Playcard games

Scopa: questions and answers

Short answers to the questions people ask most about Scopa. Everything else is in the full rules.

What cards do you need for Scopa?
Forty: an Italian pack, or a standard 52-card deck with the eights, nines and tens taken out. Cards count at face value from the ace (1) to the seven, then the jack is 8, the queen 9 and the king 10. Coins are the Italian suit that matters most; with French cards, diamonds stand in for them.
What is a scopa?
Clearing every card off the table with one capture. It scores a point on the spot, and a deal can have several. The one exception is the very last card of the deal: if it happens to clear the table, it is not a scopa.
Do you have to capture if you can?
Only with the card you play. You may choose to lay down a card that takes nothing, but a card that can take something has to take it. And when a card matches a single card on the table, it must take that card rather than a combination: a seven takes the seven, not the three and the four.
How is the primiera counted?
Each side picks its best card in each of the four suits, worth seven 21, six 18, ace 16, five 15, four 14, three 13, two 12 and a court card 10. The higher total wins the point. A side with no card at all in one suit usually loses it, which is why sevens and sixes are worth fighting for.
Who gets the cards left on the table at the end?
Whoever made the last capture of the deal. They go into that player's pile and count for cards, coins and the primiera, but taking them is never a scopa.
How many points is a game of Scopa?
Eleven, or twenty-one for a longer game, agreed before you start. A deal pays four points — most cards, most coins, the seven of coins and the primiera — plus one for every scopa. A tied point goes to nobody, and if two sides finish level at the top, another deal is played.
What is the difference between Scopa, Scopone and Escoba?
Scopone is Scopa for four in partnerships with the whole pack dealt out at once, nine cards each, so there is no pack to draw from and good players can work out every hand. Escoba is the Spanish cousin: every capture has to add up to fifteen, counting the card you play, and the fourth point goes to most sevens instead of the primiera.
Can you play Scopa with three or four players?
Yes. Two is the classic game. With three, everyone plays for themselves; with four, you play in two partnerships, partners sitting opposite and putting their captures into one pile.