How to play Briscola

Briscola in four points

1. Two players, three cards each. The card turned face up under the deck sets the trump suit, the briscola, for the whole hand.
2. One player leads and the other replies with any card: there’s no need to follow suit. The higher card of the suit led wins, but any briscola beats every other suit.
3. The Asso (11 points) and the 3 (10) are worth the most, then the Re (4), Cavallo (3) and Fante (2). The rest are worth nothing.
4. The winner of each trick draws first and leads next. More than 60 of the 120 points wins the hand.

Playing with real cards? There’s a cheat sheet that prints on one page for the table.

The deck

Forty Italian cards in four suits: Denari (coins), Coppe (cups), Spade (swords), Bastoni (clubs). Each suit runs Asso, 2 through 7, then three figures: Fante (8), Cavallo (9), Re (10).

Fair deals in Tocca a te!

Cards are shuffled like a real deck, with your device’s secure randomness. Nothing is arranged, and the computer can’t see your cards: the teacher and the opponents know only what has been played. Online, the game’s server shuffles the same way.

Order and points

Cards rank in this order, highest first. Note that the 3 outranks the Re.

The deck holds 120 points. 61 wins the hand; 60–60 is a tie.

Play

1. Each player gets three cards. The next card goes face up under the deck; its suit is the briscola (trump) for the whole hand.
2. The leader plays any card. The other player replies with any card. There is no need to follow suit.
3. A higher card of the led suit wins. Any briscola beats any non-briscola. A reply in a different, non-briscola suit always loses.
4. The winner draws first, then the loser. The winner leads next. The face-up briscola is the last card drawn, so it goes to whoever loses the trick before it.
5. When the deck is empty, the last three cards each are played out.

The cards

How to say them: the part in capitals is stressed.

Asso AHS-soh (plural Assi, AHS-see)

The Ace. The highest card of each suit, worth 11 points.

Fante FAHN-teh (plural Fanti, FAHN-tee)

The Jack. The lowest figure, worth 2 points.

Cavallo kah-VAHL-loh (plural Cavalli, kah-VAHL-lee)

The Knight (a rider on a horse), in place of a Queen. Worth 3 points, between the Fante and the Re.

Re REH

The King. Worth 4 points. It ranks below the Asso and the 3.

Figure fee-GOO-reh

The picture cards: Fante, Cavallo and Re. Worth 2, 3 and 4 points.

Sette SEHT-teh

Seven. Worth nothing, but it ranks above the 6, 5, 4 and 2.

Denari deh-NAH-ree

Coins, one of the four suits. Drawn as gold coins.

Coppe KOHP-peh

Cups, one of the four suits. Drawn as goblets.

Spade SPAH-deh

Swords, one of the four suits. Drawn as swords. (Not spades: in French cards those are Picche.)

Bastoni bah-STOH-nee

Clubs (wooden batons), one of the four suits. Drawn as wooden clubs.

di dee

Of. Fante di Coppe is the Jack of Cups; 7 di Denari is the 7 of Coins.

Words you’ll hear

briscola BREE-skoh-lah (plural briscole, BREE-skoh-leh)

The trump suit, and any card of it. The card turned face up under the deck sets the briscola for the whole hand. Any briscola beats any card of another suit. The game takes its name from it.

carico KAH-ree-koh (plural carichi, KAH-ree-kee)

“loaded”: an Asso or a 3. Worth 11 and 10 points. The eight carichi hold most of the hand’s 120 points, so the game is mostly about winning them.

liscio LEE-shoh (plural lisci, LEE-shee)

“smooth”: a card worth no points. The 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Leading one risks nothing.

strozzo STROHT-tsoh

“a strangling”: taking a carico with a higher card of its own suit. Such as taking the 3 with the Asso. It wins both carichi, 21 points, in one trick.

Follow suit

Play a card of the suit that was led. In Briscola you never have to: any card may be played.

Trick

One card from each player; the best one wins them all. In Italian, una presa (PREH-zah). Whoever wins a trick leads the next one.

Lead

Play the first card of a trick. The player who leads is “di mano” (dee MAH-noh).

Trump

In Briscola, the briscola. Tresette has no trumps.

Said at the table

Tocca a te! TOHK-kah ah TEH

“It’s your turn!” And “tocca a me”, it’s my turn.

mazzo MAHT-tsoh

The deck. The dealer is the mazziere (maht-TSYEH-reh).

Alza AHL-tsah

“cut”. Before dealing, the dealer offers the deck to another player to cut.

smazzata zmaht-TSAH-tah

A hand: one deal, played out. A match, la partita (pahr-TEE-tah), is several hands.

Five habits the Maestro is teaching

1. Lead lisci. They risk nothing.
2. Don't throw a carico into a trick you can't win.
3. Spend small briscole to capture carichi. Don't trump lisci.
4. Count: which briscole and carichi are still out?
5. Watch the last draw. Sometimes losing it wins you the face-up briscola.

At a real table

The dealer shuffles, another player cuts, and the dealer gives three cards to each player, one at a time, starting with the player on their right. The next card goes face up, crosswise under the deck, so it stays in sight: that is the briscola. The player on the dealer’s right leads first, and the deal passes to the right after each hand. Italian games are played to the right, counter-clockwise: the deal, the play and the next dealer all go that way.

Nothing has to be said: everyone can see the briscola under the deck. At the end each player counts their own pile: Asso 11, Tre 10, Re 4, Cavallo 3, Fante 2. Count the carichi first, then the figures.

No Italian cards? Use a regular deck

Take the 8s, 9s and 10s (and any jokers) out of a regular 52-card deck, leaving forty cards. The Jack is the Fante, the Queen the Cavallo and the King the Re. Diamonds stand for Denari, Hearts for Coppe, Spades for Spade and Clubs for Bastoni. The order is Asso, 3, King, Queen, Jack, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2. Remember that the 3 beats the King.

In much of northern Italy these games are played with French-suited cards anyway.

Teaching it to someone

In five minutes. Don’t explain everything first. Show this, then deal:

1. Show the four suits and the order of the cards, with the 3 just under the Asso.
2. Turn up a briscola and show that any card of that suit beats every other suit.
3. Show the points (Asso 11, Tre 10, Re 4, Cavallo 3, Fante 2) and that 61 of 120 wins.
4. Explain drawing: the winner of a trick draws first and leads next.

The first hand. Play the first hand with both hands face up and think aloud: “I’ll lead a liscio, it risks nothing.” “Your Asso is safe from me unless I trump it.”

What beginners get wrong.

• Throwing an Asso or a 3 into a trick they can’t win.
• Spending a briscola on a card worth nothing.
• Forgetting that the 3 beats the Re.
• Not counting which briscole and carichi are still to come.

Letting them win. For the first few hands, play gently and let them take back a play they regret. Point out their good plays as well as their mistakes. Once they win a hand fairly, stop going easy: it’s more fun for them to know a win was real.

Between games, they can practise Briscola in Tocca a te! with the teacher at Maestro, which explains every move.

For teachers and classes

Briscola fits an Italian class well: the words are everyday Italian (numbers, “take”, “win”, “your turn”), and the game is something students can play with their families. A deck of Italian cards costs a few euros; a regular deck works too (see above).

A lesson of about 45 minutes.

1. The deck and its words (5 minutes): show the four suits and the figures and say them together, using the respellings in the word list.
2. The game in four points (10 minutes): the summary at the top of this page.
3. Play in pairs (20 minutes): the first hand face up, then a real one. Students say what they do in Italian: “Tocca a te”, “Ho preso il sette”.
4. Counting and talking it over (10 minutes): who won, and why, in Italian.

Phrases to use at the table.

Tocca a te! TOHK-kah ah TEH

It’s your turn!

Tocca a me. TOHK-kah ah MEH

It’s my turn.

Chi dà le carte? kee DAH leh KAHR-teh

Who deals?

Mescola! MEH-skoh-lah

Shuffle!

Alza! AHL-tsah

Cut!

Ho preso il sette. oh PREH-zoh eel SEHT-teh

I took the seven.

Ho vinto! Hai vinto! oh VEEN-toh, AH-ee VEEN-toh

I won! You won!

Quanti punti? KWAHN-tee POON-tee

How many points?

Students can practise at home in Tocca a te!, against the computer or with each other online, and the cheat sheet below prints on one page for each table.

The cheat sheet

The cards, how to play and the scoring on one page, to print and keep with the cards: a cheat sheet that prints on one page.