four handed tarocchi

now, if you so happen to have 4 players & a deck of tarot cards, you can play this game, which is played in partnerships. - a bit like whist played with tarot cards

CARD POINTS

kings, 1, 21, fool ( honours)--5
queens-----------------------4
cavaliers---------------------3
jacks-------------------------2

deal 19 to each player, giving the remaining 3 to the dealer.
now. dealer puts 3 good cards fron his hand ( excluding the honours, otherwise it is too easy) & puts them aside. theese will count to the dealer's tricks.

play as in scarto.  the points are scored by dividing the number of cards by three, double that figure, & subtract the total value of the aforesaid cards from that figure.

(if you are interested in formulas, here is it

(2n/3)-x

where n is the number of cards, & x is the number of points they score).
2 odd 1-point cards score 1, any less, nothing

by this method, there are 78 points in the pack, so you need 39> to win


game ends once everyone has dealt

Karnöffel cards!!!!!!

I, don basilio, herby release the following into the public domain on the condition that it may not be used for any sort of commercial purpose

bells &acorns- 9 throgh 5

sheilds & acorns- ace through 10

the 4s and 3s

bells & flowers, ace through 10

sheilds & flowers- 9through 5

happy playing!!!!

happy 2011!!

with 2011, don basilio is introducing his new& improved tag list! just select some words from the list, & your post will be found in no time! check back regularly, for the list is constantly updated!

THE TAG CLOUD

Uh , tarot, horse, pig, acorn, justin, beiber, jack , jog, skat, poker, pontoon, alcohol, gem, pure, arsenic, ancient, germany, france, eunuch, Holland, ombre, Denmark, tronhelim sheep ,knife , stone, trappola, scart, Darwin, creationist, arses, false, morality, poker, bridge, farce, mother, truc, jeu, piker, jass, belote, sixty six, gold, silver, horse, theist, deist, Theresa, poo, india, bhang, tun, newmarkert, piquet, picket how, willy, wikileaks, hypno, eroto, machia, tag, poly, pitch, ball, mahjongg, wan, mee, tar, trap, mouse, horse ,tiger, turtle, soup, don, ottavio, giovanni, leporello, improved, tag, list

scarto- a simple tarot game for 3 players

you need a 78 card tarot deck for this. it dos'nt matter wether it is french or italian suited.
first. deal out all cards in groups of 5. to the three players . the remainding 3 cards form the "scart" 
the dealer ( choose by any means you wish) takes the 3 cards, & discards 3 cards from his hand in exchange for the 3 in the scart. the result counts to the dealers's tricks- so think about it like the 'crib' or 'box' in cribbage - but you must not put kings or any of the top 3 trumps (1, 21, & fool) into it- otherwise it is too easy

PLAY

the dealer plays any card to the first trick. then the person to his right plays another card. continue with the third.
now. note the suit of the first card played. the highest ranked card (ace low, king high)  of that suit wins, unless a trump is played. then , the highest trump played wins the lot, even if the subsequent player follows the suit of the first card.

SCORE

the cards score thus

kings, 1, 21, fool ( honours) -----5 points
queens-----4 points
cavalier-----3 points
jacks-----2 points

all others, incl. the trumps that are not honurs----- 1 point

now. the traditional method is to take the number of cards you won, divide that by 3, & subtract from that the total number of points you got from the aforesaid cards . howeveer, I personally find that so tedious that I leave it out!
 
the deal passses on to the right, once a hand is played. game ends once all   3 players get to deal

 
EXTRA RULES
reversed ranks

you may wish to reverse the rank of the pip cards in the red suits. so, the red suits , hearts & diamonds, or cups& coins rank

K (high), Q, , C, J, ACE, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10(low)

the black suits rank
K (high), Q, , C, J , 10, 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2, ace (low)


happy playing!
:-)

tarot, continued- how to recgonise italian court cards from a long way away

the courts of the sword (top) & baton (bottom) suits

the suit cards of the coin (top) & cup (bottom) suits

some of my eagle eyed readers may notice that there is italian text in the corner  well, that is the name of the card & its rank. well, the name is in 2 parts

take "re di coppa " for example re means "king" and coppa means cup so it is "king of cups"

now. here are the rest of the suitsspade= swords

bastoni=batons

denari=coins

here are the court card names

re=king

donna-queen

cavallo=cavalier

fante=jack (not labelled in this deck)

ah, yes, the tarot cards

the pic on top is of the court cards of each suit. from left to right, they are the
king
queen
knight (cavalier)
jack (knave)

for convinience's sake, I shall refer to the knight as a cavalier (so as to prevent confusion between a King  and a Knight)

they rank
king , then queen, cavalier, jack

the king scores 5 points the queen 4. the cavalier 3, & jack 2

Karnöffel (part 2)

the deal

first, deal 1 cards to each player.  then, turn it up. the suit of the lowest  card of the 4 is the trump suit.
non trump suits rank  K-Q-J-10,9, 8,7,.......4,3,A (note the lack of 2s)
now. deal 4 more cards to each player.

play commences. first, the player to the dealers left plays a card. note it's suit 
then, the next player plays a card.
continue till everyone has played a card.
now.the highest card of the suit of the first card played, wins the 3 others. 

this is the rule so long as no trumps are played. now, the trumps follow a really odd sequence. 

the JACK is the top trump. it beats all others.
the SEVEN is the next highest, provided it is the first card played. otherwise it is powerless!
the 6 is the third highest.
then comes the ACE ( it beats any king played
the 3, (beats any queen, but nothing above it, along with the previously stated cards)]
then the 4,(which beats jacks >,)
then the 5. which only beats number cards

the winner of the first trick plays the first card(leads) the next

happy playing!