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!
:-)