Scopone: cheat sheet

The table

• Four players, partners across. All forty cards dealt, ten each; the table starts empty and nobody draws.
• The player on the dealer’s right plays first; play goes to the right.
• No signals and no talk about your cards.

Capturing

• Values: Asso 1, 2–7 as numbered, Fante 8, Cavallo 9, Re 10.
• Take a table card of the same value, or a group adding up to your card (7 takes 4 + 3). A single match must be taken first.
• Nothing to take: your card stays on the table.
• Taking every card on the table is a scopa: 1 point for your team (never with the last card).
• Cards left at the end go to the team that captured last.

Points each hand, by team

• Carte: most cards (21+), 1
• Denari: most coins (6+), 1
• Settebello: the 7 di Denari, 1
• Primiera: best four cards, one of each suit, 1
• Each scopa, 1. First team to 11 (or 21) wins.

Primiera values

Regular deck

Remove 8, 9, 10. Jack = 8, Queen = 9, King = 10. ♦ Denari (the settebello is the 7♦), ♥ Coppe, ♠ Spade, ♣ Bastoni.