Scopone rules

Scopa for four with every card dealt out — nothing is left to luck.

  • 4 players
  • Cards removed

Scopa for four in partnerships, with the whole deck dealt out at the start. Nothing is drawn, nothing is hidden after the first few tricks, and a good player can calculate the entire hand.

The deck

40 cards. Ten cards each, and the whole deck is dealt. Nothing is held back.

The table

In scopone scientifico the table starts empty and the first player must lay a card down. In the older scopone the dealer puts four cards on the table before play — this is the version to start with.

Capturing

Exactly as in scopa. Play a card; if it equals a table card or the sum of several, you capture them. If not, it stays. A capture that clears the table entirely is a scopa and scores a point at once, except on the very last card of the hand.

When the cards run out, whoever made the last capture sweeps up whatever remains on the table.

Scoring, one point each to a partnership

Most cards. Most coins. The seven of coins. The primiera, valued seven 21, six 18, ace 16, five 15, four 14, three 13, two 12, court cards 10.

Plus one for every scopa taken.

Game is 11, 16 or 21 points.

What makes it hard

Because every card is dealt, everything unseen is in your opponents' hands, and the count is knowable. Good players track the sevens and the coins from the first trick, and the game is decided by which side is willing to leave a card on the table that the other cannot use.