French tarot strategy

Bid on trumps and oudlers

A hand worth taking usually has plenty of trumps and at least one oudler. Eight or more trumps with the 21 or a well-protected petit is a reasonable petite; add a second oudler or a couple of kings and it is a garde. Kings matter too, because each is 4.5 points that nobody can take from you if you lead it before the suit runs out.

A petit with only three or four trumps beside it is a liability rather than an asset. The defenders will lead trumps until it has to fall, and losing it costs you an oudler and raises your target by ten points.

Save the petit, or hunt it

If you hold the petit, the rules protect it as long as you hold higher trumps: when trumps are led you must play over the highest one on the table if you can, so you are never forced to play the 1. Keep enough trumps to stay above the others, and play the petit once the trumps the defenders hold have all gone.

If you are defending and the taker may hold the petit, lead trumps. Every trump round strips them of protection, and a petit caught at the end is the biggest swing in the game. If you hold the petit yourself, play it into a trick your side is winning, or early under a partner's 21.

Build the discard

The six cards you put back count for you at the end, and nobody can win them. Use them to empty a suit, so you can trump it when it is led, and to bank points that would be at risk in play: a lone queen or knight is an ideal discard. Kings and oudlers may never be put back.

Trumps may go back only when there is nothing else to discard, which almost never happens. Two short suits are better than four medium ones: every void is a suit the defenders cannot make you follow.

Defend together

The defenders score as one side, so when a partner is winning a trick, put your points on it: a king, a queen, a knight. Throwing a low card there is a wasted chance. When the taker is winning, give them the cheapest card you have.

Lead the suits the taker is likely to be short in, so they have to use trumps early, and cash your kings before the taker can trump them. Count trumps: there are twenty-one, and knowing how many the taker still holds tells you when the petit is in danger.

Use the Excuse well

The Excuse is worth 4.5 points to whoever finishes with it, and it is always yours. Play it on a trick you would otherwise lose a point card to, or to keep a high trump when you are forced to follow.

Do not wait too long. Late in the hand the only cards left may be the ones you were saving it for, and the Excuse has nothing to protect any more.