Tontine (card game)

The Tontine is a historic French cards - gambling that with the full Whistkarte , that is, with 52 sheets, of i. A. 12-15 people are played. The popularity of tontine insurance in France in the 18th century meant that the principle of this form of insurance was transferred to the card game.

The number of players is unlimited, up to 20 players can take part; the tontine is played counter-clockwise. Each player starts with the same number of chips , usually 20, and pays three as an ante into the pot . The dealer now gives each player a card face up: The rank of the card determines the action that follows (the color is irrelevant):

King: The player receives three chips from the pot.
Queen: The player receives two chips from the pot.
Jack: The player receives a chip from the pot.
Ace: The player pays a token to his left neighbor.
Two: The player pays two tokens to the player who is second to his left.
Three: The player pays three tokens to the player who is third to his left.
Four, six or eight: the player pays two chips into the pot.
Five, seven or nine: the player pays a chip into the pot.
Ten: No action

After each tour the cards are collected, shuffled and redistributed by the player to the right of the previous dealer. If a player runs out of tokens, he is dead and he no longer receives any cards - of course he no longer has to pay anything. However, he can be awakened by payments from one of the three players on his right and then takes part in the game again as before. The game ends as soon as all but one of the players have lost their 20 chips; this one player is now the last survivor who takes the pot like in a real tontine .

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Académie universelle de jeux 1760 Description in French

Friedrich Anton Encyclopedia of Games , Leipzig 1889