How to Play Briscola

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Briscola is a trick-taking card game for two to four players, played with a 40-card Italian-suited deck or an adapted standard deck. It is fast, strategic, and accessible enough for children yet deep enough to reward experienced players. Unlike many trick-taking games, there is no obligation to follow suit, which opens up a constant stream of tactical decisions on every single card played.

The game is enormously popular across Italy and among Italian communities worldwide, and is regularly played in homes, cafes, and social clubs. Its simple rules make it easy to teach in minutes, but the card-point system and the freedom to play any card at any time give it a satisfying complexity that keeps players coming back.

A little history

Briscola is traditionally associated with Italy, where it has been a staple card game for centuries, and closely related games exist across Spain, Portugal, and parts of Latin America. Its precise origins are unclear, and documented historical records tracing its exact emergence are thin. The name is thought to derive from an old term for trump or a special card, though the etymology is disputed. What is well established is that by the nineteenth century the game was firmly embedded in Italian popular culture and remains one of the most widely played card games in the country today.

Setting up

1. Remove the 8s, 9s, and 10s from a standard 52-card deck to leave 40 cards, or use a traditional Italian deck.
2. Shuffle the deck thoroughly. For a two-player game, deal three cards to each player. For three players, deal three cards each; for four players playing in partnerships, deal three cards each.
3. After dealing, turn the next card face up and place it partially under the remaining draw pile. The suit of this card is the briscola (trump) suit for the entire hand.
4. The remaining draw pile sits face down with the face-up briscola card visible beneath it.
5. In a two-player game, the non-dealer leads the first trick. In multiplayer games, the player to the dealer's right leads first.

How to play

1. The player who leads places one card face up on the table. In a two-player game the other player then plays one card. In a three- or four-player game, each player plays one card in turn going clockwise.
2. There is no obligation to follow suit. You may play any card from your hand at any time.
3. The trick is won by: (a) the highest-value briscola (trump) card played, if any briscola cards were played; or (b) the highest card of the suit that was led, if no briscola cards were played. Cards of other non-led, non-trump suits never win a trick.
4. Card rank within each suit, from highest to lowest, is: Ace (Asso), Three (Tre), King (Re), Queen (Cavallo or Donna), Jack (Fante or Knave), 7, 6, 5, 4, 2. The Three ranks second despite being a low number; remember this as it is a common source of confusion for new players.
5. The player who wins the trick collects both (or all) cards and places them face down in their own scoring pile. That player then leads the next trick.
6. After each trick, each player draws one card from the top of the draw pile to return their hand to three cards. The winner of the trick draws first, then the other player(s) in turn order.
7. When the draw pile is exhausted, the face-up briscola card at the bottom is taken by the last player to draw. Play then continues until all cards in hand have been played.
8. Once all cards have been played, players count the point values in their scoring piles. Points are awarded as follows: Ace = 11 points, Three = 10 points, King = 4 points, Queen = 3 points, Jack = 2 points, and all other cards (7, 6, 5, 4, 2) = 0 points. The total points across all cards always sum to 120.
9. In a four-player partnership game, partners sit opposite each other and combine their scoring piles to calculate a shared total.

Winning and scoring

The total points available in the deck always sum to 120. In a two-player game, the first player to reach 61 points in a single round wins that round; since 61 is a strict majority of 120, a tie is impossible. In a match played over multiple rounds, players typically agree in advance on a target number of round wins (commonly best of three or best of five). In a four-player partnership game, the pair with 61 or more points wins the round. In a three-player game, each player scores individually and the player with the most points after all cards are played wins that round; a tie is resolved by replaying the round or, by prior agreement, the tied players split the win.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns the rank of the Three. New players frequently forget that the Three ranks second only to the Ace in both trick-taking power and point value (10 points). It beats the King, Queen, and Jack and all number cards. This is not a variant; it is the standard rule. A related error is assuming high card number means high rank: the Two ranks last, lower even than the Four, Five, Six, and Seven.

A second common edge case concerns the final briscola card. The player who would draw last from the pile takes the face-up briscola card; they do not get to decline it or substitute another card. In a two-player game this is always the dealer. If a player forgets to draw after a trick and subsequently plays a card, the standard ruling is that they forfeit their right to that draw and continue with a reduced hand; house rules vary, so agree in advance. In partnership play, partners are generally not permitted to communicate about their hands through signals, words, or gestures, and doing so is considered a forfeit of the round in competitive settings.

How to win more often

• Protect your Aces and Threes. These two card ranks account for 21 of the 120 available points each suit; losing them cheaply to a briscola card is often the difference between winning and losing a round.
• Count the briscola cards as they are played. With only four trump cards in the deck, knowing how many remain changes every decision about when to lead trump or play defensively.
• Lead low, worthless cards (7, 6, 5, 4, 2) when you want to probe your opponent's hand or force them to use a trump card to win a zero-point trick.
• Save at least one briscola card to capture a high-value card your opponent leads. If you win a trick containing an Ace or Three with a low trump, you have made a very efficient exchange.
• In partnership play, learn to read your partner's leads. Leading a low card of a non-trump suit often signals weakness and invites your partner to take the trick cleanly rather than wasting points.

Variations

Briscola Chiamata (Called Briscola)

A five-player variant in which the full 40-card deck is dealt evenly (eight cards each). Before play begins, the player designated as caller names a specific card, such as the Ace of a particular suit, without revealing their own hand. The player secretly holding that card becomes the caller's partner for the round, but neither partner knows who the other is until the named card appears in play. This hidden-partnership mechanic adds a significant layer of deduction and bluffing to the game.

Briscolone

Played with five cards in hand rather than three, Briscolone is a slower, more deliberate version of the game. The larger hand gives players more options on each trick and generally rewards longer-term planning over opportunistic play. The scoring, trump rules, and card ranks are otherwise identical to standard Briscola.

Team Briscola (Four Players)

In the standard four-player partnership game, players sitting opposite each other form fixed teams and combine their scoring piles at the end of each round. The key additional rule in most regional traditions is that partners may not verbally communicate card information during play, relying instead on reading each other's leads and discards. Some groups permit a single agreed signal (such as a facial expression) at the start of play; agree on this before the first card is dealt.

No-Points Briscola (Briscola a Punti Zero)

A simplified version often used to introduce children to the game, in which point values are ignored entirely and victory is decided simply by who wins the most tricks. The card ranking order and trump rules remain exactly the same, making it a gentle stepping stone to the full scoring game.

Briscola: frequently asked questions