Each ace                           1 whole point
    Each 3, 2, re, cavallo or fante    1/3 of a point

dealing
Deal (anticlockwise) 8 cards to each player for 5 players, 10 each for 4 players and 13 each for 3 players (in this case the dealer receives 14 cards and discards one card, which will be given to the winner of the last trick). Turn to deal passes to the right after each hand.

playing
There are no trumps. The player to dealer's right leads first. Any card may be led, and the other players must play a card of the suit led if they have one. A player with no card of the suit led may play anything. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick, and the winner leads to the next trick.

scoring
When all tricks have been played, the values of cards taken in tricks are counted. Each player except the winner of the last trick scores as penalty points the value of the cards they have taken, disregarding any fractions - for example a player who has taken three and one thirds point scores 3; a player who has taken just two thirds of a point scores nothing. The scores of all the players for one hand should add up to 11, so the player who won the last trick scores the difference between 11 and the total of the amounts scored by the other players.

Example:

                Actual value of cards taken     Penalty points scored
    Player A:               3 1/3                          3
    Player B:               2 and the last trick           4
    Player C:               1 2/3                          1
    Player D:               3 2/3                          3
    ---------               -----                         --
    Total                  10 2/3 + last trick            11, as always

variations
Some play that the target score is 21 or 41 rather than 31. Some play that when a player reaches or exceeds the target, the player with the lowest score immediately wins.

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The card game description on this page is reproduced with permission from the card games web site www.pagat.com and is copyright © John McLeod, 1996-2004. No further copying or reproduction of this text in any form is allowed, except with prior permission from the copyright holder.