Italy’s most popular card games
If you have ever wandered around an Italian town or village, the chances are you will have witnessed a familiar scene. Elderly men and women sitting around a table in a park or on the sidewalk playing cards. You may even have paused to watch the game and found it pretty much impenetrable. They were probably playing one of Italy’s most popular national card games: Tressette, Briscola, or Scopa. Let’s take a look at these games and perhaps you can join in next time you see a group of Italians enjoying a game of cards!
Tressette
Tressette is a trick-taking card game, which can be played by two to four players, although traditionally two teams of two players compete against each other. The aim of Tressette is to reach 21 points. The game uses 40 Italian playing cards (you can use a 52-card deck with the eights, nines, and tens removed). Each player receives ten cards with each card possessing a point value. The first card is placed by the player sitting to the right of the dealer and the suit of the card they put down is the only suit that can win the hand. To win a hand you must place a card of the same suit with a higher value. The overall winner is determined by the player with the highest points of cards in their possession.
Italian card games require the type of skills and strategies, including the ability to carefully select the correct card and develop a game strategy, which are also useful when playing traditional mainstream card games such as poker. As the old adage goes, practice makes perfect and via bonusfinder.it you can try your hand at poker by taking advantage of deposit bonuses. The site supplies all you need to know about the top online gambling sites in the country by providing in-depth reviews on the various features, as well as an overall score out of five.
Briscola
Briscola is also a trick-taking card game and is played by two to six players or as two or three teams of two players. The objective of Briscola is to emerge victorious in the most rounds or reach a stipulated total of points. Each player receives three cards and the high suit or Briscola is determined by revealing the top card of the remaining deck. If a player places a Briscola card, only a higher value of this suit can win. The player collects the cards from the winning hand to add to their final points total. Briscola is popular in Southern Italy such as the region of Calabria, with more information about the popular tourist destination available at italia.it, so you can be prepared for a game when you visit the region.
Scopa
Scopa is the Italian word for sweep and this game is played by two to four players or as two teams of two players. The objective is to reach 11 points. Players are dealt three cards face-down with four cards placed face-up in the center. Players then select a card to take from the four center cards based on the card value. For example, if a player chooses a number six card, they can remove a number six card from the center cards or they can remove cards that make up the value of six, i.e. a four and a two card. This game is popular in Sicily, with more information about the region available at visitsicily.info, so there is nothing stopping you from playing when you visit the Mediterranean island.
Now that you have gained an impression of the most popular games, there is nothing to prevent you from trying your hand the next time you are in Italy!
Image source: Pexels