Tarocchini

Tarocchini (plural for ''tarocchino'') are point trick-taking tarot card games popular in Bologna, capital city of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and has been confined mostly to this area. They are the diminutive form of ''tarocchi'' (plural for ''tarocco''), referring to the reduction of the Bolognese pack from 78 to 62 cards, which probably occurred in the early 16th century.

The games of Tarocchini are very complex, yet the rules have changed little over the years.

Deck description

Tarocchini can be played with a 78-card Tarot deck (where the 2–5 pip cards in each suit have been removed), though normally, a special Tarot deck, the Tarocco Bolognese is used. The trump cards have a unique ordering where the second to fifth trumps are known collectively as the ''Moretti'' (Moors) and are of equal rank (the last one played is the highest, in regards to taking a trick). In the Tarocco Bolognese, these cards are depicted with four Moors, two of which are identical.

The Fool is not a trump, it can't beat any cards and is played as an excuse from following suit. The Magician is the lowest trump. However, both the Fool and the Magician may be used as ''contatori'' (counters or wild cards) to assist in making sequences. The ''contatori'' are very valuable, because they can be used as wild cards in multiple locations. The four highest trumps, which are unnumbered, are Angel, World, Sun, and Moon and they are collectively known as ''grande'' (big). Angel, World, Magician, and the Fool are collectively known as ''tarocchi''.McLeod, John
Ottocento
at pagat.com. Retrieved 1 February 2018.

The ''grande'', ''Moretti'', and ''contatori'' are not numbered in the Tarocco Bolognese.

In the modern game, the cards won by each side are counted in pairs, with 1 being subtracted from the total for each pair. There are also six points for winning the final trick, giving a total of 93 points.

Common rules

In tarocchini, card points are not as important as bonus or meld points gained from combinations. Combinations can either be associative or sequential. Associative combinations or ''cricche'' (formerly as ''pariglie'') consist of three or four of a kind sets.

There are four types of sequential combinations although two of them are more like associative combinations. Each sequence needs at least three cards for 10 points and every extra card is worth 5 points. What separates the sequences from the ''cricche'' is the use of the ''contatori''. The ''contatori'' may not be used to substitute Angel or a King. For trumps, the sequence ends if the ''contatori'' are used consecutively with one exception: if the two cards replaced are trump 16 and a ''grande''.

Multiplicative bonuses occur when three or more cricche or three or more sequences are made at one time. This doubles the points.

Variations

Ottocento

Ottocento, is the most popular version. It is played by 4 players in two partnerships sitting opposite each other. The middle part of the game is very similar to the basic tarot game. It adds a round of point-counting before and after the game based on sets and runs of the cards. An unusual feature is that the partners are allowed to make certain limited signals to each other during play.

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 their hand. The dealer has to discard two cards, which can not be "5 point" cards (such as kings, or the trumps worth 5 points). The cards that the dealer discards are counted as points to their side, unless they and their partner capture no tricks at all during the card play in which case the discarded cards must be surrendered to the opponents.

After the first 5 cards have been dealt, if all players agree the game may ''andare a monte''. If this happens, all the cards are thrown in, and the deal passes to the next player. The first player speaks first, declaring a monte if they wish to restart the game. This continues with each player until it reaches the dealer. If all have declared a monte, then the game will be restarted.

The game consists of three parts. Just after the hand has been dealt, all players may score their hands according to the meld points contained within. Next, normal card play occurs. Finally, the partners score any meld points that they have in their captured tricks. The scoring of meld points after card play is unique to Tarocchini and Minchiate.

Declarations

After the cards have been dealt, each player may declare certain combinations of cards that they hold in their hand to collect meld points. They do not have to declare anything, and may optionally declare a smaller set or run than they actually have. Anything that is declared must be placed face-up on the table. The decision of what to declare is an interesting strategic choice.

Game play

Once the first declaration of points is finished, normal card play ensues. Note that some information has been disclosed by the declarations, so players will have more clues than usual as to the contents of the other players' hands. As in all tarocchi games, there is the rule that a player that can't follow suit must trump if possible. If lacking trumps, then any card can be discarded. The Fool excuses the player from following suit: it is played to the trick instead of following suit, and then retrieved to its player's pile of won tricks. The Fool's player gives a low valued card to the trick's winner (only if it is an opponent) at the end of the hand. If the Fool's team failed to win any trick, the Fool is surrendered to the opponents but this is very rare. One of the most important strategies is to capture or protect the Begato as it is very useful in scoring. The last trick has a bonus of 6 points.

During the actual card play, the eldest is permitted to make certain signals to his partner. The current game allows only three signals:
*Eldest can throw their card up to let their partner know that they are now void of this suit. Originally, the signal was opening a hand.
*Player draws back the card towards himself to let his partner know that she should lead with trumps.
*Eldest knocks the table with a fist to let his partner know that she should win with her highest card and lead the next trick with the same suit.

These are some of the formerly allowed signals:
*A player who has the lead may instruct the partner to lead their highest trump by saying ''sminchiate''.
*If the player strikes the centre of the table, that indicates they have the highest card of the suit (including trumps). Striking the table's edge means holding the second highest.
*If leading, the player may draw back the card slightly toward himself before laying it down, signaling that the partner should not play her highest card of the suit.

Scoring

Once all tricks have been completed, the captured cards are examined for meld points. Combine these meld points with the meld points from declarations at the beginning of the hand. Next, count card points in pairs with one point subtracted from each pair. Then add the last trick bonus. After adding the meld points with the card points and last trick bonus, the first team to reach 800 wins. It is actually possible to win at the declarations if one team can reach 800 points. If both teams can do it, the team with the higher points win.

Terziglio

Terziglio is for three players and the only version to include bidding. Each player is dealt 18 or 19 cards with 8 or 5 going to the stock. During bidding, players can pass, bid ''gioco'', or bid ''solo'' which is the highest bid. In ''gioco'', the declarer can exchange cards with the stock but cannot discard 5-point cards. The stock counts towards the declarer if they can win at least one trick otherwise it would be surrendered to their opponents. In ''solo'', the declarer plays without exchanging with the stock which remains hidden and is awarded to the winner of the last trick. All other rules are the same as Ottocento but some players restrict signalling until the highest card of the trick's suit has been played (Kings or the Angel).

Scoring

Each side adds up all their points as in Ottocento. The declarer must have more points than their opponents to win the hand, a tie is counted as a loss. The winning side's points are rounded down to the nearest multiple of 50 (except if it fell short of a multiple of 50 by less than 5 points it will be rounded up). The score is then divided by 50 to arrive at the game points. If it was a ''solo'' game, the game points are doubled. Score calculation is unnecessary if one side won all the tricks; they are automatically awarded 40 game points.

References

External links

Tarocco Bolognese: Ottocento
at Pagat.com
Common tarocchini rules
at Tarocchino.com (archived)

at Tarocchino.com (archived)

at Trionfi.eu
Accademia del Tarocchino Bolognese
Organizer of official tarocchini tournaments

{{Tarot and Tarock card games
Tarot card games
Card games involving signalling
Dedicated deck card games
Italian card games
Multi-player card games