How to play Scopa

Scopa in four points

1. Two players, three cards each, and four face up on the table. The Asso counts 1, Fante 8, Cavallo 9 and Re 10.
2. Play a card to take a table card of the same value, or a group that adds up to it (a 5 takes 3 + 2). A single matching card must be taken first. If nothing matches, your card stays on the table.
3. Take every card on the table and you score a scopa: 1 point. Cards still on the table when the hand ends go to whoever captured last (that isn’t a scopa).
4. After each hand there’s a point each for most cards, most Denari (coins), the 7 di Denari and the best primiera. First to 11 wins.

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

Card values

Same forty-card deck as Briscola. Asso counts 1, the number cards count their number, 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.

Play

1. Three cards each, four face up on the table. (If three or more Re land on the table, the deal is redone.) The non-dealer plays first.
2. On your turn, play one card. If a table card has the same value, you must take it; if several match, you choose one. A single match always beats a combination.
3. Otherwise you may take any group of table cards adding up to your card's value (5 takes 3 + 2).
4. If nothing can be taken, your card stays on the table.
5. When both hands are empty, three more cards each are dealt, with nothing added to the table. Six rounds make a hand.
6. At the end, any cards left on the table go to whoever captured last.

Scoring each hand

• Scopa: clearing the table with a capture, 1 point each. The last play of the hand never counts.
• Carte: most cards (21 or more), 1 point.
• Denari: most coins (6 or more), 1 point.
• Settebello: the 7 di Denari, 1 point.
• Primiera: 1 point for the better set of best cards, one from each suit.

First to 11 wins the match. If both pass 11 level, keep playing. Some tables play to 16 or 21 instead.

How the primiera works

At the end of the hand, each side picks its best card in each of the four suits, using the primiera values below, and adds the four together. The higher total wins 1 point; a tie gives it to nobody. A side with no card at all in one suit can’t make a primiera, whatever its total.

These values are for primiera only. For capturing, every card keeps its face value (Asso 1, Fante 8, Cavallo 9, Re 10).

An example. Your best cards are the 7 di Denari, the 6 di Coppe, the Asso di Spade and, in Bastoni, only the Re: 21 + 18 + 16 + 10 = 65. The opponent’s best are the 7 di Coppe, the 7 di Spade, the 5 di Denari and the 4 di Bastoni: 21 + 21 + 15 + 14 = 71. The opponent wins the primiera. If they had taken no Bastoni at all, the point would be yours, because they couldn’t make a primiera.

That is why sevens matter so much (four sevens is the strongest primiera possible), why a 6 is worth keeping, and why it pays to take at least one card of every suit. Only your best card in each suit counts: a second 7 of the same suit adds nothing.

In Tocca a te!, the card tracker shows each side’s primiera so far, at the Tutor and Maestro levels.

The cards

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

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

The Ace. Counts 1 for capturing. In the primiera it’s worth 16.

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

The Jack. Counts 8.

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

The Knight (a rider on a horse), in place of a Queen. Counts 9.

Re REH

The King. Counts 10, the highest value for capturing.

Figure fee-GOO-reh

The picture cards: Fante, Cavallo and Re. They count 8, 9 and 10. In the primiera each is worth 10.

Sette SEHT-teh

Seven. The card that matters most: a 7 is worth 21 in the primiera, the most of any card.

Denari deh-NAH-ree

Coins, one of the four suits. Drawn as gold coins. Taking the most Denari (6 or more of the 10) scores a point at the end of the hand.

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

scopa SKOH-pah (plural scope, SKOH-peh)

“broom”: sweeping the table. Taking every card on the table with one capture. Each scopa is worth 1 point. The last play of the hand never counts as a scopa. The game takes its name from it.

settebello seht-teh-BEHL-loh

“the beautiful seven”: the 7 di Denari. Whoever captures it scores 1 point at the end of the hand. It also counts for most Denari and for the primiera.

primiera pree-MYEH-rah

A point for the best four cards, one of each suit. Each side picks its best card in every suit by these values: 7 is 21, 6 is 18, Asso 16, 5 is 15, 4 is 14, 3 is 13, 2 is 12, figures 10. The higher total wins the point. A side with no card at all in one suit can’t make a primiera. Rules & terms has a worked example.

carte KAHR-teh

“cards”: the point for taking the most cards. 21 or more of the 40 cards wins it; 20 each gives it to nobody.

Captured last

Who gets the cards left on the table. When the hand ends, any cards still on the table go to whoever made the last capture. Taking them this way is never a scopa.

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.

Scopa! SKOH-pah

Said aloud when you sweep the table. Then lay the card that made it face up and sideways in your pile, so the scope are easy to count at the end.

Five habits the Maestro is teaching

1. When you can't sweep, try to leave the table adding up to more than 10. Then no single card can sweep it.
2. Take sevens, and treat the settebello as a point on the table.
3. Between two captures, prefer the one with more denari and more cards.
4. When you must lay a card down, choose a value whose matches are mostly gone.
5. In the last round, remember who captured last: the leftover table goes to them.

At a real table

The dealer shuffles, another player cuts, and the dealer gives three cards to each player, one at a time, then lays four face up on the table. The other player plays first. After each round of three cards the same dealer deals three more each, nothing to the table, until the deck runs out. 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.

Say “Scopa!” when you sweep the table, and lay the card that made it face up and sideways in your pile, so the scope are easy to count. At the end, count out loud in the usual order: carte, denari, settebello, primiera, then the scope.

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 Jack counts 8, the Queen 9 and the King 10. The settebello is the 7 of Diamonds, and Diamonds count for most Denari.

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 values: Asso 1 up to Re 10.
2. Show a capture by matching (a 5 takes a 5) and one by adding up (a 5 takes 3 + 2), and that a matching card must be taken first.
3. Show a scopa: taking every card on the table.
4. Leave the end-of-hand points (carte, denari, settebello, primiera) for after the first hand.

The first hand. Play the first hand with both hands face up and think aloud: “If I take this, the table adds up to 7, and you have a 7.” Count the points together at the end; the primiera can wait until the second hand.

What beginners get wrong.

• Leaving the table easy to sweep, for example one card, or two adding up to 10 or less.
• Taking a combination when a single matching card must be taken first.
• Giving away a 7, especially the settebello.
• Forgetting that the cards left at the end go to whoever captured last.

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 Scopa in Tocca a te! with the teacher at Maestro, which explains every move.

For teachers and classes

Scopa 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.