French Tarot

Tarot is a trick-taking card game played throughout France and also known in French-speaking Canada, which uses a traditional 78-card Tarot deck instead of the standard poker deck. The Fédération Française de Tarot publishes official rules for Tarot. The game is sometimes referred to in English as French tarot; for example, the French name of the annual Montreal festival Festival International de Tarot de Montréal is officially translated into English as International French Tarot Festival of Montreal.

File:Tarots cards deal.jpg

A 15 card tarot deal for the 5 player variant

The deck

The game of Tarot is played using a 78-card deck, divided into a numbered 21-card series of atouts (trump cards), one Fool (l'excuse), and 4 suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs), divided into 10 numbers from 1 to 10, and then the face cards of jack (valet), knight (cavalier), queen (dame) and king (roi). Three cards known as oudlers or bouts are of particular importance: the excuse (the Fool), the 1 of trumps (the petit or little one) , and the 21 of trumps.

File:Tarotcards.jpg

78-card French Tarot deck

The ranking of the suit cards in both the red and black suits is from highest to lowest:

king, queen, knight, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The Fool (Excuse)

File:TAROT EXCUSE.jpg

L'Excuse or "fool"

The only card with a special effect is the Fool, called the ‘excuse’. The Fool may be played on any trick: it "excuses" the player from following suit. However it never wins the trick. The Fool remains the property of the person who played it, not the winner of that trick: to compensate for this in the scoring count, the owner of the Fool should instead give the winner of the trick a half-point card from his pile of previously won tricks. However, if the Fool is played at the last trick, it is given to the other side, even (in the 5-player version) if the trick is won by the side who played the Fool. If the Fool is played at the last trick by the winner of ALL the previous tricks, he wins the trick.

Rules

For 3 or 4 players (5 with a simple variation). The 4-player variant is usually considered the most challenging and is the one played in competitions. The following rules are for 4 players.

Dealing

Each player chooses a random card from the deck ; the dealer is the person with the smallest card, with spades > hearts > diamonds > clubs (so 10 of hearts > 9 of spades, and 5 of diamonds > 5 of clubs). The trumps rank higher than the other cards ; anyone who draw the Fool must redraw.

The player at the left of the dealer cuts the deck. The dealer then deals out the entire deck; dealing 18 cards to each of the players, plus 6 cards to the "dog" (chien in French, also commonly translated as "kitty"), a face-down pile in the middle of the table. Each player is dealt his cards three at a time, and the dog is dealt one card at a time at any time the dealer wishes except for the first and last card dealt, which may not be part of the dog.

A maldonne (misdeal) occurs when the dealer make mistakes in the dealing. Players inspect and evaluate their hands and move on to the bidding round.

Petit sec

If a player has the Petit with no other trump and without the Fool, the game is cancelled (the player must of course show his hand).

Bidding

The players look at the cards they have been dealt, and a round of bidding begins, starting from the player to the right of the dealer. Not bidding is called to pass. One may only bid higher than the previous bidders, and only if he didn't pass before. The preneur or taker is the one who wins this auction.

The bids are, in increasing importance:

prise (take) or petite (small): if this is the winning bid the taker adds the dog to his hand, then discards six cards of his choice to bring his hand back to normal size before play begins. The discarded cards form the beginning of the taker's score pile.
garde (guard): the same as prise, but the taker wins or loses double the usual stake.
garde sans [le chien] (guard without [the dog]): the dog goes directly into the taker's score pile, and no-one gets to see it until the end of the hand. The score is counted normally against the target number, but it is worth double the garde score to whoever wins the hand.
garde contre [le chien] (guard against [the dog]): the dog goes directly into the opposing score pile, without being shown until the end of the hand. The score is counted normally against the target number, but it is worth triple the garde score to whoever wins the hand.

It is forbidden to discard a king or a trump, except if there is :

only trumps in the taker's hand or
only kings and trumps in the taker's hand.

In this case, the taker has to declare how many trumps and kings he discards. If no one bids, another deal begins, the new dealer being on the left of the previous one.

In earlier rules, still played outside of competitions, in place of the prise and simple garde, there were two bids, in increasing importance: the petite (small) and the pousse (push). The prise is still sometimes known as petite. There are also some players who play without the prise contract, with garde as the minimum allowable bid.

Main phase

The player to the right of the taker leads the first trick, and the play proceeds counter-clockwise, with every player adding a card from his hand to the trick. Every subsequent trick is led by the player who took the last trick. The leader of a trick can play any card they like.

Once the leader of a trick has played a card, everyone else must follow suit (play a card of that same suit, if they have one). If a player cannot follow suit, he must play a trump card. When playing a trump card you are compelled to play a higher value than any existing trump in the trick if you are able to (The "petit" is valued lowest, and the "21" is valued highest). If he has no pip or face card matching suit and no trump, he may play any card to the trick, which is led by the highest card of the couleur demandée (required suit), so if the required suit is hearts, any card of any other suit is not leader of the trick even if of higher nominal value. For example, if player A starts with a queen of spades and player B has neither spade nor trump, anything player B can play will not win the trick, even a king.

If the trick is led with a trump, all other players must play a trump card exceeding the rank of all trump previously played in the trick, and if not possible a lower-ranked trump, or play any card if he cannot. If the first card played in a trick is the Fool, the required suit is determined by the following card.

Scoring

When the last trick has been played, the game ends.

Value of the cards

File:TAROT ATOUT 17.jpg

Trump

Kings and oudlers are worth 4½ points;
Queens are worth 3½;
Knights are worth 2½;
Jacks are worth 1½;
All other cards are worth ½ point.

Cards are usually counted two by two ; one "good" card and one "bad" card, or two "bad" cards :

1 King/oudler + 1 ordinary card : 5 points
1 Queen + 1 ordinary card : 4 points
1 Knight + 1 ordinary card : 3 points
1 Jack + 1 ordinary card : 2 points
2 ordinary cards : 1 point

Winning

The number of points the taker needs depends on how many of the oudlers (excuse, petit, 21 of trumps) are among his won tricks.

File:Tarotcartes.jpg

The three oudlers

With 3 oudlers the taker needs at least 36 card points to win;
With 2 oudlers the taker needs at least 41 card points to win;
With 1 oudler the taker needs at least 51 card points to win;
With none the taker needs at least 56 card points to win.

They are 91 points in the whole game, so if the taker has :

3 oudlers, the defenders need at least 55.5 card points to win;
2 oudlers, the defenders need at least 50.5 card points to win;
1 oudler, the defenders need at least 40.5 card points to win;
no oudler, the defenders need at least 35.5 card points to win.

Updating the scorecard

If the taker beats his target score, he scores 25 points plus 1 for each point scored in excess of the target ; otherwise, all of the other players gain 25 points plus the deficit. All of these scores are multiplied by the appropriate multiplier (1, 2, 4 or 6) for the bid. Each Defender scores the same number of points: negative if the Taker wins, or positive if the Taker fails. The Taker counts three times this total; as positive if he wins, or as negative if he fails. The sum of all players' scores is then always equal to 0.

The score is expressed by the formula : s = ((25 + EP + PB) * M) + PG + CH EP : Extra Points (points above the target score, or below if the target score is not hit) PB : Petit au bout bonus (see below) PG : poignée bonus (see below) CH : chelem bonus (see below)

For example, a Garde Sans bid with a simple poignée won by player A in a margin of 12 points gives the following score : ((25 + 12 + 0) * 4) + 10 + 0 = 158 points, hence the scorecard :

A, 474
B, -158
C, -158
D, -158

Some players prefers to round the scores to the nearest 10 points after each game.

The two score piles are stacked (there is no shuffling in Tarot except for the ‘soft shuffling’ that occurs during play), then the result is cut by the dealer and the player to the right of the dealer becomes the new dealer.

Bonuses

Misère

If a player's hand contains no trumps and/or no court cards (roi, dame, cavalier, valet), the player can declare Misère, which gives the declarer 30 points and subtracts 10 from the other players scores. This bonus is a common house rule and is not considered "official" by the Fédération Française de Tarot for tournament purposes.

Poignée

A player can declare a single (10 trumps in hand)), double (13), or triple (15) poignée. A single poignée adds 20 to the scoring. Doubles and triples add 40 and 60, respectively. However, if a player thinks that his or her side may not win, they might not want to declare a poignée, so not to give the other side points. The excuse can be used in a poignée, but it shows the other players that the declarer has no other trump cards. This bonus is not multiplied according to the contract.

Petit au bout

A player who won the last trick with the Petit (1 of trump), gets an extra 30 points and the others -10 points (so the sum is equal to 0). If the player wins all the tricks, he gets the petit au bout bonus if he plays the Petit at the second last trick (and wins the trick) and the Fool at the last trick. This bonus is multiplied according to the contract.

Chelem

Chelem (slam) is a bid to take every trick. Chelem annoncé (chelem announced) gains 400 points if made. It grants the taker the right (and obligation) to start the first trick. Chelem non annoncé (chelem not announced) gains 200 points if made. If chelem is announced but not made, the announcer loses 200 points. The defense can also make a slam, which gains 200 points. This bonus is not multiplied according to the contract.

Petit Chelem

Peit Chelem is a bid to take every trick but three. It is, like the misère, unofficial.

Variants

Petit imprenable (untouchable one of trumps)

In this variant, the player who has no trump except the Petit can still play, but the Petit is played like the Fool.

Three-player variant

The dog consists of six cards, each hand of 24 cards, dealt in packets of four. 13 trumps are needed for a single poignée, 15 for a double poignée, 18 for a triple poignée.

Five-player variant

The dog consists of three cards, each hand of 15 cards, dealt in packets of three. 8 trumps are needed for a single poignée, 10 for a double poignée, 13 for a triple poignée.Before calling the dog and scoring his three cards, the taker calls the King of any suit. Whoever has that King becomes the taker's partner, and plays with him against the other players. (Compare the Austrian version, Königrufen, in which this King-calling mechanism is used so that four-player play is two against two.) If the taker has all four kings, he calls a queen. If the taker has all four kings and all four queens, he calls a knight. The taker must play alone if he has all kings, queens and knights. The King is called before calling the dog, so the taker may accidentally call himself, without even knowing it if the bid was a garde sans.

Alternative Scoring

In this variant, there is no score multiplier but the base score (25) is variable :

20 for a Prise
40 for a Garde
80 for a Garde Sans
160 for a Garde Contre

Another popular variant is setting the multiplier for the Garde Contre to 8 instead of 6.

Strategy

Evaluating one's hand

In order to know what bid is best suited for him, the player can use the following system :

Adding the points corresponding to some figures appearing in his hand :

		Pts
The Oudlers :	- the 21	10
	- the Fool	8
	- the Petit : with 1, 2, 3 trumps	0
	with 4 trumps	5
	with 5 trumps	7
	with 6+ trumps	9
The trumps	- each trump (Oudlers included) unless there are less than 4 of them	2
	- for each major trump (16 to 21)	2
	- for each major trump in a sequence ex: 20,21 = 2 points or 16,17,18 = 3 points	1
The major suited cards	- King and Queen of the same suit	10
	- a King without Queen	6
	- a Queen without King	3
	- a Knight	2
	- a Jack	1
The suits	- 5 cards of the same suit	5
	- 6 cards of the same suit	7
	- 7+ cards of the same suit	9
For Garde Sans or Garde Contre :
	- no card of a suit	6
	- only one card of a suit	3

Bidding accordingly :

less than 40 points : Passe (no bid)

40 to 55 points : Prise

56 to 70 points : Garde

71 to 80 points : Garde Sans

80+ points : Garde Contre

Getting the Petit

It is essential to try to get the Petit if one can. In a 5-player game, if the taker has the 21 of trump, he shall always play it so his partner can secure the Petit if he's got it. If the taker has many trumps, he can perform a chasse au petit (Petit hunt), trying to play his trumps so that the Petit owner has no choice but to give it away.

Observation

Every player should know which suits have been played, and which are still to be played. It is useful to count how many trumps, and what kings, have been played.

Statistics

Distribution of suits (4 players)

The following table shows the maximum number of suits and trumps for a Defender.

Number of cards of a suit the Taker doesn't have
		4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	2	66,7%	37%	12,4%
	3	29,6%	49,4%	57,6%	48%	25,6%	8,5%
	4	3,7%	12,3%	24,7%	38,4%	48%	48%	37,3%	19,5%	6,5%
	5		1,2%	4,9%	11,5%	20,5%	30,7%	39,7%	43,8%	40,7%	30,5%	15,8%	5,3%
	6			0,4%	1,9%	5,1%	10,2%	17,1%	25%	32,9%	38,4%	39,5%	35,2%	25,8%
	7				0,1%	1,7%	2,2%	4,9%	8,9%	14,3%	20,7%	27,3%	33,1%	36,4%
	8						0,3%	0,9%	2,2%	4,5%	7,7%	12,2%	17,1%	22,8%
	9							0,1%	0,4%	1%	2,2%	4%	6,6%	10,2%
	10									0,1%	0,4%	1%	2%	3,6%
	11										0,1%	0,2%	0,5%	1%
	12												0,1%	0,2%

For instance :

The taker has 8 hearts, thus the Defenders have 6 hearts. In 5.3 % of the cases, a Defender have 5+ hearts. Notice that the sum from any column is 100%.
The taker has 9 trumps, thus the Defense has 12 trumps. There is a 1.1% probability that a Defender has 9+ trumps.

The dog's cards (4 players, 6-cards dog)

Number of missing cards from a particular suit
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
*
	0	90	80,8	72,5	64,9	57,9	51,6	45,9	40,7	36	31,27	27,9	24,5	21,4	18,7	16,3	14,1	12,1	10,4	8,9
	1	10	18,3	25,1	30,5	34,7	37,9	40,1	41,5	42,2	42,3	41,9	41	39,8	38,3	36,6	34,7	32,7	30,7	28,5
	2		0,9	2,4	4,4	6,8	9,5	12,3	15,1	18	20,7	23,3	25,7	27,8	29,7	31,2	32,5	33,5	34,3	34,7
	3			0	0,2	0,5	1	1,6	2,5	3,5	4,7	6,1	7,6	9,3	11	12,9	14,8	16,9	18,9	20,8
	4				0	0	0	0,1	0,2	0,3	0,5	0,8	1,1	1,5	2,1	2,7	3,5	4,3	5,3	6,4
	5					0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0,1	0,1	0,2	0,3	0,4	0,5	0,6	0,9
	6							0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0,01	0,02	0,03	0,04	0,06