Briscola is a four player partnership card game of Italian descent and appears to be the parent game from which several other
somewhat similar games may have been derived (i.e. Calabrasella). Briscola is also known under the name Brisca. The game was originally played using the traditional Italian pack, but can also be played using the standard deck which is more familiar to many players, with some cards removed.
As mentioned, the game of Briscola is designed to be played by 4 players, playing in two partnerships and uses the 40 card Italian or Spanish deck. The necessary deck for play of the game can be created by using all the following ranked cards from a standard 52 card deck: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The ordering of these cards in this deck are rather unusual, ranking as follows (from high to low); Ace, 3, King, Queen, Jack, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2.
Selection of partners in Briscola can be performed in a number of ways, with a usual method to have all four players draw one card from a shuffled deck. The player's drawing the two highest cards play as partners against the players drawing the two lowest. The player drawing the highest card has first selection of seats and is also set as the first dealer. The players should be seated at the table, such that each player is directly across the table from his partner. After each hand, the deal rotates around the table in a clockwise direction.
After the players are seated, the dealer should thoroughly shuffle the cards and begin the deal, starting with the player to his immediate left. He continues dealing one card at a time around the table, player by player until each player has a total of three cards. He then deals the next card from the deck face-up to the table
(called the Briscola card). The suit of this card sets the trump suit (called the Briscola suit) for the hand. He then places the remainder of the deck face down on the table, partially covering this Briscola card.
The player to the immediate left of the dealer leads the first card to the first trick, and the remaining players then each play one card to the trick in a clockwise direction around the table. A player may play any card from his hand to the trick, with no obligation to follow suit or trump. Each trick is won by the highest trump card played to the trick. If not trump card has been played to the trick, the trick is won by the highest card of the suit originally led to the trick. The winner of each trick plays the first card to the next trick. After each trick, the winner of the trick draws the top card of the face-down stock, and each other player in a clockwise direction draws one card to return each player to a hand consisting of three cards.
This continues until the stock is exhausted, with the last player to draw from the pile taking the face-up, Briscola card. After the stock has been depleted, each player passes his hand face-down to his partner who looks at the cards in the hand and then passes the hand back to the original player. The last three tricks are then played with the same rules, however, there are no additional cards to draw after each trick. Once these last three tricks are played, the partnerships examine the cards won in tricks to determine the scoring for the hand.
These cards won in tricks are worth a certain number of card points as per the following chart:
 |
|
| Card | Point Value |
|---|
| Ace | 11 |
| 3 | 10 |
| King | 4 |
| Queen | 3 |
| Jack | 2 |
| 7, 6, 5, 4, 2 | 0 |
|
Whichever team scores more card points wins the hand. After the first hand, the deal passes to the player to the last dealer's left and another hand is played, with the score for both hands totaled together. Whichever team is the first to win two hands is declared the winner. If, at the end of a hand, the card point score for the hand ends in a tie, the hand does not count and a replacement hand must be played.
A unique feature of this game is that, unlike in most partnership trick-taking games, a certain level of communication regarding the cards in hand is permitted, and often even encouraged, amongst the players forming each partnership. In these cases, this is usually allowed in one of two forms:
Open Communication: In this option, the partnerships are free to discuss the cards found in their hands, or to exaggerate. However, they must speak openly (no secret codes or signals are allowed) such that the opponents can also clearly hear and understand what is being said.
Signals: A secondary option that is sometimes used is to allow a previously determined set of signals to be used to help indicate the cards found in the hand. When this method is used, the partners are not allowed to talk about the hand or the cards therein, but can use a series of signals to portray to their partner the cards in their hand. These signals should be clearly known to all players, and, as such, a player should attempt to be somewhat non-descript in showing the signal to prevent the opponents from obtaining any information from it. The following are some of the commonly accepted signals used in Briscola:
| Holding | Indicator Signal |
|---|
| Ace of briscola suit | Tighten or purse the lips |
| Three of briscola suit | Twist the mouth |
| King of briscola suit | Glance upwards |
| Queen of briscola suit | Show tip of tongue |
| Jack of briscola suit | Lift one shoulder |
| High card in non-briscola suit | Open and close the mouth briefly |
Combination: Another option is to allow both open communication and the usage of
signaling (using the usual signals as listed above). Thus, a team may prefer to talk openly in some cases (in which the opposing team will also be able to hear the conversation), but also use
signaling, which the opposing team may not notice, to indicate other specific cards.
Closed Communication: A last option (and usually the most challenging in actual play), is to preclude any communications that might indicate the cards in a player's hand to his partner. Thus, while normal
table talk is generally allowed, no discussions of the cards in the hand or the strength of the hand would be allowed for any player.
It should be decided upon before the start of the game which (if any) of these communication schemes are to be allowed during the game.
Four Player Non-Partnership Briscola: Briscola is sometimes played as a four player, non partnership game. In this case, the game is played identically to the standard version, however each player retains his own, independent score
and plays independently of all the other players. Each hand is usually considered a complete game, however, if two or more players tie for the highest score at the end of a hand, that hand is ignored and another hand must be played amongst all four players.
Two Player Briscola: Briscola is also commonly played as a two player game. The game is virtually identical to the standard four player variation with the obvious difference that there are no partnerships. Thus, each player retains his own score and there is no
signaling to another player the value of the hand. Each hand is usually played as a complete game, with the player capturing the most points in cards during the hand declared the winner. If each player captures exactly 60 points, the hand is a tie and a replacement hand should be played as a tie-breaker.
Three Player Briscola: Similar to the two player variant, the three player game is also played cut-throat (no partnerships). In order to allow the cards to deal and play out evenly amongst the three players, before play begins any one card of rank two is removed from the deck and play. Each hand is usually played as a complete game. However, if two or more players are tied for the highest score at the end of a hand, a replacement hand should be played out amongst all three players to determine the winner.
Briscola Chiamata: Briscola Chiamata, also known as Call Briscola, is an exciting variant of Briscola designed to be played by five players. Partnerships are featured in this variant, however, these are temporary for one hand. The game uses the same deck as used for the four player version of the game and the ranking of the cards in the deck is the same as in that version.
In this variant, the dealer deals out the entire deck outright, such
that each player receives exactly eight face-down cards. There are no
cards remaining after the deal and no card is exposed to determine the
Briscola suit for the hand (as would normally be done in the standard variant of the game). After the hands are dealt, a bidding round begins, starting with the player to the dealer's immediate right and continuing in a counter-clockwise direction around the table.
A bid is a number of points that player believes he can score during the hand, if allowed to name the Briscola suit
to be used for the hand. The bid continues around the table, with each player in turn, either making a higher bid than any previous bid or passing. The bidding continues around the table until all players pass. Once a player passes during the auction however, he must continue to pass during the auction and may not re-enter the bidding in this hand. Once the high bid has been determined, the player making that bid becomes the Bidder for the hand.
This high bidder then calls out a specific card (by rank and suit). This call has two purposes. Firstly, the suit of the called card is set as the Briscola (or trump) suit for the hand. Secondly, whichever other player has the card called becomes the hidden partner for the high bidder. However, this player should not announce this or make any other indication that he is the high bidders partner for the hand. Once the called card is played to a trick, it will become obvious who this player
is. The remaining three players are also in a temporary partnership to defeat the high bidder and his hidden partner. Note that the high bidder also has the option to call a card he already has in his own hand. In this case, he will play alone with no temporary partner, and has the opportunity to earn a higher score for the hand.
After the high bidder has called his card to determine the Briscola Suit (and a potential partner for the hand), play of the hand begins, with the high bidder leading the first card to the first trick. The rules of play to tricks is identical to the other variants of Briscola as described above.
After all eight tricks have been played and won, the tricks won by the high bidder and his hidden partner (if any) are combined and examined to determine if that temporary team managed to win at least as many points as the high bid. If so, the high bidder earns 2 points for the hand and his hidden partner earns 1, while three opponents each lose 1 point. If the high bidder and his temporary partner fails to capture at least as many points as bid, the high bidder loses 2 points and his hidden partner loses 1, while the three opponents each earn one point. If the high bidder played without a hidden partner (calling a card already in his own hand), and manages to earn at least as many points as bid, he earns 4 points and each opponent loses 1 point. However, if he played alone and was unable to capture at least as many points during the hand as bid, he loses four points instead and each opponent earns one point.
The first player to accumulate 11 points is declared the overall winner of the game. If two or more players reach this total in the same hand, additional hands are played until one player completes a hand with more points than any other player.
Briscola Chiamata - Low Card Bidding: Briscola Chiamata is sometimes played with a different system of bidding. In this variant, each player, on his bid, names a specific ranked card (such as Ace or Three). He does not,
however, as of yet, name a suit. After each player has had one opportunity to bid (or pass), the player who bid the lowest ranked card in the deck becomes the high bidder
for the hand. This player then states a specific suit, and the other player who has, in hand, the card
as called by the high bidding players card rank called, and in the suit he stated, becomes that player's partner, unbeknownst to all the other players (including the caller) until that card is played to a trick. As in standard Briscola Chiamata, the card called may
actually be in the high bidder's hand, in which case he plays without the aid of a partner. In all other aspects, this variant is played identically to standard Briscola Chiamata.
Briscola Scoperta: Briscola Scoperta is
another variant of Briscola in which the rule differences can
drastically change the gameplay. This variant can be used with the two,
three and four player variants of the game. The game is played
identically to those versions with one major difference. After the deal each player lays his hand face-up on the table in front of himself and the game is played with each player playing from an open hand. Other than these exposed hands, the game is played identically to the standard versions of Briscola.
Bixkla: Bixkla is a close variant of the
Italian game Briscola but which is commonly played in the nation of Malta. The game uses the same 40 card deck as is used in Briscola, however the ranking of the cards as found in that deck are slightly different than as in Briscola. The ranking thus used in Bixkla is as follows (from highest to lowest): Ace, 3, King, Jack, Queen, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2. Bixkla is designed for play by four players playing in two partnerships of two players each.
Determination of partnerships, seating positions and first dealer can be performed using the same procedures as in standard Briscola. Each player should at the table directly across the table from his partner.
The dealing procedure is also identical to the standard game, with each player receiving three total cards and the next card from the remaining stock turned face-up on the table. The suit of this card sets the trump suit to be used for this hand. After this, play of the hand begins with the player at the dealer's immediate left playing the first card to the first trick and each player in a clockwise direction playing one card to that same trick.
The leader to a trick may play any card of choice from his hand to the trick. Each other player then adds a card from his hand to the trick, also playing any card of choice from his hand. After each player has played one card to the trick, in turn, the trick is examined to determine it's winner.
If the trick contains one or more cards in the trump suit, the highest such card in that trump suit wins the trick. If the trick does not contain any cards in the trump suit, the highest ranked card played of the suit originally led to the trick wins that trick. The cards won in tricks are thus set aside out of play, for later scoring at the end of the hand. After each trick is won, each player draws one card from the top of the remaining stock into his hand. The winner of the trick draws the first card, and each other player, in a clockwise direction then draws one such card. Once the stock has been exhausted, play continues, obviously without this draw until the players exhaust the cards found in the hand.
After all tricks have been played and won, each partnership then reviews all the cards the members of that partnership managed to win during the hand. Each card in the deck has a specific point value, as per the following chart:
| Card | Point Value |
|---|
| Ace | 11 |
| 3 | 10 |
| King | 4 |
| Jack | 3 |
| Queen | 2 |
| 7, 6, 5, 4, 2 | 0 |
|
|
 |
Whichever partnership manages to earn the most card points during that hand is said to win the game (and one Game Point). If both teams tie for the number of points captured during the hand, that game is a tie, with neither team declared the victor. After a set number of hands, the team with the highest number of Game Points (equal to the number of Games won) is declared the winner.
As in Briscola and some of it's other variants, it is commonplace for players to use special
signaling to indicate to their partner the cards they currently have in the hand.
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