ESCOLAR

Again, if you want to play a five handed tarot game, then really, look at the French tarot. However, this is a good enough fall back if Troccas is your usual game.

Essentially, this is the same as the three player version. Players receive three packets of 5 cards, with Dealer taking the last 8 - Dealer discards as before. Dealer scores or loses game points for every card point over or below 27, for the other players this is over or below 25.

4.2 Troggu

John McLeod’s web site was my initial source for this second Swiss entry. He states that it is on the verge of disappearing altogether, which, given that this is an enjoya-ble game for as many as eight players, makes it important include where we can – we don’t want to lose it. He also draws attention to an interesting little quirk regarding the Fool. The games you have played so far have all employed the Fool in its traditional role as an excuse but the more recent games, covered in the next section, use the Fool as the highest trump. Troggu bridges these traditions, employing it in both ways depending upon the circumstances of its play.

Cards

Once again, the 1JJ tarot is used with irrational ranking but this time it is reduced to a 62 pack, having the lowest four pip cards of each regular suit removed:

Swords & Batons / Spades & Trumps K, Q, C, V, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5

Cups & Coins / Hearts & Diamonds K, Q, C, V, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,

The card points are counted individually rather than in groups, so there are 114 points in the pack.

Kings & Honours 5 points

Queens 4 points

Cavaliers 3 points

Valets 2 points

All others 1 point

Deal

The first Dealer is chosen randomly and then deal moves to the right.

The number of cards dealt to players and to the stock depends upon the number of players:

For 3 players, each receives 3 packets of 6 cards with 8 dealt to the stock.

For 4 players, each receives 2 packets of 4 cards and one packet of 5 with 10 dealt to the stock.

For 5 players, each receives 2 packets of 4 cards and one packet of 3 with 7 dealt to the stock.

For 6 players, each receives one packet of 4 cards and packet of 5 with 8 dealt to the stock.

For 7 players, each receives two packets of 4 cards with 6 dealt to the stock.

For 8 players, each receives one packet of 4 cards and one packet of 3 with 6 dealt to the stock.

Bidding

Starting with Eldest, players may then bid to be Declarer and play against all the other players who will be working as a single team. There are two possible bids:

With the Stock: Declarer takes the stock into his/her hand and discards the number of cards of the stock into a scart (discard pile) which will count toward his/her tricks at the end of the hand. Kings and Honours may not be discarded unless all four Kings are held, then, all the Kings may go to the scart.

Without the Stock: The stock goes unseen by all and will count towards Declarers tricks at the end of the hand.

If someone bids to be Declarer and there are 7 or 8 players, then

Declarer calls a trump - though not an Honour. Whoever holds the called card plays as Declarer’s partner, though they cannot announce who they are. If the called trump is in Declarer’s hand or in the stock, then Declarer must play alone and without the stock (which will still count towards his/her tricks).

If all the players pass and there are less than 7 playing, then a Beggar’s game is played. The stock is disregarded and the first trick is led by Eldest in an all against all match to win the fewest card points. The player who wins the most card points must pay each of the other players 10 game points.

If all the players pass and there are 7 or 8 players, then, whoever holds the Fool must play as if they bid ‘With the Stock’. If no one holds the Fool, then the holder of the Pagat must play to this rule. If neither the Fool nor the Pagat are held, then a Beggar’s game is played.

Play

Declarer leads to the first trick or Eldest, if a Beggar’s game is played.

Players in turn, moving to the right, must follow suit if they can or play a trump. If they cannot play a trump, then any card may be played but it cannot win. The Fool is used as the highest trump with one exception.

If it is the last trump in a player’s hand and a trump must be played, then the player may elect not to play it, instead playing any card to the trick as if they had no trumps. Once this is done, the Fool ceases to be a Trump for that hand and is played as an excuse - it cannot win a trick but when played it goes into its’ player’s trick pile in exchange for a low card from its’ player’s tricks.

Scores

A tie can be achieved at 57 points, with 58 points required to win the game. Each player on the losing side must pay each member of the winning side a basic payment of 10 game points for playing ‘with the stock’ or 20 points for ‘against the stock’. This is doubled if the losing side has less than 30 points and trebled if they lose all the tricks.

If Declarer has a partner, the partner receives, if the game was won, or

pays, if the game was lost, 20 game points - balance of points won or lost are received or paid by Declarer.