Tablić

What You Need

• A standard 52-card deck, no jokers.
• Pen and paper. Games run to 101 points, usually 7 hands or more.

Setup

1. Choose the first dealer by drawing cards. After that the deal alternates.
2. The dealer shuffles. The non-dealer cuts and places the bottom 4 cards of the lifted part face up on the table. This is the talon. The non-dealer then turns the lifted part so both players can see its new bottom card, which goes to the dealer at the end of the deal.
3. The dealer then gives each player 6 cards, in two batches of 3.
4. Keep the rest of the deck face down.
5. When both hands are empty, the dealer deals 6 more cards each, again in threes. No new table cards. A 52-card deck gives four rounds of dealing.

Card Values

Every card has a capture value. Number cards count face value. Jack is 12, queen is 13, king is 14. An ace is 1 or 11, your choice each time you use it. Suits do not matter for capturing.

How a Turn Works

1. The non-dealer plays first. Turns alternate.
2. Play one card face up.
3. If a table card has the same value as your card, you may take it.
4. If a group of table cards adds up to your card's value, you may take that group.
5. One card can take several matches at once. Play a 10 onto a table showing 10, 4, 6, 3 and 7, and take all five cards. No table card may sit in two groups.
6. Captured cards go face down in front of you, with your played card.
7. If you take nothing, your card stays on the table as part of the layout.

Capturing is optional. You may take part of what you could, or nothing at all, even when a capture is there. Sometimes leaving a card down is the smarter play.

Aces are flexible. An ace on the table can be counted as 1 or 11 when you capture it. A king (14) takes a king, or an ace and a 3, or a 4 and a 10.

Tabla (Sweep)

Clear every card from the table with one play and you score a tabla, worth 1 extra point. Mark it with a tally on the score sheet as it happens. The very last card of the hand cannot score a tabla.

End of the Hand

The dealer plays the last card of the hand. Whatever remains on the table then goes to the dealer, with no tabla. Then count up.

Scoring

• Each ace, king, queen and jack is 1 point (16 total).
• The 10 of diamonds is 2 points. Every other 10 is 1 point.
• The 2 of clubs is 1 point.
• Most cards captured earns 3 points. Tie? Nobody gets them.
• Each tabla is 1 point.

That makes 25 points per hand plus tablas, or 22 if the card count ties.

Winning

The first player to reach 101 points wins. You can claim the moment you cross 101, even in the middle of a hand, but the 3 points for most cards only count at the end of a hand. Claim wrong and you lose on the spot. If both players pass 101 in the same hand, the higher total wins. Equal? Play one more hand.

Strategy Tips

• The 10 of diamonds and the 2 of clubs are worth 3 points between them. Do not leave a 10 or a 2 exposed if your opponent may hold the match.
• A king or queen on the table is safe from everything except the same rank, or an ace plus a small card. Use high cards to lock the table.
• Late in the hand, count what has gone. In the last deal of 6 cards, a player who counted knows the opponent's whole hand.

Variations

• Three players use a 40-card deck with no picture cards, and get 4 cards each per deal.
• Four players form two partnerships, partners sitting opposite. Play goes anticlockwise and partners pool their captures.
• Tabinet, the Romanian cousin, follows the same rules with a slightly different deal.