How to Play Piquet

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

Piquet is a two-player trick-taking and combination card game played with a 32-card deck. It rewards careful counting, sharp memory, and calculated risk far more than luck, making it one of the most intellectually demanding card games in the traditional canon. Players score both before and during play, which creates a layered rhythm unlike most trick-taking games.

The game is well suited to a kitchen table or a quiet evening at home and has long been a favourite among those who enjoy chess-like card play without the overhead of a large group. A full partie of six deals typically runs to around 45 minutes once both players know the rules.

A little history

Piquet is widely documented as one of the oldest surviving two-player card games, with clear written references appearing in French sources from the mid-sixteenth century. Its origins are unclear beyond that, and various national claims have been made over the centuries without conclusive evidence. The game spread across Europe and became particularly fashionable in England during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The standard text codifying modern rules is found in nineteenth-century games references, and the form played today follows that period's conventions closely.

Setting up

1. Remove all cards ranked 2 through 6 from a standard deck, leaving 32 cards: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7 in each suit.
2. Decide who deals first by cutting; the player who cuts the higher card deals. Dealer is known as the younger hand; non-dealer is the elder hand.
3. The dealer shuffles and offers the pack to the elder hand to cut.
4. Deal 12 cards each, one at a time, face down, in batches of two or three as agreed. The remaining 8 cards form the talon and are placed face down in the centre.
5. Separate the talon into a group of 5 (top) and a group of 3 (bottom), both face down. The elder hand exchanges with the top 5; the younger hand with the remaining 3.

How to play

1. EXCHANGING CARDS: The elder hand must discard at least 1 card and may exchange up to 5, drawing replacements from the top of the talon. The elder hand is not obliged to take all 5 but may look at any of the 5 they choose not to take. The younger hand may then exchange up to 3 cards from the remaining talon. If the younger hand does not take all 3, they may look at any untaken cards but need not show them.
2. CARTE BLANCHE: If a player is dealt a hand with no court cards (no Ace, King, Queen, or Jack) before the exchange, they may declare Carte Blanche and score 10 points. The elder hand must declare it before discarding; the younger hand must declare it before the elder hand discards.
3. DECLARATIONS: After exchanging, players declare three classes of combination in strict order: Point, Sequence, and Set. Each class is resolved before moving to the next.
4. POINT: Each player announces the number of cards held in their longest suit. The player holding more cards in one suit scores 1 point per card in that suit. If both players hold the same number of cards in their best suit, they compare pip values (Ace = 11, court cards = 10, others at face value); higher pip total wins the point. If still equal, neither scores.
5. SEQUENCE: Players declare their longest sequence of consecutive cards in one suit. A sequence of 3 (tierce) scores 3; a sequence of 4 (quart) scores 4; a sequence of 5 (quint) scores 15; a sequence of 6 (sixieme) scores 16; 7 (septieme) scores 17; 8 (huitieme) scores 18. The player with the longer sequence wins, or if equal in length, the one headed by the highest card. The winner scores for all sequences they hold, not only the best.
6. SET (MELD): Players declare groups of three or four cards of the same rank from Ace down to 10 (7s, 8s, and 9s do not count). Three of a kind (trio) scores 3; four of a kind (quatorze) scores 14. The player with the higher-ranked set wins and scores for all sets they hold.
7. SINKING: A player may choose not to declare a combination they hold, for tactical reasons. This is called sinking. An undeclared combination scores nothing and cannot be used to beat an opponent's declaration.
8. PIQUE AND REPIQUE: If a player reaches 30 points from declarations alone, before the opponent scores anything, they score Repique: an additional 60 points are added. If a player reaches 30 points during play before the opponent scores anything in play, they score Pique: an additional 30 points are added.
9. TRICK PLAY: The elder hand leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit if able. There are no trumps. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick. The winner of each trick leads the next.
10. TRICK SCORING: Each trick won during play scores 1 point for the winner. The player who wins the majority of the 12 tricks (7 or more) scores an additional 10 points (known as Cards). If each player wins exactly 6 tricks, the elder hand scores 10.
11. LEADING AND PLAYING: Each time a player leads a card or plays the winning card of a trick, they announce their running score aloud. This running declaration is a core part of the game and allows both players to track the score in real time.
12. SCORING THE HAND: After all 12 tricks, total each player's points for that deal. Record the scores.
13. ROTATION: After each deal, the deal passes to the other player. A full partie consists of six deals, so each player deals three times.

Winning and scoring

The player with the higher total score after six deals wins the partie. If the winner's score is 100 or more and the loser's score is also above zero, the winner scores the difference between the two totals plus 100. If the loser has failed to reach 100 points across the six deals, the result is called a Rubicon: the winner scores the sum of both players' totals plus 100, regardless of the difference. This Rubicon rule means a player can lose heavily even with a reasonable score if they fall short of 100.

The fine points

The declaration sequence must be followed strictly: Point, then Sequence, then Set. A player who declares out of order forfeits any score from the declaration made incorrectly. When a player asks 'good?' about a declaration and the opponent concedes without seeing the cards, the concession stands; the cards need not be shown unless the opponent requests proof before conceding. A player may ask 'how many?' or 'how high?' to establish whether their combination beats the opponent's before committing to a declaration. Once a player has said 'good' or 'not good', that ruling holds for the deal.

During trick play, a player who leads from a sequence or set already scored may announce the running total only for cards actually played; they cannot re-score a combination during play. If a player exposes a card illegally or leads out of turn, the standard remedy is that the opponent may require the offending player to lead or play any suit of the opponent's choosing on the next relevant turn. Arguments about whether elder or younger hand looked at untaken talon cards should be settled before play begins: once trick play starts, disputes about the exchange are not revisited.

How to win more often

• Prioritise building a strong point suit during the exchange. Scoring Point denies your opponent a score and often sets up your sequence declarations as a bonus.
• Count your opponent's likely hand from the cards left in the talon and what they choose to exchange. The number of cards they take tells you a great deal about their suit distribution.
• Do not always exchange the maximum number of cards. Keeping a strong hand intact sometimes beats chasing an uncertain improvement, particularly as the younger hand working from only three talon cards.
• Use sinking deliberately. If you hold a trio that would lose to your opponent's quatorze, declare nothing in Sets rather than confirming their score by answering their declaration.
• Watch the running score during trick play. If you are close to Pique territory, lead aggressively to reach 30 before your opponent scores in play. Equally, if your opponent is near 30, take a trick early to block their Pique even at the cost of tempo.

Variations

Piquet au Cent

An extended format in which play continues until one player reaches 100 points, rather than being fixed at six deals. This version is documented in older references and suits players who want a longer, more cumulative contest. The Rubicon rule does not apply in Piquet au Cent; instead, the first player to reach exactly or beyond 100 points over as many deals as required wins the game outright.

Shortened Partie (Four Deals)

Some players agree a partie of four deals rather than six, with each player dealing twice. This is a common accommodation when time is short. Scoring and Rubicon rules remain identical; only the number of deals changes. The Rubicon threshold is typically kept at 100 to preserve the tension of the ruling.

Piquet Normand

A variant in which ties in Point, Sequence, or Set do not result in neither player scoring; instead, both players score the value of the tied combination. This produces higher scores overall and reduces the advantage of the elder hand slightly. It is mentioned in several nineteenth-century references as a regional variant and is straightforward to adopt by prior agreement.

Piquet for Three (Cadet)

Traditionally, a three-player adaptation exists in which one player sits out each deal in rotation while the other two play a standard hand. The sitting-out player deals but does not score that hand. This workaround is documented but considered an inferior experience to the standard two-player game; it is included here for completeness rather than as a recommendation.

Piquet: frequently asked questions