How to play
Briscola uses 40 cards: ace to 7 and the jack, queen and king of each suit. Everyone gets three cards, and the next card is turned face up. Its suit is trumps for the whole hand; that card goes under the deck and is the last one drawn.
- The leader plays any card, and so does everyone after. You never have to follow suit.
- The highest trump wins the trick. With no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led wins.
- Cards rank ace, 3, king, queen, jack, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2.
- The winner draws a card first, then everyone else, and leads the next trick. When the deck is gone, play out your last cards.
Scoring
Cards you take are worth points: ace 11, 3 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2, the rest nothing. There are 120 in the deck, so more than 60 wins the hand; 60 each is a draw. Win two hands to win the game. With four players, partners sit opposite and add their cards together.
Tips
Lead a low card that isn’t a trump, so you give little away. When you can’t win a trick, throw away a card worth nothing. Save trumps for tricks with an ace or a 3 in them, and remember which aces and 3s have gone: once the ace of a suit is out, the 3 is the top card.