The rules of tarot
The rules of tarot
The rules of tarot discussed below are the official rules of tarot. These are the rules in effect for 4-player Tarot.
The players
A player (the Taker) plays alone against the three others (the Defense) who are therefore united and play as a team.
The Taker must achieve a number of points based on the number of Ends (0, 1, 2 or 3) that he has. These points are counted according to the cards forming the tricks won by the Taker. The purpose of the Defense is to prevent the Taker from fulfilling his contract or at least to limit his gain.
Composition of a Tarot deck?
A complete tarot deck contains 78 cards.
14 cards (from Ace to King) of each of the 4 suits (hearts, spades, clubs, diamonds), 21 illustrated cards called "trumps" and a card marked with a star called "the Excuse".
The 3 ends of tarot
The strategy of the tarot game is organized around 3 very important cards in the game which are called the ends (or These are the 1 of trump (called the Petit), the 21 of trump and the Excuse. These are the cards that are worth the most points in the tarot game (4.5 points each) and that will determine the number of points to be achieved at the end of the round for the taker.
Value and order of tarot cards
Here is the order and value of the tarot cards:
- Ascending order, from Ace to 10, for each suit: 0.5 points per card
- Jack: 1.5 points
- Knight: 2.5 points
- Queen: 3.5 points
- King: 4.5 points
- Ascending order, from 2 to 20 trumps: 0.5 points
- 1 trump, 21 trump and the Excuse: 4.5 points per card
Tarot contracts
Since tarot is a contract card game, the taker must achieve a minimum number of points in a round defined according to the number of ends he has in his tricks at the end of the round:
- With 0 ends: 56 points
- With 1 end: 51 points
- With 2 ends: 41 points
- With 3 ends: 36 points
Tarot auctions
Tarot is both an individual and a team game. Indeed, the player who takes after the deal (the taker) is opposed to the three other players who then constitute the defense.
At the beginning of a tarot game, a dealer is randomly designated. He distributes the cards 3 by 3 in an anti-clockwise direction so that each player receives 18 cards. During the distribution, the dealer must also constitute a stock of 6 face-down cards called "the Dog". The first and last cards dealt must not be in the Dog.
Once all the cards have been dealt and the Dog has been formed, all players can look at their games. The Dog remains invisible. The bidding can then begin: each player, starting with the one to the right of the dealer, can choose to announce a contract or pass.
Note: The Petit, the only trump in the hand, cancels the deal (Petit with Excuse does not cancel). In this case the server automatically reshuffles the cards.
There are 3 possible contracts in tarot:
- The Guard: this is the basic contract, with a dog. The taker considers his chances of success to be greater than his risks of failure.
- The Guard Without: the game is very beautiful and the taker who announces this contract considers that he does not need to incorporate the Dog cards into his game and remove others. The Dog is set aside and will be counted in the taker's tricks at the end of the round.
- The Guard Against: the taker's play is exceptional so the taker agrees to carry out his contract without the help of the Dog whose points will be counted in the tricks of the defense. Note: on Ludicash the bid indicating Chelem is in fact a Guard Against accompanied by a request for Chelem.
The Dog and the discard
For a Guard, the taker can arrange his play strategically by exchanging 6 of his cards for the 6 cards of the Dog after having exposed them. The player is not allowed to put kings or ends in the Dog. He can place trumps there but only if he cannot do otherwise and must show them to the defense first.
In the cases of Guard Without and Guard Against, the Dog cards remain face down and invisible until the end of the tarot round.
Each player speaks once and the player with the biggest contract becomes the taker.
The Handle
Possessing a Handle means holding in your hand:
- 10 trumps (20 points)
- 13 trumps (30 points)
- 15 trumps (40 points)
Presenting a Handle allows you to score an additional bonus in the event of a win but incurs a penalty in the event of a loss.
It is therefore never obligatory to present a Handful.
The Handful must be presented on your turn to play and just before playing your first card, and only at that moment. It must be presented in order, in its entirety and in one go.
The player who presents the Excuse in a Handful indicates that he has no other trump; the place of the Excuse in the Handful is free.
In defense, the Handful is solidary, the mark of each player in the Defense must be identical.
The Handful is therefore counted (plus or minus) to the camp that presents it (or the Taker or the Defense); the side that presents a Handful benefits from it in case of a win, but it is their opponent who benefits from it in case of a loss of this side.
How the tarot game works
The game is played counterclockwise. Once the taker is determined, the player to the right of the dealer places the first card. Each player places a card in turn.
The player who picks up the trick with the highest card plays the first card of the next round and so on.
The rules are as follows:
Mandatory to follow the suit but not to play a higher value card
Mandatory to follow the trump suit and to play a higher value card than the previous one, if possible. Otherwise, mandatory to play a trump or to piss (throw away any card)
Mandatory to cut (play trump) if you do not have the requested suit. If the previous player also ruffed, you must overruff (ruff with a higher trump) or piss if overruffing is not possible
If you cannot follow suit and you do not have a trump, you discard (play a card of your choice)
Any player can consult the previous trick as long as the current trick has not been picked up
The Excuse always belongs to the side that holds it, unless it is played on the last turn: the opposing side then picks up the Excuse in its tricks
Special case of the Excuse in the event of a Slam: if it is played by the defense, it remains acquired by them and counts for 4 points. If it is held by the Taker, the latter must play it imperatively at the last trick: in this case and contrary to the general case, he wins this last trick and achieves his slam
Counting points in tarot
At the end of the game, the points contained in the Taker's tricks on the one hand, and in those of the Defense on the other hand, are counted.
The score is established at the end of a calculation including several elements:
Gain (or loss) points
The total is always 91 points. To win his contract, the Taker must achieve a minimum number of points which is a function of the number of Ends he has in his tricks at the end of the game (in the case of Guard without the dog, the dog's points are added to the Taker's tricks). If the number of points is exactly achieved, the contract is "just made"; if the number of points is higher, the additional points are winning points; if the number of points is lower, the contract is dropped and the number of missing points corresponds to loss points.
Contract Value
Any contract arbitrarily worth 25 points, 25 points are added to the number of gain or loss points.
"Small at the End" Bonus
In the event of "Small at the End", the side that made the last trick benefits from an additional bonus of 10 points.
This bonus is awarded regardless of the result of the hand; so, if the defense leads the small to the end while the taker wins: the premium is for the defense and is therefore deducted from the taker's positive total.
If the taker leads the Small to the End but drops his contract: the premium is for the Taker and is therefore deducted from the defense's positive total.
Multiplier coefficient
This new total is accompanied by a coefficient according to the contract requested:
in the event of a TAKE, this total is unchanged
in the event of a GUARD, this total is multiplied by 2
in the event of a GUARD WITHOUT, this total is multiplied by 4
in the event of a GUARD AGAINST, this total is multiplied by 6
Handle Bonus
The side that presented a handle benefits from a bonus if its side wins, but suffers a deduction if the other side wins.
The value of the Handle is the same regardless of the contract:
single handle (10 trumps) = 20 points
double handle (13 trumps) = 30 points
triple handle (15 trumps) = 40 points
Slam Bonus
The Slam is requested in addition to the contract, the points are counted according to the contract requested and an additional bonus (or deduction) sanctions the success or failure of this Slam.
Slam announced and achieved = additional bonus of 400 points
Slam not announced but achieved = additional bonus of 200 points
Slam announced but not achieved = 200 points are deducted from the total.
The score
Each defender scores the same number of points: negative if the taker wins, positive if the taker falls.
The taker scores three times this total, positive if he won, negative if he fell.
The total of the four scores of the taker and the 3 defenders is therefore equal to 0.
Specificities of the 5-card tarot
The 5-card tarot is played with 15 cards per player and its rules are very similar to the 4-card tarot with a few specificities.
The Call of the King
In 5-card tarot, games are generally played by 3 (the defenders) against 2 (the taker and his partner).
When a player decides to take, he must "call a king" before the dog is revealed. The player who has the called king then becomes the partner of the taker.
Special cases
If the called king is in the dog, then the taker plays alone.
If the taker has a minimum of a king, he can decide to call himself and play alone against the 4 other players.
If the taker has the 4 kings, he can decide to call a queen as a partner.
The dog
It is made up of only 3 cards and not 6.
The handles
In 5-card tarot, the number of trumps needed for the handles is as follows:
- Simple handle: 8 trumps
- Double Hand: 10 trumps
- Triple Hand: 13 trumps
Calculating points
When calculating points, you must also count the ½ points.
The ½ point not awarded goes systematically to the winning side, i.e. to the taker(s) if they make the contract, or to the defenders if the taker(s) fall.
Defenders:
- If 4 defenders - then 1/4 of the points per player
- If 3 defenders - then 1/3 of the points per player
Taker(s):
Important: on LudiCash, the points are equally distributed between the 2 takers.
- If 1 taker alone without a partner - then 100% of the points
- If 1 taker and a partner - then 1/2 of the points per player