Burraco variants: the most popular ones

Burraco is one of the most entertaining, sociable and engaging games that can be played with cards, as well as one of the most widespread across the entire planet. With a vast and complex tradition behind it, there are countless versions in constant evolution played just about everywhere.

The modifications introduced - with particular attention to the Italian and Brazilian ones, countries where the number of Burraco enthusiasts is particularly large - are the fruit not only of tradition, but also of players' desire to have fun in alternative ways to the standard rules, which are often not even fully known by local inhabitants, but passed down as a common heritage.

The different variants can have different names, different scoring, objectives, number of players and of course a longer or shorter game length.

Essentially these are variations on the main ruleset, not radical overhauls. Knowing them well could help you suggest a fresh take on the game, or find yourself ready to face a game of Tarca, Andromeda or Cassiopea.

Tarca, Cassiopea and Andromeda

Among some of the most interesting variants on the standard Burraco rules, let us recall three of the most entertaining: Tarca, Cassiopea and Andromeda.

As for Tarca, it is a game that, like regular Burraco, uses two decks of French cards, including pinelle and jokers. It is played by two or four players, each of whom receives 11 cards.

The objective is to play out your cards by forming combinations of cards of the same value but different suits, or cards in sequential order of the same suit, trying to accumulate the highest possible score (or a target score agreed before the game).

The variant called Andromeda is played with an even number of players, again two or four. The ultimate goal that determines victory is to end up with only one card in hand, excluding jokers and pinelle.

As for the Cassiopea variant, the aim of the game is to end up with no cards, to end with a pair of cards in hand - provided they are in sequential order - or to end with only one card.

The variants listed are obviously some of the most entertaining, but Burraco players often make changes to the standard rules based on other factors as well.

For example the value of the joker, which in some games is 50 and in others 20. Another variant concerns the score given to the dirty Burraco at 150 compared to 300 for the clean one. Some players tend to give a higher score to a clean Burraco made with eight cards of the same suit. It is not uncommon for all results to be rounded to a multiple of ten - for example a score of 485 is rounded up to 490.

As is evident, the variants can be numerous and are not necessarily governed by rigid regulations, given that Burraco is a game with strong popular tradition. For example, on scoring there are various variants that change frequently, and the most common counts can be 2,000, 3,000 or even 3,500 points.

Experimenting and trying different variants, even inventing new ones, is absolutely possible with such a dynamic and entertaining game as Burraco.