Briscola / 2-6 Players
8
Briscola is a classic Italian trick card taking game. The object is to take the most cards that give you or your team
the high score. It is played with a 40 card Italian deck; which has the suites coins, cups, clubs, and swords. A
standard 52 card deck may be used by removing the Jokers, eights, nines, and tens.
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10
CARD RANKING & POINT VALUES
High
The Deck has
120 points
total
Low
A
3
K
Q
J
11 pts
10 pts
4 pts
3 pts
2pts
DEALER
DEALER
7
6
5
4
2
------------- All other cards have no point value -------------
DEALER
WINNER
LEADS
+10 pts
The Deck
Briscola
Suite =
13 points
Briscola
Card
+3 pts
LEADS
2-Player Deal
Shuffle the deck and deal the
cards counter-clockwise until
all players have 3 cards.
Place the remaining deck in
the middle.
Play
From the deck, flip over the
next card, this is the Briscola
card (Trump).
Every card of this suite is the
high card.
Win the Trick
The highest Briscola card
played wins the trick.
The Player, not the Dealer,
leads the round. Then the
Dealer puts a card down.
Refer to the card ranking for
point values.
*Unlike other trump games it
is not required to follow suite
or trump
3-Player Briscola
Take away 2 cards to reduce the deck to 39 cards and play the same as two player Briscola.
SYSTEM OF SIGNALS
6-Player Briscola
Same as four player except there are 2 teams of 3.
2
1
The first player to reach 61
points wins the game!
Reminder: The deck has 120 points
total.
MORE THAN TWO PLAYERS
4-Player Briscola
2 pairs of players sit face to face in teams.
Win the Game
Players draw a new card from
the deck and the last to win a
trick starts the next round.
Teams are not allowed to talk about their cards but can
use facial expressions to signal.
Ace . . . . . . . . . . . . stretch lips over teeth
2
Three . . . . . . . . . . distort the mouth to one side
King . . . . . . . . . . . glance upwards
1
1
1
2
Queen / Knight . . show the tip of the tongue
Jack . . . . . . . . . . . shrug one shoulder
2
1
2
Create your own signals!
Briscola Chiamata / 5 Player variant
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Briscola Chiamata (Call Briscola), is probably the most enjoyable version of this game. The base mechanics
remain the same as Briscola but there are important twists to the dealing of all the cards at the beginning and
the bidding process.
9
10
pass
Dealer
39
47
41
43
The Deal
Distribute all 40 cards (8 per player). No
cards remain on the table. Everyone can
view all their 8 cards.
Bidding
Starting with the player to the right of the dealer, each
player "declares" how many points s/he will probably
score in the game, based on the cards in hand.
All players agree to how many points they
will play to, usually to 10-15 points.
Each bid must be higher than the previous bid. If one
cannot bid higher, then one can pass but cannot bid
again during the round.
Bidding continues until all the players except one has
passed.
Reminder:
A standard 52 card deck may be used in
place of the Italian 40 card deck by
removing the Jokers, eights, nines,
and tens.
Strategy & Tips
If the Caller has an exceptionally good
hand, then s/he can name the Briscola
card from her/his deck.
This could gain the Caller 4 points (or
lose points), while opponents still
gain/lose 1 point each.
Players need to deduce whose side the
others are on, mainly by observing the
cards played during a round (it's
forbidden to talk about one’s cards).
Who’s the Holder?
The Holder should walk a thin line
between gaining points for her/himself
and the Caller, to avoid being discovered
too soon.
[skipped]
CALLER
“I call..”
pass
pass
Scoring
A
1. Caller + Holder points > what the
Caller declared
Caller + 2 points,
Holder + 1 points
Three other players -1 point each
pass
HOLDER
(I have the Briscola)
Call the Briscola (the Trump card)
The highest bidder "calls" (names) the Briscola card.
The player with the Briscola card is the Holder and teams
up with the Caller.
The three remaining players form the opposing team, and
only the Holder knows which one of the players will team
up with the Caller.
Play
Play the same as the "traditional" Briscola game until all cards have been played.
The Holder should avoid revealing her/his identity
until the time comes to play the Briscola card.
The other players should try to deduce which
player is playing with the Caller, and adjust their
strategy accordingly.
2. Caller + Holder points < the
declared amount
Caller - 2 points
Holder - 1 point
Three players + 1 point each
The game is played until someone wins
by reaching the agreed total
BUONA FORTUNA!