French Tarot rules, for 4 and 5 players

A taker commits to scoring a certain number of points against the other players, and that number depends on the oudlers they manage to keep. Jacquespote follows the rulebook of the French Tarot Federation. This page describes what the game applies, offline and online.

The essentials

Cards are dealt three at a time, and the Chien is built up during the deal. The dealer changes with each deal.

A bare Petit cancels the deal: a player whose only trump is the Petit, without the Excuse, reports it, and the cards are dealt anew.

The 78 cards

The pack has four suits of 14 cards, 21 trumps and the Excuse. Within a suit, the order is King, Queen, Knight, Jack, then 10 down to 1. Trumps rank by their number, from 21 down to 1 (the Petit), and beat any suit card.

Three cards are oudlers (bouts in French): the Petit, the 21 and the Excuse.

Each deal puts 91 points in play.

Bidding

Each player speaks once, starting with the player after the dealer: they pass, or bid a contract higher than the previous one. The highest contract makes its bidder the taker. If everyone passes, the next dealer deals anew.

The Chien and the discard

On a Prise or a Garde, the taker adds the Chien to their hand, then sets aside the same number of cards face down. This is the discard, and its points count for the taker.

• They cannot discard a King or an oudler.
• They discard a trump only if they do not have enough other cards, no more than necessary, and they show it to the defence.

Playing the cards

The player after the dealer leads to the first trick, and whoever wins a trick leads to the next one. The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins.

• A suit is led and you hold it: you follow suit, with no obligation to go higher.
• You cannot follow suit: you must trump. If a trump has already been played, you must overtrump, or play a lower trump if you cannot go higher.
• Trumps are led: you must beat the highest trump played so far if you can, even if it belongs to your partner.
• You have no trumps left: you play what you like.

The Excuse

It can be played at any time, and excuses you from following the suit or trump led. It never wins the trick. If it opens the trick, the next card sets the suit.

• It stays with its side: whoever played it keeps it in their tricks and gives the side that won the trick a 0.5-point card in exchange. If they have not won a trick yet, they hand it over as soon as they can.
• On the last trick, it follows the trick: it goes to the side that wins it, like any other card. So it is better to save it earlier.
• The exception, the Chelem: see below.

The contract

In their tricks and discard, the taker must reach a number of points that depends on the oudlers they hold at the end of the deal. Reaching exactly that number is enough.

Scoring

The calculation gives what each defender loses or wins:

1. take the difference between the points won and the points needed;
2. calculate (25 + difference) × the contract's multiplier: positive if the contract is made, negative if it fails;
3. add or subtract the Petit au Bout, also multiplied by the multiplier;
4. add or subtract the Poignées and the Chelem, never multiplied.

With four players, the taker scores three times this number, and each defender scores it with the opposite sign. The scores always add up to zero.

The bonuses

Petit au Bout

If the Petit falls in the last trick, the side that wins that trick gains 10 points, multiplied by the contract's multiplier, whatever the result of the deal.

Poignée (handful)

A player with many trumps may show them when playing their first card. They show exactly the number required.

• The bonus goes to the side that wins the deal, not to the side that showed it. A defender who shows a Poignée pays for it if the taker makes the contract.
• The Excuse can stand in for a trump, but showing it signals that you hold no other.

Chelem (slam)

This means winning every trick. The taker may announce it before the first card: they then lead to the first trick, wherever they sit.

Like the Poignée, this bonus goes into the number each defender scores with the opposite sign. If the taker who announced the Chelem holds the Excuse, they play it on the last trick. The side that has won every trick so far then wins this one with the Excuse, and the Petit counts as Petit au Bout if it fell in the second-to-last trick.

Tarot for five

The contracts and the calculation are the same. Four things change: how the cards are split, the Poignée thresholds, calling a King and sharing the points.

Calling a King

Once the contract is set, and before the Chien is turned over, the taker calls a King. Whoever holds that card becomes their partner, without saying so: the partner is only revealed when the card is played.

• A taker holding all four Kings must call a Queen. With all four Queens too, a Knight, and so on.
• If the called card is in the Chien, or the taker calls themselves, they play alone against four.
• On the first trick, no one can lead the called suit, except with the called card itself.

Sharing the points

Each defender scores the same number as with four players. The taker's side collects the total, and the taker keeps two thirds of it when they have a partner.

The half point

With five players, the total can land on a half point. It always goes to the winning side: with 40.5 points and 41 needed, the taker fails by 1; with 41.5 points and 41 needed, they make it by 1.

End of the game

A game is played over a set number of deals (5 by default), and the best total wins.