The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (137 page)

The single most important card in the pack is 7 – the set e bel o

or Best Seven. It is worth a point in itself, counts towards the

majority of diamonds, and counts most for primiera. Much of the

play is directed towards catching this card, or at least preventing the

opponents from catching it too easily. The other three Sevens come

next in importance, as the primiera point can be won on three

Sevens if the fourth card is a Three or bet er. A side that has already

lost a majority of Sevens must chase after the Sixes, then the Aces,

and so on down the scale.

Varieties of Scopa/Scopone

Cicera

(2-4p, 52c) Normal y played in partnership form in the province of

Brescia, with Italian-suited cards of the Bresciane pat ern. Reported

by Virgilio Ferrari on the Pagat website.

Play to the right. Deal twelve each and four to the table. Each in

turn plays a card to the table and either makes a capture or leaves

it to trail. Capture is by pairing or summing of numeral cards (1 to

10 at face value) or pairing only of courts. Given a choice of

captures, the player may make any but only one. It is permissible to

trail a card even if it could capture.

Points are scored during play for any of the fol owing feats. These

are indicated by leaving the capturing card face up in the

partnership’s pile of winnings.

ScùaCapturing al the table cards in one turn.

PicadaCapturing, by pairing, the card just trailed by one’s left-hand

opponent.

SimiliWhen the capturing card is of the same suit as the card or al

the cards it captures.

QuadrigliaCapturing three or more cards from the table.

More than one of these points can be scored with a single play.

For example, if 9 captures 2-3-4 it scores 1 for simili and 1 for

quadriglia, and, if no cards remain on the table, another 1 for scùa.

It is obviously necessary to leave some of the captured cards face up

to mark these points.

The last player to make a capture also wins any remaining table

cards.