Briscola
A popular Italian trick-taking game using a 40-card deck. Simple to learn with trump-based play, but offers strategic depth in card counting and hand management.
What You'll Need
About This Game
A popular Italian trick-taking game using a 40-card deck. Simple to learn with trump-based play, but offers strategic depth in card counting and hand management.
How to Play
Setup
- Use a 40-card Italian deck (or standard deck with 8s, 9s, 10s removed)
- Deal 3 cards to each player
- Turn up one card to show the trump suit (briscola)
- Place remaining deck face-down, partially covering the trump card
Card Values
- Ace: 11 points
- Three: 10 points
- King: 4 points
- Queen (Cavallo): 3 points
- Jack (Fante): 2 points
- 7 through 2: 0 points
Gameplay
- Non-dealer plays first
- You may play ANY card (no requirement to follow suit)
- Higher trump wins; otherwise higher card of the led suit wins
- Winner takes both cards and leads next trick
- After each trick, draw one card (winner first, then loser)
- When deck is empty, play final 3 tricks from hand
Scoring
- Total points in deck: 120
- Player with more points wins
- Game is usually played to 3 wins
History & Background
Piquet is one of the oldest known two-player card games, with documented rules dating to 1535 in France. Its name likely derives from "pic" (pike/spade in French).
The game was the preeminent card game of European nobility for centuries. It appears in literature from Rabelais to Dickens. The French Revolution temporarily suppressed it due to its aristocratic associations.
Piquet was the first card game to use a stripped deck (removing 2s through 6s), creating the 32-card "piquet deck" still used today in some European games.
The game was played extensively in England from the 17th century. Charles I reportedly played Piquet while awaiting execution. The game influenced many subsequent card games and remains the gold standard for sophisticated two-player card play among enthusiasts.