General Rules
1) It is played with a pack of 40 cards.
2) In general, the game is done to win two middles games over three, each half game, generally consists of 18 points, that are divided in two “chicos” of nine points each, having the name of bad points the ones of the first “chico” and good points at the ones of the second.
3) When you reach having half the points as to which you play every half game, that is, a “chico” of bad points, the players must reduce, that is, withdraw the bad points to leave only the ones that correspond to the “chico” of good points, and therefore half a game has been played, it must also be made smaller before starting another half.
4) The scores must be put in a plate in the middle of the table and from there each team will withdraw the points they won only at the end of each throw (It is understood as a throw each time they start to deal again).
5) If previously it has not been agreed as who will play as companions in the games of more than two, the first thing that must be done is the forming of two couples; for this the cards are dealt between those who are going to play, giving to each one, one with the face up, and they will be companions those players that receive the first kings to appear, dealing the cards for the first time, the placer that has received the first king.
6) The one that deals the cards mixes or shuffles them, puts the pack on the table and asks the inmediate opponent who is sitting to the left to cut, or that is, to separate the pack in two lots, for which he will pick up the pack and withdrawing the cards from below, he will proceed to give three cards to each player in three rounds of one card at the time, starting by the player sitting inmediately to the right. In the rest of the game the cards are dealt once by each player, following the turn on the right of the previous dealer, and refering to the one fixed in the previous line.
7) Any player cannot cut but only the one sitting to the left of who deals the cards: the pack can not be cut more than once, but it is allowed to hit the pack without doing any cut at all.
8) If when dealing the cards one falls face up, the one that receives it is entitled to keep it, or on the contrary, he can oblige the dealer to pick up all the cards and proceed to deal them again. It is forbiden for who is hand to resolve to deal again or keep the given cards, that is incorrect, it is not fair that a player for the sole fact of being hand should oblige another to keep a card seen by the rest of the players, only the person concerned is the only one that has the right to keep or not the seen card.
The 5 ways of playing
1 - Partida mano a mano: This game is played between 2 players, and as it is obvious, one goes against the other.
2 - Partida de gallo: It is played between three, one goes against the other two that are partners: this is called to go “de Gallo” It can be played in two ways that are distingished for being “gallo fijo” and “gallo por turno”. In the first option the same player plays alone against the other two; in the second “va de gallo” once each player, following by turn and in a way that corresponds to go alone at the same time that he has to deal the cards.
3 – Partida corriente: It is the most common game. It is formed by two couples of opponents that must be placed alternatively in a way that, the ones that play together must be seated front to front. When starting the game each team will decide which of the companions of each team is who will collect the points they win as a team.
4 – Partida de seis: It is played between 6 players, divided in two teams of three members each; they sit alternatively one player against the opponent: Scheme: The players A,C,and E, are companions against the players B,D,and F. It is played with a normal throw (called “Redonda”), between the six and then alternating with another throw (called “de Punta”) in which each couple play separate and independently against particular opponents, therefore the players A play against D, C against F and E against B. In each particular throw the only one that has to check that his opponent does not cheat or commits faults in the player concernid, and also the only one who should and can make them noticeable and collect them.
The companions of those who are playing in a throw “de punta” can not make any observation regarding the game that is going on. If anybody makes a commentary, an observation or advise, points out a fault or deceit, the team to whom belongs the one who interfered with the game, loses the throw, and if he has collected a point won in it will have to give it back; on the other hand, the team that was observed or discovered will collect 4 points, and will consider that throw over and start another. The players who in the throw “de punta” wait for their turn to play, can not show their cards to anyone, but instead they are permited to declare the game they want until their turn to play, without them compromising them in any way.
5 – Partida de ocho. This game is formed, as said, by 8 players that form two teams of four players each, this game is similar to the game of six, for it is ruled by the same dispositions as that one.
The ABC of the game
a) “Pie” is the name given to the player who deals the cards,, being the “pie” of the aposite band the one who is siting first to the left of the dealer. The player who is “pie” must direct the playing of his team during the throw and his companions must heed his indications.
b) It is called “IR A LA PESCA” when it is played silently, waiting for the oposition to be the first “en envidar” or “trucar”, for then to “reenvidar” the “envido”.
c) If before playing any card one team quits without saying anything, that throw is finished and the other band, also quiting, will collect 2 points, and if by coincidence he winning team has “flor”, it will declare it and will also collect the corresponding points.
d) The cards already played that have been put in the pack, can not be examined by any other player, excepting that it has been discovered or during the trick of the other team that they did not have the “flor” or “envido” declared, in this case the cards played can be controlled, and if the fault is proven, the team that did it must give back all the points won in this throw, and the acusing team that denounced the faults will collect the points. If it is not proven that a fault has been commited, the acused team will collect for itself three points in terms of indemnization
e) In any game of more than two players, whoever wants can quit, following the course of the throw while the oposition has cards left, without the game suffering any alteration.
f) Not having seen the three cards of one throw and yet when two cards of the three have been seen, the words pronounced during the game form no obligation, but if the three cards have already been seen, each word has an absolute value, inspite of having been said by mistake or during a conversation beyond the game.
g) All the propositions or “envites” of the game must be closed with the word “QUIERO”, if they are wanted (except in the combination of “envido” when the one who is “convidado” wants to “revidar”, in which case they must follow the rules that deal with that combination), and “PASO” if they are not wanted. Any other frases similar or equivalent are not valid. If nothing is repplied the invitation done is considered not wanted.
h) To be taken into consideration the voices of the games must be said in high voice and clearly, otherwise they are not considered said.
i) Any word similar or equivalent to the words of the game are not valid or taken into account. The same is done with the plurals and derivations of the words of the game.
j) When a double invitation or “envite” is done, for example: “Falta de envido y truco”, if one of the two is not wanted, the one not wanted must be said first and then what it is wanted, because if at first one says “Quiero this and “Paso” the other, the whole invitation is considered acepted for the sole motive of having first said the word “QUIERO” .
k) Once wanted an invitation in which you must say the points you have, any number that is said is absolutely valid, even if it has been said by mistake or out of the game.
l) It is named “envite” to any invitation made, whether in the “envido” or the “truco, it is called “revido” when the oposition repply an invitation with another “envite”, whether in the “envite” or the “truco.”
m) It is not an obligation of the opponents to want or pass an invitation done to them while they haven´t seen their three cards. COMBINATIONS: The principal combinations that the game has are;”Flor”, “Envido” and “Truco”. It must be said inmediately that a card has been played, and otherwise, one different to the game in hand.
The Flor
This combination is the only one that can not be lied, that is, it can not be declared if one has not got it, it happens when in one throw they give a player 3 cards of the same suit .And it has it´s rules:
a) The word “FLOR”; must be said before playing any of it´s three cards.
b) The one that has it will collect three points.
c) He will loose his “flor” (collecting the oposition the three points which is worth), if the player commits some of these faults:
- If he has “flor” and declares it alter playing his first card.
- If before playing his first card he declares without having it.
- If after declaring it at the right moment, he quits instead of playing or showing his cards.
- If he does not declare it and the oposition discovers he had it.
d) When it is suspected that the one who quits had a “flor” withot at least showing two cards of the same suit, the oposition can oblige him to show his cards, for which they have to inmediately say “PIDO FLOR”, and in this case, if he does not want to discover his game, it´s enough for him to show two cards of different suits if he has not played any card, or otherwise one different to the one trick.
e) For the “FLOR”, the cards have a different and independent value that for the “TRUCO” itself, for there are no privileged suits and all the cards have the value of what is written in them, excepting the figures that have no value at all and only serve as companions. To count the points of a “flor” you add up the value of the three high cards, it is of thirtyeight points and it´s formed with a seven, a six and five. The lowest “flor” is of twenty points, and it´s formed with a king, a queen and a jack, who as they have no value don´t add nothing to the number of twenty.
f) If two players get a “FLOR” in the same hand, if they are companions, they collect the two “flores”, that is six points in total, but if they are opponents, one of them has to loose it by “CONTRAFLOR “, “CONTRAFLOR AL RESTO” or with “CON FLOR ME ACHICO”.
g) The “ CONTRAFLOR” can be declared by any of the opponents that in the same game have a “Flor”, it can be the first or the second who declared it. The “envite” of “contraflor” must be made inmediately that the “flor” is declared. The contrary that does not accept this “envite” and declines looses his “flor” and the one who did the invitation collects three points for his “flor” and one for the decline of his oponent, with a total of four points.; if the “envite”of the “contraflor” is wanted the one with more points will
collect six points, to which effect the points of both “flores” will be added without showing the cards, for that “envite” stops for the “truco” to be played in that same hand as in a ordinary game.
h) The “contraflor al resto” has the same rules as the “contraflor simple”, but there is a difference: If the invitation to the “contraflor al resto” is acepted, both opponents must lay their cards on the table and the one with the higher “flor” wins and collects as many points missing to him to finish a “Chico” and logically the throw is over without continuing with the “truco”.
i) The following is totally forbiden: Some players determine that whoever wins a “contraflor al resto” only collects the points that the oposition are missing plus three points for their “flor”. This combination is one in which there are more lies, although to have a real “envido” you need for two of the cards received to be of the same suit, all the time you find that they “envida” and “revida” without having cards for that, therefore you achieve frightening the oposition that have cards to win but don´t accept the invitation.
The “Envido”
The “envido” has it´s rules and they are:
a) When a “flor” has appeared in one throw, you can not do or accept “envidos”, therefore the word “envido” has no value whatsoever and it is not considered.
b) The “envido” must be proposed before playing any of the three cards, for the word said by the one who has played his first card is not valid.
c) If he or the oposition accept the the invitation of “envido”, the one that has the “envido” with more points wins, collecting two points for each time the word “envido” was pronounced. If the proposition is not acepted, the one who did it collects one point for each time the word was said
d) When an “envido” has been wanted and some player does not have two cards of the same suit, he must declare the highest card he has, and if all the players are in a similar case, the one with the highest card will win-
e) Playing games of more than three, who proposes and wants “envido” is the “PIE” of each side, and must do it according to his cards or by those of his companion, indisdinctly, inspire of him having already played his first card
f) In the case of a draw in the number of points of the “envido” wanted, the one who is hand will win.
g) When the “envido” is wanted, the one who is hand must start to declare the points they have.
h) If the one who wins the “envido” has made a mistake when declaring his points (although with the ones he really has he should win), he will lose the points he should receive, and which will be collected by the opponents, The same will happen if somebody wins an “envido”and quits without playing or showing his cards with which he won.
i) If the point that is being beaten is not so, there is no need to declare the points they have.
j) To declare the points of the “envido” is ruled by the highest cards: they are the sevens followed by the rest for their written value, excepting the figures that have no value and only serve as companions.. To the sum of the points of the two cards we must add the number twenty and therefore the highest “envido” will be thirtythree points, formed with a seven and a six of the same suit. The smallest “envido” is of twenty and it´s formed with two figures of the same suit.
k) Once the “envido” is acepted with the word QUIERO no player can “revidar”, but if the first “envido” is replied with a “revido”, you can “revidar”.
l) Every “revido” incluyes the acceptance of the previous “envite” without having to previously say QUIERO, therefore, it must be collected whether the “revido” has been wanted or no.
m) When various “envidos” or “revidos” cross each other and a team does not want the last position, the ones who did it will collect the poposals of previous “envites” to the last one “no querido”
n) When who has lost an “envido” or “revido” is lacking less points to finish the “chico” of good points or that is half game, the ones who win can only collect points as the ones missing to those that are in those conditions and have lost the “envite”.
o) The invitations of “two, three, four,”envido” or “real envido” and “ten or more point
are perfectly legal and are collected arranging with the same “envite” proposition.But if before the quantity the word “envido” is said, it´valid as a simple “envido” and not what it´s being declared could be worth .
A To equal the “envido”
a) Who wins this “envite”, if wanted, collects the points necessary to equal the points of the other team, if the one leading wins he will collect the points necessary to win a “chico”. If it were not wanted, the one who did it collects only one point as if it were a simple “envido”. This invitation can be made on a first issue or as a “revido” of a simple “envido” or a “real envido”, everything under the general rules fixed for the simple “envido”.
“Real Envido”
b) If the” real envido” is declared for the first time and is wanted, is worth three points and a point if it wasn´t, but if it has been said as a “revido” of some “envido” proposition it´s worth two points that represent the previous invitation, which is considered already wanted for the fact of “revidar”, and the points it´s worth by itself. In everything it´s ruled by the dispositions of the simple “envido”.
The “Falta de Envido”
c) The proposition can be done at once or as a “revido” of a simple “envido” or “real envido”. It is not wanted, it´s worth only one point , if it was said for the first time and those corresponding to the previous “envites” if it was thrown as a “revido”. If the invitation is wanted, the winner collects as many points as the oposition are missing to finish a “chico”, whether from good or bad points, bearing in mind what´s refered to in article n) (ENVIDO).
The Truco
This combination takes place at the end of each throw and the following rules are considered:
a) To win a “truco” it´s necessary to achieve two cards of the three that each throw has. In this combination the cards have a personal and different value than the ones mentioned for the “flor” and the “envido”. The cards of higher value are the ACE OF SPADES, ACE OF CLUBS, SEVEN OF SPADES, AND THE SEVEN OF GOLD, these four cards are called “BRAVAS”, followed by the value they repectively have, the THREES, the TWOS, the false ACES, the KINGS, QUEENS, JACKS, the SEVENS of HEARTS and CLUBS, the SIXES, the FIVES and the FOURS, this one is beaten by the FIVES which are beaten by the SIXES, these are beaten by the SEVENS OF HEARTS and CLUBS, these by the JACKS, these by the QUEENS, these by the Kings, these by the ACES of GOLD and HEARTS,, these by the TWOS, these by the THREES, these by the GOLDEN SEVEN, this by the SEVEN OF SPADES, this by the ACE OF CLUBS, and this one, by the ACE OF SPADES.
b) The “envite” of the “truco” can be said in any moment and by any player, but it is normally said during the first two cards played.
c) If the “truco” has been wanted, the one who wins collects 2 points, if it is not wanted, the throw finishes and the one who does the invitation collects one point. If it is played silently, that is without anybody saying a word “truco”, the one who wins only collects one point.
d) It is called “baza parda” (or lost) the one nobody wins. This happens when the two teams play in such a way that each one has presented a card of the same value, and those are ones with more value in the trick, and therefore, none beats the other. If the first trick is drawn, the one that does the second trick wins the “truco”, if the second is drawn, the one who won the first wins, and finally, if the three are drawn, the one who is hand wins the “truco”.
RETRUCO
Without being invited by the word “TRUCO”, a “RETRUCO” cannot be declared, because that word is only a “revido” of the “TRUCO”, and therefore, the only team that can “retrucar” is the one “envidado” with a “TRUCO”. One can “retrucar” inmediately when is invited with the word “RETRUCO”, in this case is called “retrucar en el aire”, you can also close the “TRUCO” with a “QUIERO” and only then say the “RETRUCO”. If the “RETRUCO” is wanted, it´s worth three points, and if it´s not, only two.
VALE CUATRO
This “envido” is a “revido” of the “truco” and therefore it can only be proposed by the team that is invited with a “retruco”. As the name indicates it is worth four points if it´s wanted, and otherwise, three. That´s the law of the game.
a) This invitation has to be made by the “pie” of the oposite team to which is giving the cards in a throw, before the three cards have been thrown. With this invitation, it´s considered that if there are “flores” ,the simple “contraflor” and the “truco” are called, if there is no “flor” in both teams, the “falta de envido” and the “truco”, if you have “flor” in one anly band, the “truco” The variation and development of the game depends whether there are “flores” or not.
b) You can not oblige this “envite” to be wanted or not while the oposition haven´t seen all their cards.
c) The opponents can want everything, in which case they will only say “QUIERO”, they might not want anything saying “PASO”, or they might want a part and not the rest, in which case they will first say what they don´t want and then what they do, for if the say it the other way round, it is considered closed and wanted all the proposition.
d ) If only one team have a “flor”, he declares it and collects, in this case the “envido” is reduced to the “truco”, eliminating the “falta de envido”.
e) If after seing the cards the team that made the “envite” and the other team quits without playing, those who were ready to play collect two points and then quit.
FALTA DE ENVIDO Y TRUCO
This invitation is similar too the previous one, but it differs in that “contraflor” is not declared if “flores” come on. If this happens alter declaring that , any player that has “flor”, when declaring it, has to invite the oposition to a “contraflor” and nulifies the “envite” to the “falta de envido”.
The signs
It is very important for who is “pie” to know the cards of the one who is “mano”, the signs to inform about those cards are very important, and the players do all that is possible for their opponents not to discovery them. The fantasy and cunning of each one results in that the signs can change without limits, but generally, the ones considered standard are: