How to play Scopone

Scopone in four points

1. Scopa for four, in two teams: your partner sits across from you. All forty cards are dealt, ten each, and the table starts empty. Nobody draws.
2. Capturing is Scopa’s: take a table card of the same value, or a group that adds up to yours (a 7 takes 4 + 3). A single matching card must be taken first. Play passes to the right.
3. Sweep the table for a scopa: a point for your team. Whatever you or your partner take counts for the team, and the cards left at the end go to whoever captured last.
4. The points each hand are Scopa’s, counted by team: most cards, most Denari, the settebello, the primiera and every scopa. First team to 11 wins; many tables play to 21.

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

Players and deal

Four players in two teams; your partner sits across from you. All forty cards are dealt, ten each, and nothing goes on the table, so nobody draws during the hand. The player on the dealer’s right plays first, and play passes to the right (counter-clockwise). The deal moves one seat to the right after each hand.

This is Scopone scientifico, the way most people play today. The older deal, nine cards each and four face up on the table, is a house rule below.

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.

Card values

The same forty-card deck as Scopa, and the same values: the Asso counts 1, the number cards count their number, the Fante 8, the Cavallo 9 and the Re 10.

Play

1. 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.
2. Otherwise you may take any group of table cards adding up to your card’s value (a 7 takes 4 + 3).
3. If nothing can be taken, your card stays on the table.
4. Everything you or your partner take goes to your team’s pile.
5. When all forty cards have been played, any cards left on the table go to the team that captured last. The dealer plays the very last card of the hand.

Scoring each hand, by team

• Scopa: clearing the table with a capture, 1 point each. The last card of the hand never makes a scopa.
• 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, scored as in Scopa: 7 is 21, 6 is 18, Asso 16, 5 is 15, 4 is 14, 3 is 13, 2 is 12, figures 10.

First team to 11 wins the match. If both pass 11 level, keep playing. Many tables play to 21.

Playing with a partner

You can’t tell your partner anything about your cards, by words or by signs: there are no signals in Scopone. But you always know who plays next. The opponent on your right plays straight after you, then your partner, then the opponent on your left. So most of the game is leaving a table the next player can’t use, and, when you can, one your partner can.

With every card dealt, good players count: each value has four cards, so once three of them have been seen, the last one can’t be taken by matching. A card that takes two others at once, like a 7 taking 4 + 3, is a spariglio: it changes which values are left in pairs, and is Scopone’s most famous idea.

House rules

Many tables play with a few rules of their own. Tocca a te! can play these: choose them under Rules when you start a game. The lessons teach the standard game.

• Scopone classico: 9 cards each and 4 face up on the table to start, instead of 10 each and an empty table: the older way, still played in many places. Dealt again if three or four Re land on the table.
• Re bello: The Re di Denari (King of coins) scores a point for the team that takes it, like the settebello.
• Napola: Taking the Asso, 2 and 3 of Denari scores 3 points, plus 1 for each coin that carries the run on (the 4, then the 5…). All ten coins (a Napoleone): some tables score it 10, others say it wins the match. With Napola, many tables play to 21 or 31.
• Asso pigliatutto: An Asso takes every card on the table. With an Asso already on the table it takes only that Asso; on an empty table it stays there. Taking the whole table: at some tables it’s a scopa; at others (Scopa d’assi) it isn’t.

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.

spariglio spah-REE-lyoh

“unpairing”: one card taking two or more. Each value has four cards. Taking by matching takes them two at a time, so values stay in pairs; a card that takes two others, like a 7 taking 4 + 3, changes the pairs of three values at once. Good players do it on purpose, to leave the values that suit their team.

scientifico shen-TEE-fee-koh

“scientific”: Scopone with all forty cards dealt. Ten cards each and an empty table, so every card is in someone’s hand from the start and can be counted. The older deal, nine each and four face up on the table, is often called Scopone classico, though some books swap the two names.

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.

compagno kohm-PAH-nyoh

Your partner. In Scopone you play with your partner, but you mustn’t tell them anything about your cards, by words or signs.

Five habits the teacher is teaching

1. Play against the next player: leave a table the opponent on your right can’t sweep or profit from.
2. When you can’t keep the table safe, leave one your partner, who plays after that opponent, is likely to take.
3. Count each value. If the other three of a value have all been seen, a card of that value laid down can’t be matched.
4. Take sevens, and treat the settebello as a point on the table.
5. In the last round, know who plays the last card (the dealer) and who captured last: the leftover table goes to them.

At a real table

Partners sit across from each other. The dealer shuffles, another player cuts, and the dealer deals all forty cards, ten each, starting with the player on their right, with nothing on the table. That player plays 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.

Say “Scopa!” when you sweep the table, and lay the card that made it face up and sideways in your team’s pile, so the scope are easy to count. Nothing else about your cards may be said or signalled: you play with your partner, in silence. At the end each team counts its pile: 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. Seat the partners across from each other, and show that play goes to the right.
2. Show the values, Asso 1 up to Re 10, a capture by matching and one by adding up, and that a matching card must be taken first.
3. Show a scopa, and that it counts for the whole team.
4. Leave the end-of-hand points (Scopa’s, counted by team) for after the first hand.

The first hand. Play the first hand with all the cards face up, or let the new player decide together with their partner. Think aloud about the next player: “If I leave this 6, the player on my right may have one.”

What beginners get wrong.

• Leaving the next player, on their right, an easy sweep.
• Taking a combination when a single matching card must be taken first.
• Forgetting that their partner’s captures count for them too.
• 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 Scopone in Tocca a te! with the teacher at Maestro, which explains every move.

For teachers and classes

Scopone 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 fours (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.