l'excuse), and 4 suit
Suit (cards)
In playing cards, a suit is one of several categories into which the cards of a deck are divided. Most often, each card bears one of several symbols showing to which suit it belongs; the suit may alternatively or in addition be indicated by the color printed on the card...
s (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs), divided into 10 numbers from 1 to 10, and then the face cards of Jack (Valet), Knight (Cavalier), Queen (Dame) and King (Roi). The tarot deck used in cartomancy was derived from the game deck and maintains the structure of the deck. The style of tarot deck most often used for game playing is known as the "Tarot Nouveau
Tarot Nouveau
The Tarot Nouveau, French Tarot Nouveau or Bourgeois Tarot deck is a general style of tarot playing card deck. The Tarot Nouveau differs from other styles of tarot deck, such as the Tarot of Marseilles and Rider-Waite decks, in that the Tarot Nouveau is designed solely for playing the various tarot...
" or "Bourgeois Tarot", which has card designs similar to the French styling of the 52-card deck.
Rank of cards
Three cards known as oudlers ("honors") are of particular importance in the game: the 1 of trumps (the Petit), the 21 of trumps (Le Monde), and the Excuse (the Fool). These cards, when captured by the high bidder, lower the point threshold needed to fulfill the contract. In colloquial French, oudlers are often referred to as bouts (ends).The ranking of the hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades from the top is: King, Queen, Knight, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (Ace).
As an aside, the trumps and Fool can be removed to yield a 56-card deck very similar to a 52-card French deck but with the additional cavalier (knight, lit. horseman) in each suit. This deck, plus the Fool, was copied using culture-neutral suits and ranks to create the deck for the game Rook.
Excuse
However, two common exceptions to this are when the Excuse is played on the last trick, and what happens depends on whether the side playing the Fool has taken all the previous tricks (see Chelem/Slam below). If the side has taken all previous tricks, the card takes the last trick; if not, it changes hands to the other side, even if the trick is won by a partner or fellow defender of the person playing it.
Rules
For 3 or 4 players (5 with a simple variation). The 4-player variant is usually considered the most challenging and is the one played in competitions. The following rules are for 4 players.Dealing
Each player chooses a random card from the deck; the dealer is the person with the smallest card, with spades > hearts > diamonds > clubs (so 10 of hearts > 9 of spades, and 5 of diamonds > 5 of clubs). The trumps rank higher than the other cards; anyone who draws the Fool must redraw.The player at the left of the dealer cuts the deck. The dealer then deals out the entire deck, counter-clockwise; dealing 18 cards to each of the players, plus 6 cards to the "dog" (chien in French, also commonly translated as "kitty"), a face-down pile in the middle of the table. Each player is dealt his cards three at a time, and the dog is dealt one card at a time at any time the dealer wishes except for the first and last card dealt, which may not be part of the dog.
A maldonne (misdeal) occurs when the dealer makes mistakes in the dealing; if this happens, the hand is redealt, either by the same dealer or the next in rotation. Players inspect, sort and evaluate their hands and move on to the bidding round.
Petit sec
A player in possession of the Petit (1 of trump) but no other trump nor the Fool must announce this fact; the hand is voided and this round will be redealt by the next dealer.Bidding
The players look at the cards they have been dealt, and an auction begins, starting from the player to the right of the dealer, as all action proceeds counter-clockwise. By bidding, a player states his confidence that he will be able to meet a set contract (see below) and sets the terms by which they will try to do so. If a player does not wish to bid, they may "pass" but may not bid after having passed previously. One may only bid higher than the previous bidders. The preneur ("taker", sometimes called "declarer" as in BridgeContract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
) is the one who wins this auction; they must try to meet the contract while all other players form the "defense" and attempt to prevent the taker from doing so.
The level of player's bid is based on the strength of their hand, usually estimated by counting the points within it. See evaluating one's hand below for a method to determine the points within one's hand.
The bids are, in increasing importance:
- prise (take) or petite (small): if this is the winning bid the taker adds the "dog" to his hand, then confidentially sets aside a same number of cards of his choice, to bring his hand back to normal size before play begins. The discarded cards form the beginning of the taker's score pile (the tricks pile). The name of this stack evolves from "le chien" to "l'écart" ("the aside"). Usually indicates at least ten points in one's hand.
- pousse : same actions and scoring as a prise, but it indicates at least twenty points in one's hand (double the petite).
- garde ("guard"): the same actions as prise, but the taker wins or loses double the usual stake. Usually indicates 40 points or more in one's hand.
- garde sans [le chien] ("guard" without [the dog]): the dog goes directly into the taker's score pile, and no-one gets to see it until the end of the hand. The score is counted normally against the target number, but it is worth double the garde score (4x the base hand score) to whomever wins the hand. Usually indicates eighty points in hand (double the garde).
- garde contre [le chien] ("guard" against [the dog]): the dog goes directly into the opposing score pile, without being shown until the end of the hand. The score is counted normally against the target number, but it is worth triple the garde score (6x the base hand score) to whomever wins the hand. The value is double the garde-sans (160).
The taker may not set aside a king or a trump, except that if the player cannot discard anything else, in which case they may discard a trump. In this case, the taker has to display which trumps he sets aside. An oudler may never be set aside. If no one bids, another deal begins, the new dealer being the next player (to the right of the previous dealer).
In earlier rules, still played outside of competitions, in place of the prise and simple garde, there were two bids, in increasing importance: the petite (small) and the pousse (push). The prise is still sometimes known as petite. There are also some players who play without the prise contract, with garde as the minimum allowable bid.
Main phase
The player to the right of the taker leads the first trick, and the play proceeds counter-clockwise, with every player adding a card from his hand to the trick. Tricks are evaluated in a similar fashion as other trick-taking games with a trump suit; the highest trump, if played, takes the trick; if trump is not played, the highest-value card of the led suit takes the trick. Every subsequent trick is led by the player who took the last trick. The leader of a trick can play any card they like.Once the leader of a trick has played a card, everyone else must follow suit (play a card of that same suit, if they have one). If a player cannot follow suit, he must play a trump card. When playing a trump card, the player is compelled to play a higher value than any existing trump in the trick if he is able (The "Petit" is valued lowest, and the "21" is valued highest). If a player must trump but cannot overtrump, they can play any trump. If a player cannot follow suit or trump, he may play any card to the trick, however any card they play in such a situation cannot win the trick.
If the trick is led with a trump, all other players must play a trump, and each trump must exceed the rank of all trump previously played in the trick if possible. If this is not possible, a lower-ranked trump, or any card if the player has no trumps, can be played. If the first card played in a trick is the Fool, the required suit to follow is determined by the following card.
Scoring
When the last trick has been played, the round ends. The taker counts the number of oudlers and the point value of all cards in his scoring pile. Alternatively, if the taker has taken the majority of tricks, the defenders can pool their scoring piles and count their oudlers and points; the taker has all remaining points.Value of the cards
- 1 King/oudler + 1 ordinary card : 5 points
- 1 Queen + 1 ordinary card : 4 points
- 1 Knight + 1 ordinary card : 3 points
- 1 Jack + 1 ordinary card : 2 points
- 2 ordinary cards : 1 point
Each card thus has an individual value; the pairing simply makes it easier to count points. If a card cannot be paired, because there are an odd number in the scoring pile (common with three or five players) or more counters than ordinary cards:
- Kings and oudlers are worth 4½ points each;
- Queens are worth 3½;
- Knights are worth 2½;
- Jacks are worth 1½;
- All other cards are worth ½ point.
Winning
The number of points the taker needs depends on how many of the oudlers (Excuse, Petit, 21 of trumps) are among his won tricks.- With 3 oudlers the taker needs at least 36 card points to win;
- With 2 oudlers the taker needs at least 41 card points to win;
- With 1 oudler the taker needs at least 51 card points to win;
- With none the taker needs at least 56 card points to win.
There are 91 points to be taken in a round, so if the taker has :
- 3 oudlers, the defenders need at least 55 ½ card points to win;
- 2 oudlers, the defenders need at least 50 ½ card points to win;
- 1 oudler, the defenders need at least 40 ½ card points to win;
- no oudler, the defenders need at least 35 ½ card points to win.
Updating the scorecard
Scoring in tarot is "zero-sum"; when one player gains points, one or more other players lose an equal number.To calculate the basic "hand score" that is to be added or deducted, the scorer starts with a basic score of 25 points, then adds the absolute (non-negative) difference between the points earned by the taker and the threshold, and, if any, the Petit au bout bonus. This quantity is multiplied by the appropriate multiplier for the taker's bid level (see Bidding), and then two additional bonuses may be added if they apply; the poignée or "handful" bonus, and the chelem or slam bonus (see below for descriptions of bonuses). Thus, calculation of the hand score is expressed by the formula :
where:
- E : Extra Points (points above the target score, or below if the target score is not hit)
- P : Petit au bout bonus (see below)
- M : Multiplier (1, 2, 4, or 6 depending on the taker's bid level)
- H : Handful bonus (see below)
- S : Slam bonus (see below)
If the taker beats the target score, this hand score is deducted from the score of each defender. If the taker misses the target score, this score is added to the score of each defender. The opposite of the sum of the defenders' gain or loss is then added to or deducted from the taker's score to balance the scores; with four players, the taker will gain or lose three times the hand score depending on whether the taker made or missed the contract. The sum of all scores for each hand, and thus the sum of the running totals after each hand, should be zero.
For example, a Garde Sans bid with a simple handful won by player A by a margin of 12 points gives the following hand score : ((25 + 12 + 0) * 4) + 10 + 0 = 158 points. This score is deducted from the scores of all defenders and the sum of this loss is added to the taker's score, hence the scorecard :
- A, 474
- B, -158
- C, -158
- D, -158
Some players prefer to round the scores to the nearest 10 points after each game, however care must be taken as the scores should still sum to zero. Rounding each of the above scores independently yields 470 - 160 - 160 - 160 = -10. If rounding is to be done, the defenders' scores should be rounded and the taker's score adjusted accordingly. Doing so in the above example would make the taker's score 480, thus it balances out.
After each round, the cards are gathered, cut by the previous dealer, and dealt by the person to the right of the previous dealer. The cards are not commonly shuffled other than the "soft shuffling" that occurs as a natural result of playing the cards. By not shuffling, groups of desirable cards are kept together such that one person generally has a favorable enough hand to open the bidding. With shuffling between deals it is unlikely for any one player to be dealt a hand he is willing to bid on; this leads to multiple redeals before a hand is actually played.
This is not the only scoring method. The alternative is seen below.
Misère
If a player's hand contains no trumps or no court cards (roi, dame, cavalier, valet), the player can declare Misère, which gives the declarer 30 points and subtracts 10 from the other players scores. This bonus is a common house rule and is not considered "official" by the Fédération Française de TarotFédération Française de Tarot
The FFT or Fédération Française de Tarot was founded in Paris on October 1, 1973 for establishing official rules and tournaments for the French Tarot card game.-website:http://www.fftarot.fr/...
for tournament purposes.
Poignée
If a player has 10 or more trumps in their hand, they can declare a single (10+), double (13+), or triple (15+) "handful" (poignée), right before playing their first card. A single handful adds 20 to the scoring. Doubles and triples add 40 and 60, respectively. The bonus is always added to the hand score, so if a player thinks that his or her side may not win, they might not want to declare a handful, so as not to give the other side points. The declaring player must show at least the number of trump cards for the level of the bonus declared. The Fool counts as a trump for the purposes of declaring handfuls, but if shown it gives information to other players as it usually means that the declaring player has no additional trumps. This bonus is not multiplied according to the contract.Petit au bout
When the last trick is won with the Petit (1 of trump), 10 points is added to or deducted from the hand score before multiplying. Whether it is added or subtracted depends on which would most benefit the side making Petit au bout (One at the End). Usually, when one side (taker or defense) makes Petit au bout but the other side was successful in either making or breaking contract, the bonus is subtracted; when one side is successful in the contract and also makes Petit au bout, the bonus is added. If the side attempting the Petit au bout wins all the tricks, the player gets the petit au bout bonus if the Petit was played at the second to last trick (and won the trick) and the Fool was played at the last trick. This bonus is multiplied according to the contract; if the contract is Guard Without, the gain or loss for a single hand score is adjusted by 40 points one way or the other.Chelem
To Slam (in French, chelem) is to take every trick in the round. "Announced" Slam (made while bidding in the auction) gains 400 points if made. It grants the taker the right (and obligation) to start the first trick. Otherwise, a non-announced Slam made by either the taker or the defense gains 200 points. Failure to fulfill a pre-declared Slam costs the announcer 200 points. This bonus is not multiplied according to the contract.Petit Slam
"Petit Slam" is a bid to take every trick but three. It is, like the misère, unofficial. An unannounced Petit Slam is worth 150 points, while an announced slam can gain the taker 300 points or lose them 150 if they make or miss.Petit imprenable
In Untouchable One Of Trumps variant, the player who has no trump except the Petit can still play, but the Petit is played like the Fool; if it does not take the trick, it is given back to its owner in exchange for a half-point card.Three-player variant
The dog consists of six cards, each hand of 24 cards, dealt in packets of four. 13 trumps are needed for a single handful, 15 for a double handful, 18 for a triple.Five-player variant
The dog consists of three cards, each hand of 15 cards, dealt in packets of three. 8 trumps are needed for a single handful, 10 for a double, 13 for a triple. Before calling the dog and scoring his three cards, the taker calls the King of any suit. Whoever has that King becomes the taker's partner, and plays with him against the other players. If the taker has all four kings, he calls a queen. If the taker has all four kings and all four queens, he calls a knight. The taker must play alone if he has all kings, queens and knights.In the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n version, Königrufen
Königrufen
Königrufen or Königsrufen is a trick-taking card game four-player variant played in Austria and nearby areas in Central Europe, especially in Slovenia...
, this king-calling mechanism is used so that four-player play two against two.
The King is called before anything is done with the dog; therefore, the taker may call a King that is in the dog. In this case, the taker plays alone; he has technically called himself as partner if the dog's cards are to be integrated into the hand, and in any case no other player has that King in hand.
In scoring, the taker's partner gets one "hand score" added to or taken from his score if the taker makes or misses his contract. So, if taker beats the target score, each defender loses the hand score, the partner gains the hand score, and the taker gets twice the hand score. If he misses, the gains and losses are reversed.
Alternative scoring
In this variant, there is no score multiplier but the base score (25) is variable:- 10 for a Petit
- 20 for a Pousse
- 40 for a Garde
- 80 for a Garde Sans
- 160 for a Garde Contre
Another popular variant is setting the multiplier for the Garde Contre to 8 instead of 6.
Scoring with chips
A simple way to keep score, and to gamble in tarot, utilizes a number of poker chips or similar tokens. The bid levels correspond to 1, 2, 4, and 6/8 chips or units. Each player bids or raises by increasing the number of chips, similar to PokerPoker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
but without the option of folding. Each player's wager remains in front of him, and the taker adds an extra matching stack for each defender. If the taker wins, he gets all the chips on the table. If the taker loses, the defenders divide the chips evenly.
Rules on what happens when someone runs out of chips or cannot cover the current wager vary. Most often the player who is short cannot win more than was wagered; if the taker is short and wins, he only wins an equal stack from each defender. If he loses, the defenders split his chips as evenly as possible. If a defender is short, the taker can only win, and must only cover, the amount the defender has remaining. The game may end when someone runs out, in which case the person with the most chips wins. Alternatively, play may continue, with the chip values of each bid level increased. The player who has run out must still play, and may or may not be able to win chips by helping to set the taker.
Strategy
| Term | English | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Coupe franche | void | Having no card in a particular suit |
| Cinglette | singleton | Having one card in a particular suit |
| Filante | Being long in a suit | Having many cards in a particular suit. |
| Longe |
Evaluating one's hand
As a guide to bidding, a player can award points for various features of his hand, judging his bid according to the total number of points.| Feature | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| The oudlers | the 21 | 10 | |
| the fool | 8 | ||
| the petit | with 1-3 trumps | 0 | |
| with 4 trumps | 5 | ||
| with 5 trumps | 7 | ||
| with 6+ trumps | 9 | ||
| The trumps | for each trump (oudlers included) unless there are less than 4 of them | 2 | |
| for each major trump (16 to 21) | 2 | ||
| for each major trump in a sequence, e.g. 20,21 = 2 points or 16,17,18 = 3 points | 1 | ||
| The major suited cards | king and queen of the same suit | 10 | |
| a king without queen | 6 | ||
| a queen without king | 3 | ||
| a knight | 2 | ||
| a jack | 1 | ||
| The suits | 5 cards of the same suit | 5 | |
| 6 cards of the same suit | 7 | ||
| 7+ cards of the same suit | 9 | ||
| For garde sans or garde contre | no card of a suit | 6 | |
| only one card of a suit | 3 | ||
Each range of point totals suggests a different bid:
- less than 40 points: Passe (no bid)
- 40 to 55 points: Prise
- 56 to 70 points: Garde
- 71 to 80 points: Garde Sans
- 80+ points: Garde Contre
Getting the Petit
It is essential to try to get the Petit if one can. In a 5-player game, if the taker has the 21 of trump, he shall always play it so his partner can secure the Petit if he's got it. If the taker has many trumps, he can perform a chasse au petit (Petit hunt), trying to play his trumps so that the Petit owner has no choice but to give it away.Observation
Every player should know which suits have been played, and which are still to be played. It is useful to count how many trumps, and what kings, have been played.Distribution of suits
The following table shows the maximum number of suits and trumps for a Defender for 4 players.| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |
| 2 | 66.7% | 37.0% | 12.4% | ||||||||||
| 3 | 29.6% | 49.4% | 57.6% | 48.0% | 25.6% | 8.5% | |||||||
| 4 | 3.7% | 12.3% | 24.7% | 38.4% | 48.0% | 48.0% | 37.3% | 19.5% | 6.5% | ||||
| 5 | 1.2% | 4.9% | 11.5% | 20.5% | 30.7% | 39.7% | 43.8% | 40.7% | 30.5% | 15.8% | 5.3% | ||
| 6 | 0.4% | 1.9% | 5.1% | 10.2% | 17.1% | 25.0% | 32.9% | 38.4% | 39.5% | 35.2% | 25.8% | ||
| 7 | 0.1% | 1.7% | 2.2% | 4.9% | 8.9% | 14.3% | 20.7% | 27.3% | 33.1% | 36.4% | |||
| 8 | 0.3% | 0.9% | 2.2% | 4.5% | 7.7% | 12.2% | 17.1% | 22.8% | |||||
| 9 | 0.1% | 0.4% | 1.0% | 2.2% | 4.0% | 6.6% | 10.2% | ||||||
| 10 | 0.1% | 0.4% | 1.0% | 2.0% | 3.6% | ||||||||
| 11 | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.5% | 1.0% | |||||||||
| 12 | 0.1% | 0.2% |
Example: Suppose the taker has 8 hearts, thus the Defenders have 6 hearts. In 5.3% of the cases, one Defender has 5 or more hearts. Notice that the sum from any column is 100%. If the taker has 9 trumps, thus the Defense has 12 trumps. There is a 1.1% probability that one Defender has 9 or more trumps.
Dog's cards
This applies to 4 players and 6-card dog.| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | |
| 0 | 90.0% | 80.8% | 72.5% | 64.9% | 57.9% | 51.6% | 45.9% | 40.7% | 36.0% | 31.3% | 27.9% | 24.5% | 21.4% | 18.7% | 16.3% | 14.1% | 12.1% | 10.4% | 8.9% |
| 1 | 10.0% | 18.3% | 25.1% | 30.5% | 34.7% | 37.9% | 40.1% | 41.5% | 42.2% | 42.3% | 41.9% | 41.0% | 39.8% | 38.3% | 36.6% | 34.7% | 32.7% | 30.7% | 28.5% |
| 2 | 0.9% | 2.4% | 4.4% | 6.8% | 9.5% | 12.3% | 15.1% | 18.0% | 20.7% | 23.3% | 25.7% | 27.8% | 29.7% | 31.2% | 32.5% | 33.5% | 34.3% | 34.7% | |
| 3 | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.5% | 1.0% | 1.6% | 2.5% | 3.5% | 4.7% | 6.1% | 7.6% | 9.3% | 11.0% | 12.9% | 14.8% | 16.9% | 18.9% | 20.8% | ||
| 4 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 1.5% | 2.1% | 2.7% | 3.5% | 4.3% | 5.3% | 6.4% | |||
| 5 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.9% | ||||
| 6 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.01% | 0.02% | 0.03% | 0.04% | 0.06% |
Example: If the taker has no queen, he has a 30.5% chance of getting a queen in the dog, 4.4% of two queens. If the taker has 8 diamonds, thus there are 14-8=6 diamonds left, he has a 51.6% chance of not getting any diamond in the kitty at all. If the taker has 7 trumps, thus there are 21-7=14 trumps left, he has a 43% chance of getting 2 or more trumps.
Signalization
The Fédération Française de TarotFédération Française de Tarot
The FFT or Fédération Française de Tarot was founded in Paris on October 1, 1973 for establishing official rules and tournaments for the French Tarot card game.-website:http://www.fftarot.fr/...
has developed a system of conventional leads that lets partners communicate the value and number of the cards in hand. An outline of the system follows.
At the outset (indicated by 1 card)
- In a suit:
- A card from Ace to 5 signals that the player holds a major honor (King-Queen).
- A card higher than the 5 signals that the player does not hold such an honor.
- In trumps:
- An odd trump signals possession of at least 7 trumps, and requests that partner play trumps.
- An even trump played at the beginning of part announces possession of fewer than 7 trumps.
With the Supply (indicated by 2 cards)
- Suit played by the attacker:
- Order going down: behaviour 5th in the suit invites to play trump (attention not to have the Petit in hand).
- The Excuse on starts attacker with the first or with the second turn promises the behaviour
- Suit played by defense:
- Two cards of the same suit played in descending order signal that the player held a doubleton in this suit. The player's partner is implicitly expected to continue playing this suit so that the player can overtrump.
When a player indicates the strength of his or her hand by playing a king or an odd trump, it imposes a line of play to which the partners are duty bound to adhere.
- Excuse at the first round of trumps: Player demands an end to trumps.
External links
- Rules of the game at pagat.com, mirrored here
- general information on the game of tarot
- Tarot Museum
- Shogix.net
- American Tarot Game Association
- Game of Tarot livejournal community
- Instructional video on French tarot