BriscolaThe Italian card club
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Burraco

Partnership rummy with wildcards

Deck
Two French decks · 108
Players
2 players · 4 players (partners)

Burraco is played in pairs and rewards patience: a burraco is a meld of seven or more cards, and building them is worth far more than going out quickly.

How to play

Each partnership melds in front of itself and both partners share the same melds. When you run out of cards you pick up a pot — a second small hand — and keep playing. You may only go out once your side has completed at least one burraco.

Scoring

A clean burraco, built without wildcards, is worth two hundred points; one that uses a joker or a two is worth a hundred. Going out is worth a hundred, and the cards left in the opponents' hands count against them.

A few tips

Do not break a burraco to go out sooner. Two clean burracos will almost always beat an early exit, and your partner is counting on you to build rather than to finish.