Ecartè is a two player trick taking game that is thought to be several hundred years old. Although
originating in France, it is also well known in England. While it is not as popular today as it once was, it still has many
adherents. Ecartè is also often found in much late 18th century and early 19th century literature, media and song.
Ecartè uses the 32 card Piquet pack, which consists of one standard pack in which all cards lower than seven have been removed. The ranking of the
remaining cards in this pack are as follows (from high to low); King, Queen, Jack, Ace, 10, 9, 8, 7. Ecartè is designed to be played by two participants.
Before beginning, determination of first dealer should be the first order of business. The most common method is for each player to cut a card from the face-down shuffled deck. The player drawing the highest card takes his choice of seats at the table and is set as the first dealer. If both players draw cards of the same rank, they should each draw another card, until one player draws a higher card. For each hand the deal alternates between the two players.
Once the dealer is determined, he thoroughly shuffles the cards and offers the deck to his opponent to cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins distributing the cards to the players beginning with his opponent. He first deals a packet of three face down cards to his opponent and then himself, and follows this with a two card face down packet first to his opponent and then himself. Each player thusly receives a hand consisting of five cards. The dealer then places the remainder of the deck face down in a stack (the talon) in the center of the table and takes the top card from the pile laying it partially under the stock. The suit of this card will be the trump suit for the hand. If this exposed card is a King, the dealer immediately scores one point.
After exposing the card for determination of trump, the dealer's opponent then has the option to request an exchange of cards from the remaining stack. He is not obligated to so request an exchange, but if he elects to do this, he declares "I Propose". If he opts not to exchange any cards, he says "I Play". If the opponent declares "I Propose" the dealer then has the
option to accept or decline the offer of exchanging cards. To decline he states "I Refuse", if he accepts he asks the opponent "How Many?" If the opponent says "I Play" or the dealer declares "I Refuse", no card exchanges occur and play immediately begins. However, if both players opt to draw cards, the opponent states how many cards he wants to exchange (minimum of 1 maximum of 5). He then discards this number of cards face down and out of play and the dealer deals him this same number face down. After the opponents exchange, the dealer than has the same option, discarding from 1 to 5 cards and dealing himself an equal number from the top of the deck. If both players discard and draw in this way, the opponent again has the option to say "I Propose" and the dealer has the same options to "Accept" or "Refuse". This continues until either a player elects not to exchange additional cards or the deck runs out of cards. A player may never opt to take more cards than are left in the deck (if there are fewer than five remaining in the deck), and if the last card is taken from the deck, play begins with no further card exchanges possible.
Once the exchange phase has been completed and before play begins, if a player holds the King of the trump suit, he has an opportunity to show the card and score 1 point for it. He is not obligated to show the card, but failure to do so before play begins results in the player not scoring the point he might score for showing it.
The play of the hand then begins, with the dealer's opponent leading the first card to the first trick. The dealer then plays a card from his own hand to the trick. When leading a card to a trick a player may play any card remaining in his hand. The dealer then plays a card of his own to the trick. If he has a card of the suit led to the trick he must play it. If he does not have a card of the suit led but does have a card of the trump suit, he must play that. If he has neither a card of the suit led or the trump suit, he can play any other card from his hand. When playing to the trick, he must attempt to win the trick if possible. Each trick consists of one card played by both players. The trick is won by the highest card of the trump suit played to the trick. If no card of the trump suit was played to the trick, it is won by the highest card of the suit led to the trick. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick. The game continues in this manner until all 5 tricks have been played and won after which the hand is scored.
Scoring: If either player manages to win all 5 tricks he wins 2 points (called "vole"). A player winning 3 or 4 tricks wins 1 point.
However, if either opponent did not elect to initially Propose, or the dealer refused the original Proposal (called being vulnerable), and the opponent of that player wins 3 or more tricks, that player wins 2 points.
The first player to amass five or more points is declared the winner of the game.
Bourrè: Bourrè, also called Booray is a game which plays somewhat similarly to Ecartè. Although there is no direct evidence it is related, there are many apparent similarities between the games. Originating in France, Bourrè is now very popular in Louisiana, particularly by individuals of French Cajun descent in and around New Orleans.
Bourrè can be played by from two to eight players, being best for seven. The standard 52 card deck is used, with the cards in this deck ranking as follows (from high to low); Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Before start of the game, each player should be provided an equal number of tokens or chips (say 50).
Determination of seating position and first dealer can be done in a number of ways, with draw for high card a common method. Each player would take his preferred seat at the table in the order of card ranking in the draw. The player drawing the highest card of all becomes the first dealer. For each subsequent hand, the deal rotates in a clockwise rotation around the table.
After seating positions and first dealer are determined, the dealer thoroughly shuffles the cards and the player to his immediate right cuts the deck. Before dealing each first hand, each player must place one chip in the center of the table. There are a few exceptions to this requirement which are described below.
The dealer then begins dealing the cards in a clockwise rotation around the table, one by one and face down, starting with the player to his immediate left. He continues until each player has a hand consisting of five cards. The dealer deals his own fifth and final card, face up in front of himself. This card indicates the trump suit to be used for the hand.
After this exposure of the trump card the players then all pick up their cards (including the dealer). Starting from the player to the dealer's immediate left, each player in turn, in a clockwise rotation then announces first whether they intend to Play (remain in the hand) or Pass (quit the hand). If opting to Pass, the player places his cards to the side and takes no further part in the remainder of the hand. If electing to Play, however, the player then announces how many cards he wants to exchange (if any). He then discards this many cards face down (out of play) and the dealer gives him an equal number of cards from the face-down deck. The option then moves to the next player in rotation until each player has had one opportunity to pass or play and discard up to five cards for replacement. If the deck is exhausted before all players have had the option to exchange, all previously discarded cards are gathered up by the dealer, shuffled and used to provide the remaining players with replacement cards, if requested.
If the exposed trump card was an Ace, the dealer may not pass on the hand but must play. If all but one player passes, the player electing to play wins instantly, collecting all the chips from the center of the table adding them to his own collection. However, if two more players opted to play, the hand is played.
To begin play, the first player in a clockwise rotation to the left of the dealer plays the first card to the first trick. Each other player remaining in the game, in a clockwise direction then plays one card to the trick. If a player has a card of the suit originally led to the trick he must play it, and must attempt to play a card of this suit higher than any card previously played to the trick if possible. If he does not have a card of the suit led but does have a card of the trump suit, he must play that, and again must attempt to win the trick if possible. If he has neither a card of the suit led or the trump suit, he may play any remaining card from his hand to the trick. The highest trump card played to the trick wins the trick. If no card of the trump suit was played to the trick, the highest card of the suit originally led to the trick wins it. Although a player is under compulsion to attempt to win the trick if possible, if they are unable to beat the current highest card in the trick they are under no obligation to play their highest card of that suit (or the trump suit). The winner of each trick leads any card of his choice from his hand to start the next trick.
Even stricter rules apply to a player who might have a Cinch. A Cinch is a hand that contains three or more cards that are certain to win
any trick, regardless of the order in which any other cards are played to the trick. There are typically several hands which would normally be considered a Cinch. Having three of the highest trumps in play or having already won three tricks in the current hand, are some examples of a Cinch. A player who has a cinch has two additional restrictions on his play; A player with a Cinch must lead his highest trump when he is leading to a trick; a player with a Cinch who is unable to follow suit to another player's lead must play his highest trump (if he has any). A Cinch may not be obvious early in the hand, but once a player becomes aware he has a Cinch (such as finding he is only player remaining with cards of the trump suit), he must abide by these rules.
After all five tricks have been won and played, the player winning the most tricks is declared the winner and is entitled to add all the chips from the center of the table to his own pile. If two or more players tie for the most tricks won, the chips from the center are divided amongst them, with any odd chips left in the center for the next hand. When the chips from the center are split, each player who collected chips during this hand is not required to add one chip for the next hand.
If a player elects to Play but wins no tricks during the hand, he is said to
have gone Bourrè. In this case, this player must contribute an amount of his own chips equal to the current number of chips in the center pile. He adds these chips after the winner of the current hand takes the chips from the center into his own pile. The player who does this is not required to add a chip to the center for this next deal. The other players, of course, still must add one chip to the center before each deal.
At the end of a set number of hands the game ends and the player with the most chips in his personal stock is declared the winner.
Three Card Bourrè:
Three Card Bourrè is another variant of Bourrè that is sometimes played. This variant is played identically to standard Bourrè with the following differences:
- With the reduced number of cards dealt per player this game can accommodate an additional number of players. It is usually played by 7 to 10 players.
- Each active player in the game is dealt a hand consisting of three cards.
- In addition to these, several face-down three card hands are also dealt. This can be any number, but is usually around 5.
- Players may still opt to drop from the hand, but there is no drawing of cards. Instead, if a player opts not to drop from the hand he may elect (but is not obligated to) exchange his hand for any of the three card hands. He may even exchange for a hand that another player previously exchanged for one of these hands. When exchanging the player should place his own hand near the other dummy hands face-down. If a player makes the exchange he must play the hand and may not drop.
In all other aspects this variant of Bourrè is played identically to the standard game.
Copyright © 2015 CatsAtCards.com. All rights reserved.