How to Play Biriba
Biriba is a Rummy type game which is widely played in Greece as well as nearby Cyprus. It has many similarities to Buraco and Canasta, but has many features all to itself. The most popular version of the game is designed for play by 4 participants playing in two partnerships of two players each.

Biriba is played using two standard 52 card decks shuffled together with the addition of four total Jokers. For purposes of run type melds, the sequencing of the cards in this decks is as follows (from high to low): Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. As will be noticed an Ace can be either high or low, but may never be used within a run between a two and a King (thus cannot be considered high and low at the same time). All Jokers and twos in the deck are considered wild cards and thus may be used to represent any other card in a valid meld. In addition to it's use as a wild card, a two can also be used as a normal two, in particular with a run, consisting of Ace, 2, 3, etc.

Determination of partnerships and first dealer can be performed using a variety of methods, with draw for high cards commonly used. Using this method, each player would draw one card from the shuffled, face-down deck, and the players drawing the two highest ranked cards would play as partners against the two players drawing the two lowest ranked cards. Any players drawing cards of equal rank should set that card aside and drawn another. The player drawing the highest card of all would be set as the first dealer. Each player should be seated at the table such that he is positioned directly across the table from his partner. After each hand, the role of dealer rotates in a counter-clockwise direction around the table.

Example initial deal in Biriba Once the players are ready the dealer then thoroughly shuffles the deck and offers it to the player at his left for the cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins dealing the cards in a counter-clockwise rotation around the table, starting with the player at his immediate right. The cards are dealt face-down and one-at-a-time. He continues dealing the cards until each player has a hand of 11 total cards. After this deal, the cutter then takes a portion of the face-down deck and deals out two 11 card piles. He places one on top of the other, at a right angle, and sets these to the side, as the "biribakia". The deck is then set in the middle of the table in a face-down pile, to create the draw pile and the top card from this draw pile is set face-up beside the draw pile to start the discard pile. The suit of this first, exposed card should be noted as this suit is set as the "kózi" suit, which will earn bonus points for certain melds in that suit.

The player to the immediate right of the dealer has the first turn, and the turns proceed around the table in a counter-clockwise direction, from player to player. On a player's turn, he may perform three actions: Play continues in this manner until one player manages to deplete his hand. In order to so deplete his hand, however, that player's team must have melded at least one Biriba. If his team has not yet completed a meld of a Biriba, both players from that team must always retain cards in their hands and may not end the hand by playing or discarding their last card. The first player in a team to deplete his hand then takes the top biribaki of 11 cards immediately into his hand. If he depleted his hand with a discard his turn ends, but if he had melded his last card, he may continue play. Once a team takes the first biribaki, the remaining biribaki belongs to the opposing team. In order for that opposing team to take their Biribaki, they must also have one player who depletes his original hand, and have melded at least one Biriba during that hand.

Once one member of a team has taken a biribaki, that team has melded at least one Biriba, and either member of that team manages to deplete his hand by discarding his last card, play immediately ends and scoring occurs. There are several ways a team can score points in Biriba. The first way a team scores is to earn a number of points based on cards remaining in their opponents hands subtracted from any points for cards remaining in the hand of that player's partner. The scoring value for each card as thus found in those hands is as per the following chart:

Card DenominationPoint Value
Joker20 Each
Ace15 Each
210 Each
8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King10 Each
3, 4, 5, 6, 75 Each


Cards that remain in an untaken biribaki are not included in this total.

Example of set and run type Biribas In addition to points added and subtracted from that teams, score, there are a number of other point scoring opportunities or bonuses that can be accrued at the end of the hand: If the draw pile ever becomes exhausted during play, and a player, on his turn does not want to take the discard pile, he simply states "pass" and skips his turn. If all four players pass in sequence, the game immediately ends with scoring taking place, as described above.

The game continues over any number of hands until one team exceeds a score of 5000 points at the end of a hand. The game then immediately ends and the team with the higher accumulated total is declared the game winner. In the rare event both teams have the exact same score, additional hands must be played until one team has a higher score at the end of a hand.

                     
Variations and Optional Rules

Runs Only: Some players prefer to enforce the rule that only sequence melds (runs) are permissible. Thus, a meld consisting of a set of equally ranked cards is not considered a legal meld and cannot be melded by any player during the hand. This is a common variation included by many Biriba players.

Discard Pile Meld Restriction: Another optional rule that is commonly encountered is restrictions regarding the discard pile. Using this variation rule, a player may only take the discard pile in drawing if he can use at least one card from that pile in a new meld or laying off to an existing meld, which he must thus use on that turn.

Minimum Initial Meld Score Requirement: Some players, in order to make Biriba play much like Canasta or Buraco, in which the game resembles, enforce the rule that the initial meld by a team must consist of a minimum number of card points. The number of such card point requirements is based on that teams current ongoing score. The following chart shows the minimum number of card points the initial meld for a team must be on a hand, based on that team's current score:

Team's ScoreInitial Meld Card Point Requirement
1495 or Less0
1500 to 299575
3000 to 3995100
4000 or Above120

Once a team has made this initial meld (which can be comprised of one or more smaller legal melds) on a turn, further melds by that team on that hand are not restricted as to a minimum point score required for melding.

Winning Score: Although 5000 is the most common score requirement for a win, some players, in order to make for a somewhat shorter game set the target score at a lower number, such as 2500 or 3000.

Six Player Biriba: Biriba can also be played as a six player variant. This version is played similarly to the four player version, with the following differences: In all other aspects the six player variant is played identically to the four player version of the game.

Teams in Five Player Biriba Five Player Biriba: A five player variant of Biriba has also been developed and is occasionally played in the same areas as the normal variant. This game is played in a manner similar to the four player variant, however it also has several distinct differences: Other than these differences, the five player version of Biriba is played the same as the standard version.

Three Player Biriba: There are actually two methods of playing Biriba with three players, one method of each player playing individually and another with temporary partnerships, as in the five player variant.

In the individual play method, the game is played using three standard 52 card decks, shuffled together, with the addition of six total Jokers. Each player receives 11 cards by the dealer, and three 11 card biribakia are also dealt, one belonging to each individual player. A player may only take the discard pile on his turn if he uses at least one of the cards from the pile immediately to form a valid meld on the table. Each player earns a score based on the scoring as described in the standard game.

The partnership three player variant is played similarly to five player Biriba. This variant uses two standard decks with a total of four Jokers added to that deck. Two biribakia are dealt out, the first consisting of 18 cards and the second of 11. At the start of the game, no player makes any melds to the table, but retains their melds in the hand. However, once any player is able to meld his entire initial hand (with a potential discard) during his turn, he thus melds that hand. That player then immediately takes the 18 card biribaki into his hand. This player then plays as a team of one, against a team consisting of the other two players. After this point, the players would then make their melds during their turn as able (and willing). The remaining 11 card biribaki belongs to the opposing team who must take, once one of the members of that team is able to first deplete his initial dealt hand. The solo player scores based on the normal scoring during that hand, and the members of the two player opposing team each score half of the score earned by that team as a whole.

Two Player Biriba: A two player variant of Biriba has also been developed and is reasonably popular. The game is played identically to the standard four player game, with the main exception that each player plays as an individual. In addition, there are a few other differences in the rules from the standard version: Other than these differences, the two player variant is played in all ways the same as the standard four player variant.

Copyright © 2015 CatsAtCards.com. All rights reserved.
[Main][Site Map][Glossary][Copyright Page]