Truco
Truco or truc is the name of a card game that is very popular in South America . A national game in Argentina and Uruguay , it is also known in parts of Brazil and, with slight deviations from the rules, in Paraguay and Venezuela . The origin of the game lies in the Balearic Islands and the Valencia region . In Brazil there is a variant of the game that only corresponds to the original in a few principles.
Number of players, goal
Truco can be played with four players , but also with two or six players. The aim is to be the first to achieve at least 30 points with the help of the highest possible cards .
The cards
Truco is played with 40 Spanish cards . There are the following cards:
- 1 (As or Ancho)
- 2
- 3
- 4th
- 5
- 6th
- 7th
- 10 ( Sota ; Jack)
- 11 ( Caballo ; Ross)
- 12 ( Rey ; King)
The four suits for each card are:
- oros (coins)
- copas (cups)
- espadas (swords)
- bastos (stick)
Order of cards
Four cards are the highest in the game ( cartas bravas ):
- 1 de espadas ("macho")
- 1 de bastos ("hembra")
- 7 de espadas
- 7 de oros
The remaining cards are subordinate to these: 3, 2, 1 (remainder), 12, 11, 10, 7 (remainder), 6, 5, 4. There is no order among the colors.
The game
Truco
Each player receives three cards ; these are played out in sequence. At the end of this procedure it is determined who has won the current round. The winner is whoever played the highest card in the majority of the rounds . If there is a tie in one of the three rounds, the earlier of the two rounds is decisive, where there was no tie. If all three rounds are tied, the hand wins (hand; at the start of the game the player to the right of the dealer). The variety just described is called truco . If you only play in the way just described, the winning party receives one point.
Incidentally, at any time in the game, a player whose turn it is can drop out of the round ; he then says: Me voy al mazo (I'm getting out). The other party then automatically won.
Increase in the stake
An announcement a party may stake , which is a point in the normal case, increase . The other party must react to this announcement; she says:
- quiero (I want): The announcement is accepted and the stake is increased.
- no quiero (I don't want to): The announcement is rejected, the stake is not (or not further) increased. The current round ends automatically, the other party wins.
If the announcement has been accepted, it can be increased by one level by the party who accepted it , which in turn must be confirmed or rejected by the other party.
The possible announcements to increase the stake are:
- Truco : The stake is increased to 2.
- Retruco : The stake is increased to 3.
- Vale cuatro : The stake is increased to 4.
Envido
Envido is a phase of the game that comes into play when one of the players has two cards of the same color in his cards . In its statement, it has nothing to do with the rest of the game (the stake is therefore referred to in the following as "stake"). The player with two cards of the same color has the following options:
- Envido : The bet increases by 2 points.
- Real Envido : The bet increases by 3 points.
- Falta Envido : The bet increases by as many points as are necessary to win 30 points and thus to win the game.
The other party can respond to the bet in the following ways:
- quiero (I want to): The bet (or possibly increased weather) is accepted, the bet increases accordingly, the betting process is completed.
- no quiero (I don't want to) The current increase in the weather is not accepted, the bet is fixed at the previous status, the betting process is completed. At the end of the round, the other party receives the bet, but at least one point.
- another bet, either on the same level or a higher one, to which the other side has to react again. The bet continues until one of the two parties has said quiero or no quiero .
Who gets the bet at the end of the round is decided as to who the highest pair of cards has (win and a tie, the mano ).
To determine the respective number of points, you add the two cards that make up the pair. The cards have the following points:
- Cards 10, 11 and 12 have 0 points.
- All other cards have the value that is written on the card (1 to 7).
20 points are added to the total of points on the two cards. If there is no pair at all, then you take the highest of the three cards (no addition of 20 points).
The mano now has its points announce , followed by the others. However, they have the option of keeping their score secret if their score is lower than the one just announced; this is done with the announcement of son buenas (they, ie the cards, are good).
After the end of Envido , the Truco game will continue.
The Flor game comes into play when one of the players has three cards of the same color. This immediately gives him 3 points. If another player also has three cards of the same color, he can use contraflor to increase the stake to 6 points, the values are then added up as in the Envido. Normal envido is not possible in a pile with a pile. There are numerous regional additional variants of this variety, but pile is often completely dispensed with.
At the end of the round (or immediately after scoring), each of the parties is credited their points, separated into Truco , Envido and, if applicable, Flor .
Gestural signs
There are no restrictions on communication during the game. In order to give the partner information about the cards that a player has in hand, certain gestural signs are common, which differ from region to region.
False announcements
It is common to confuse the opposing party by making false announcements, such as a bet. Sun is about to insert projection truco with bueno or vale instead quiero replied that the Spanish has a similar meaning. According to the rules, however, only the original announcement is permitted, so that the bet increase is not considered accepted in this case. It is also invalid if Truco and Envido are replaced by other, similar-sounding words ( e.g. turco instead of Truco or embudo instead of Envido).
In contrast, one of the official statements always applies, even if it is only mentioned as a comment on the game. So if a player makes the mistake of asking his partner with tienes envido whether he would achieve a good score in the envido, the envido is announced, the same applies to the increases in the stake. Therefore synonyms for these words are used in communication among fellow players; the question about the envido is replaced by tienes puntos ("do you have points?").
The values of the envido or the flor can also be incorrectly announced in the hope that the opposing party does not exercise their right to have the cards revealed at the end of the game. If this false announcement is discovered, the points scored are credited to the other party.
literature
- Christian Thiele: Instructions for use for Argentina . Piper, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-492-27582-8 , pp. 72–75: Tricks, lies, stacking up: The Argentine and his national game - Truco .