Rules
It is a game for four players. A deck of
52 cards is used, the cards being shuffled and fully dealt,
one by one. As in Bridge, it is also a game of tricks.
A Trick is a set of four cards, one from
each player. The player who plays the highest card of the
first suit played in that round wins the trick. There are
13 possible tricks in each hand.
The ranking of the cards, from highest
to lowest, is Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10....down to 2. It
is an individual game and each game is formed of six hands
or negative turns and four positive ones. The scoring of
points must be done in a pad with two columns for each player,
one positive and one negative. At the end, the difference
between the two columns indicates the position of each player
compared to his opponents. The player who has the best positive
balance is the winner.
The six negative hands (first part of the
game) are:
1st. hand - No tricks. - The player who
dealt the cards, discards an open card. All players must
discard a card of that suit, being permitted a card of a
different suit if the player does not have the suit discarded.
The player who wins a trick starts the next trick. At the
end, each player must count and announce, for the records,
how many tricks he has made. Each trick is scored 20 negative
points. In order to check the total scoring, it must a total
of 260 points.
2nd. hand - No Hearts - The objective is
not to receive tricks with Hearts. Important rule: it is
forbidden to start a trick with Hearts, if you have any
other suit in hand. The player who cannot follow the suit
played, may play a Hearts or a card of any other suit, which
he considers dangerous. At the end, Hearts received by each
player are counted. Each Hearts scores 20 negative points.
The total scoring of this round is 260 points.
3rd. hand - No Kings or Jacks - The objective
is not to win tricks with Kings or Jacks. Each of these
cards scores 30 negative points and the total scoring for
this round is 240 points.
4th. hand - No Queens - The player who
wins tricks with a Queen, will lose 50 points. The total
of the hand is 200 points.
5th. hand - No King of Hearts - The player
who receives the King of Hearts in one trick will lose 160
points.
Rules
a) No player may start a trick with Hearts,
if he has a card from another suit.
b) The King of Hearts has to be discarded
at the first chance. A player cannot choose who to give
the King of Hearts.
6th. hand - Not to lead the last two tricks
- The objective is not to make the two last tricks, as the
name of the round indicates. This round costs 180 negative
points. If the two last tricks are split, one for each player,
then each one will score 90 negative points. The total of
negative points for the four players shall be 1,300.
After playing the six negative hands, there
will be four other positive rounds. The objective is to
win the greatest number possible of tricks, the score for
each one is 25 positive points, in order to recover losses
and win some more points.
Because the rounds are positive, each player
will have the opportunity to choose the trump at least once.
The dealer is called "benefited".
Trump - The dealer may choose a trump suit.
Any trump card wins over any card of another suit, but it
can only be played if it is impossible to follow the trick
suit or if the initial suit of the trick was trump. Between
two trumps, the highest one wins.
Auction - In the four positive hands, each
player will have the right to choose the trump suit or accept
offers from his opponents, selling the right to score the
trump. The payment is always made in number of tricks and
it will be made (in case the benefited had sold his right)
at the end of the hand. A bid must be higher than the previous
one. However high the bid may be, the benefited will always
have the right to accept or refuse it. During the auction
the players must only mention the number of tricks they
are willing to pay for the right to set the trump. The suit
must only be mentioned if and after the benefited accepts
the bid.
In case there are no bidding offers if
the offer is of just one trick, the benefited may, without
any further notice to his opponents, decide he has no interest
in dealing this hand. He will score four tricks for himself
and three for each of the three opponents.
After dealing the cards, each of the three
opponents must bid in the auction. After the third player
bid, the benefited must tell whether he accepts or not the
offer made. If he accepts, the three will bid again, in
sequence. In case the second or the third one to bid offers
a higher bid than the player immediately before, the latter
may offer the same number of tricks, "for the hand",
having priority. The player who passes his turn initially
will not lose his right to bid.
Example of an auction: Players A (dealer
and benefited), B, C and D.
Player B passes. C offers two tricks, D
offers three. A accepts. B offers three "for the hand"
and the auction goes on. If A refuses three times, B, C
or D may only bid four or more.
The total of positive points in the fourth
rounds is 1,300.
