Game rules Truco

Descriptions

The game has 4 players, forming duos, sitting in alternate positions.

• Players - 4.
• Deck of Cards - a traditional (or spanish) pack, without Jokers, 8's, 9's or 10's.
• Distribution - 3 cards each participant.
• Objective - score 12 points.

Definitions

• Trumps - The highest cards in the game, like a "trump". Defined by the Flip Card.
• Flip Card - A card that is draw from the pile and placed face up. It defines the trump cards [manilhas]
• Round - A sequence of 4 plays, where each player plays a card.
• Hand - Composed by 2 or 3 rounds, and initially are worth 1 points.
• Truco - Kind of a bet, where the hand value of points raises to 3
• Six - A bet to raise the Truco to 6 points.
• Nine - A bet to raise from 6 points to 9 points.
• Twelve - A bet to raise from 10 points to 12 points
• 11's Hand - When one of the teams reach 11 points.
• Iron Hand - When both teams reach 10 points.
• Covered Card - Card that is flipped (with the face down), and it's worth nothing. Like the player is giving up disputing the hand.
• Cards Order (from lowest to highest): 4, 5, 6, 7, Q, J, K, A, 2, 3, trump cards [manilhas].
• Suit Order (from lowest to highest): Diamonds, Spades, Hearts and Clubs

The Game

After cards distribution, the Flip Card is revealed from the top of the pile. It defines the trump cards [manilhas]

Scoring

At their own turn and before playing, each player can call for Truco. In doing so, he asks the adversaries if they accept, they run or they raise the Truco to Six. If they accept, the hand changes to a 3 points win and keep going on. If they run, the duo that asked for Truco wins the hand and scores 1 points. But if they ask for Six, the previous team need to decide if they accept the raise, run or even re-raise asking for Nine and so on. The bet can only be raised in the following order: 3, 6, 9 and 12. For example, he can't ask for Nine if the hand is worth 3 points or ask for Six if it's worth only 1. A team can't ask for Truco twice in a row. When a duo runs, the other wins the hand and gets all the points in play. Example: the hand is worth 6 and a duo asks for Nine. If the adversaries run, the ones who asked for Nine will get 6 points (the actual hand value). At the 11's Hand the players can't ask for Truco. If they do so, they automatically loose the game.