Briscola game rules

* Cards:

Sicilian deck:
1- The briscola card deck has 4 suits: Denari (Gold), Spade (Swords), Coppe (Cups), Bastoni (Wands).
2- Each suit has 10 cards: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Jack (Donna or Fante depending on the deck), Knight (Cavaliere) and King (Re).
3- The cards have the following point values: Ace = 11 points; 3 = 10 points; King = 4 points; Knight = 3 points; Jack = 2 points; 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 = 0 points.
4- The cards are ranked in the following order (from high to low): Ace, 3, King, Knight, Jack, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2.
5- In games with 3 players, one of the 2 is removed from the deck to ensure that the number of cards is a multiple of 3 (39). If there are 6 players, all the 2's are removed from the deck so there are 36 cards.

French deck:
1- The French deck has 4 suits: Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts and Spades.
2- Each suit has 13 cards: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen and King. The cards 8, 9, 10 are not used in the Briscola game.
3- The cards have the following point values: Ace = 11 points; 3 = 10 points; King = 4 points; Queen = 3 points; Jack = 2 points; 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 = 0 points.
4- The cards are ranked in the following order (from high to low): Ace, 3, King, Queen, Jack, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2.
5- In games with 3 players, one of the 2 is removed from the deck to ensure that the number of cards is a multiple of 3 (39). If there are 6 players, all the 2's are removed from the deck so there are 36 cards (or, instead of removing the 2's, it is possible to use the cards 8, 9 and play with 48 cards).

* Preparing the game:

1- If the number of players is 4 or 6, then 2 teams are made. Players from each team alternate around the table, so a player is never sitting next to a team-mate. In the game with 3 players, each player plays against the other 2. The game with 5 players is played with special rules.
2- The dealer is chosen by agreement or drawing lots.
3- Any player can shuffle the cards, but the dealer will be the last one to shuffle them. The player to the left of the dealer cuts the deck, before the dealing of the cards starts.
4- The dealer gives the same number of cards to each player (1, 2 or 3), starting from the player to his right & going anti-clockwise. If necessary, the dealer will go around more than once, until each played has received 3 cards. The dealer must take all the cards from the same part of the deck (either from above or from below).
5- After each player has received 3 cards the dealer places the next card (the briscola) face up on the table & places the deck partly on top of it.
6- The briscola is placed so that it is visible by all the players.
7- Each player looks at his/her own cards. The game can start when the player who received the first card is ready to play.

* Game hands:

1- A hand is a turn of play. Each player plays 1 card. In a game with 2 players there are 20 hands.
2- Whenever a briscola card is played in the hand, the briscola becomes the winning suit (of that hand). All the cards of the same suit as the card placed face up under the deck are briscola cards.
3- If no briscola card is played in the hand, then the suit of the card played by the player who starts the new hand is the winning suit.
4- The player who plays the highest ranked card of the winning suit wins the hand and collects the cards.
5- The player who wins the hand will start the next hand.

* Playing the game:

1- A player plays a card placing it face up on the table.
2- A player can choose any 1 of the cards he/she has got, there are no special rules.
3- The player who received the first card from the dealer starts the game by playing 1 of his cards.
4- The other players in turn play 1 card (following an anti-clockwise direction).
5- After each player has played 1 card the hand is complete.
6- The player who wins the hand collects the cards from the table. Then he picks the first card from the deck (if there are any cards left in the deck).
7- All the other players in turn collect 1 card from the deck (following an anti-clockwise direction).
8- The player who won the last hand starts the next one.
9- The briscola that is face up on the table will be picked up by the last player on the 17th hand (in a 2 players game). The game continues until the players have no more cards to play (3 hands).

* The end of the game:

1- After the last hand each player counts the number of points he has gained. If there are teams, each team gets the sum of the points of its members.
2- If there is only 1 game, then the player/team with the highest number of points wins.
3- If there are 2 or more games, the points are noted and added to the points of the next games. At the end of the games, the player/team with the highest number points wins.
4- The player to the right of the dealer will be the dealer of the next game.