Tarocchini

Tarocchini, also known as Partita, is a Tarot card game from the seventeenth century. It was popular in the Bologna region of Italy and has been confined mostly to this area. Tarocchini is very complex, yet the rules have changed little over the years.

Partita is played with 4 players, two sets of partners, the partners sit across from each other. The middle part of Partita is very similar to the basic Tarot game. It adds around of point-counting before and after the game based on sets and runs ofthe cards. An unusual feature of Partita is that the partners areallowed to make certain limited signals to each other during play.

Deck Description

Partita can be played with a standard Tarot deck (where the 2–5 number cardsin each suit have been removed), though normally, a special Tarot deck, the Tarocco Bolognese is used. The trump cards are in a non-standardorder (probably because of this, the Bologna tarot decks were amongst thelast to add numbers to the trump cards). The biggest difference in orderingis amongst what is known as the "Papi" (cards 2-5; Popess,Empress, Emperor, and Pope). In this version, all 4 Papi areequal (the last one played is the highest, in regards to taking a trick). In the Tarocco Bolognese, these cards are replaced by 2 pairs of identical looking moors.

Rank	Name	Points
20*	Judgement (Angelo)	5
19*	World (Mondo)	5
18*	Sun (Sole)
17*	Moon (Luna)
16	Star (Stella)
15	Tower (Saetta)
14	Devil (Diavolo)
13	Death (Morte)
12	Traitor (Traditore)
11	Hermit (Vecchio)
10	Wheel (Ruota)
9	Stength (Forza)
8	Justice (Giustizia)
7	Temperance (Tempra)
6	Chariot (Carro)
5	Love (Amore)

1-4 * * Popess, Empress, Emperor, Pope (the four Papi) -
0 * Magician (Bagattino) 5
- Fool (Matto) 5

* These cards are not numbered in present day Bologna tarot decks
* These cards are equal to each other, the last one played in a trick is thehighest

tarting the Game

As usual for Tarot card games, dealing and card play are counter-clockwise.The dealer gives 15 cards to each player, in 3 rounds of five cards apiece.The dealer takes the last two cards into his/her hand. The dealer has todiscard two cards, which can not be "5 point" cards (such as Kings, or thetrumps worth 5 points). The cards that the dealer discards are counted aspoints to his/her side, unless he/she and his/her partner capture no tricks at allduring the card play in which case the cards must be surrendered to theopponents.

After the first 5 cards have been dealt, if all players agree the game may"amdare a monte". If this happens, all the cards are thrown in, and the dealpasses to the next player. The first player speaks first, declaring amonte if he wishes to restart the game. This continues with each playeruntil it reaches the dealer. If all have declared a monte, then the gamewill be restarted.

Parts

The game consists of three parts. Just after the hand has been dealt, allplayers may score their hands according to the meld points containedwithin. Next, normal card play occurs. Finally, the partners score any
meld points that they have in their captured tricks. The scoring ofmeld points after card play is unique to the Bolognesi tarot games.

Point Cards

Rank Standard Deck Name Points21 World (Mondo) 520 Judgement (Angelo) 51 Magician (Bagattino) 5- Fool (Matto) 5King (K) - 5Queen (Q) - 4Knight (Kn) - 3Jack (J) - 2

The First Declaration

After the cards have been dealt, each player may declare certaincombinations of cards that they hold in their hand. They do not have todeclare anything, and may optionally declare a smaller set or run than theyactually have. Anything that is declared must be placed face-up on thetable. The decision of what to declare is an interesting strategicchoice. The card combinations are detailed in the Meld Points sectionbelow.

Game play

Once the first declaration of points is finished, normal card play insues.Note that some information has been disclosed by the declarations, soplayers will have more clues than usual as to the contents of the otherplayers' hands. The last trick of the game has a bonus of 6 points. Onceall tricks have been captured, count normal points in groups of 4 cards.The dealer (and his/her partner) will end up with two extra cards from thediscard. If there are no points in these cards, they should be scored as 0points. This will result in a total of 77 points for this part of thegame.

During the actual card play, the partners are permitted to make certainsignals to each other. Only one signal can be given at a time.
* When a player has the lead, the partner may instruct his/her to lead his/herhighest trump by saying "sminchiate".
* The player may strike the center of the table when playing a card.This indicates he/she has the highest remaining card in the suit of the cardthat was just played (including trumps).
* If the player strikes the edge of the table, it indicates he/she hasthe second highest card in the suit of the card that was just played(including trumps).
* If leading, the player may draw back the cardslightly toward himself/herself before laying it down. This signals that thepartner should play his/her highest card in an attempt to capture the trick.

Final Scoring

After the normal card play points have been counted, the captured tricksare examined for meld points.

Meld Points

The meld points are counted twice during a hand. The first time is fromindividual hands before card play has started. The second time is from thecollected tricks of both partners.

Meld Points (Sets and Runs)"Combination" "Point Value" Sets (cricche)Three/four tarocchi 18/36 Three/four Kings 17/34 Three/four Queens 14/28 Three/four Knights 13/26 Three/four Jacks 12/24 Runs (10 points for 3, + 5 for each extra)King + 2 of 3 same suit (Q, Kn, J and/or Ace) + 2 of 3 top trumps (20, 19, 18)+2 of 3 or more Papi +2 of 3 or more Aces

"example above from The Game of Tarot"

Massive edits here - unsure of how to even deal with all this information...

ee also

*Tarot card games