On this page you will lern how to play the game TAROT. You can scroll throw the document of use the short cuts at the botem of the page.

The game and rules of

Tarot is a game for four people, all of which play individually. It is a trick-taking game like bridge. But the rules are slightly different. Each player receives eighteen cards and the remaining six are left face down on the table and are known as the "Chien". There is a special auction, usually the winner of which exposes the "Chien". They then take the cards in to there hand and discards six cards to start his / her pile of tricks.

The player who is leading the current trick my play any card. The following players must play a card of the suit led, if they hold one. There are however two extra restrictions. A player who has no card of the suit led must play a trump if they have any. The player playing the trump must beet the highest trump so far played in that trick, no mater what. The trick is won by the highest trump or card of that suit led. The winner of that trick leads the next. The card named "The Fool" may be played at any time but it never wins a trick. If it is used to start a trick then the nest card will determine the suit and so the rest of the players must follow. It is normally no possible to lose the "Fool" card. It is kept with his tricks by the person who played it. If however that trick is not won by his / her side, he / her give the opposition a card worth one point in place of the "Fool" card. The should not and must not be played to the last trick - the penalty for doing so is that it is given up to the opposition in exchange for one of their one point cards. If the side that has the "Fool" card takes no tricks, then they still don't lose it, but get a total of four card points, while the opposition gets 87.

The deal.

The dealer is decided my cutting the pack. The lowest is the dealer, trumps being the highest. The player opposite the dealer shuffles and the person to the left of that person cuts and the person oppressor him / her cut again. Then the dealer deals anti-clockwise. The dealer deals one cards to each player and the "Chien" until there is six in the "Chien" then carries on dealing the rest of the cards to the rest of the players. After he has dealt one whole hand he passes anti-clockwise and that player deals one hand and so on. If any players find they have been dealt 1 trump and no other trumps nor the "Fool" they should annual the deal for luck. That is to say the deal is void and is done again leaving the "Chien" be.

The Auction.

All players must ever bid or pass.

There are four available bids in order of impotencies starting with the lowest:-

Prise:
The person how makes this bids gets to swap cards with the "Chien".

Garde:
Same as Prise but it out bids prise and is worth more.

Garde without the "Chien":
The "Chien" goes into that players trick, but does not get to swap cards.

Garde against the "Chien":
The "Chien" goes to the opposition.

Each player gets one bid and the highest wins. If all players pass then all hands are thrown in and the person next to the dealer, anti-clockwise, becomes the new dealer.

If the winer has bid Prise or Garde then the "chien" is exposed and taken in to his / her hand. He / she then discards six cards face down to start there pile of tricks.

Players must never discard Kings or Oudlers (5 point cards). Players are also not allowed to discard trumps unless their hand consists entirely of Kings and Trumps. Any trumps must be discarded face up.

Scoreing.

The cards are counted in pairs. Each pair is worth one less then the total value of the two cards. If you get it right to the two side should add up to 91 card points.

The winner of the auction's objective will deepens on the number of "Oudlers" in their trick.

The values of the cards are as follows:-

The tree "Oudlers" are the 1st, and the 21st trumps (THE MAGICIAN and THE WORLD) and the "Fool".

If the person who won the auction achieves there target number of card points, then he / she gets 25 game points, plus one point for each card point in excess of there target which they achieved. If however they no don't achieve their requirement, thay then loss 25 points, plus one for each card point by which they failed. If he / she chose "Garde" the score is doubled. If he / she chose "Garde" without the "Chien" the score is multiplied by 4. If he / she chose Garde against the "Chien" the score is multiplied by 6.

Payment.

The winner of the auction is give, paid his /her score by each of his Opponents. It is a good idea to score on paper. You takeaway the winner of the auction's score from the total under each of the opponents names, adding three times there score to the winner of the auction's total score. In this way the total of the four scores should always be zero, nothing.

Bonuses to be had.

Along with the normal scoring, each player may claim one of the follow bonuses when playing his first card. The claims are optional.

To make one of the following claims, the correct number of trump cards must bee laid face up on the table for all the other players to see. The "Fool" card may be counted as a trump card for this purpose, but however you are not allowed to use the "Fool" if you are still holding some more trump cards in your hand. You are also not allowed to show 10 trumps if you are holding 13 or 15 trump cards. You may however show 10 if you are holding 11 or 12. None of these bonuses get a multiplication (Say by four for "Garde without the "Chien"). The bonus scores for whichever side wins the hand. It is paid to the winner of the auction by each of the defenders OR by the winner of the auction to each of the defenders. This depends on whether the winner of the auction achieves his /her target of card points, not on which side made the claim.

If the "Petit", 1st trump card (THE MAGICIAN) is played to the last trick, then the side that wins that trick gets a bonus of 10 points. This is then multiplied by 2 for "Garde", 4 for "Garde without..." and 6 for "Garde against…". This is paid independently of who wins the game. So say if the winner of the auction failed to reach there target, but wins the final trick with the "Petit", his / her losses are subsequently reduced by 10, 20, 40 or 60 where appropriate.

Making all the tricks.

If the winner of the auction makes all the tricks the he / she receives an additional bonus of 200 points, from each other player. This bonus is independent of all other scores and bonuses.

The winner of the auction may also announce at the start of the game that they are going to take all the tricks. This is a big gamble. In this case he / she gets to start the first trick, instead of the player to the dealer's right. If winner of the auction is successful in this endeavour he / she gets an additional 400 points. If he / she fails then they loss 200 points. The winner of the auction still scores points for making their original point target.

The winner of the auction may still announce at the start of the game that they are going to take all the tricks if they hold the "Fool" card. In this insternce he / she may play the "Fool" to the last trick, where by the "Fool" wins the trick. He / she also scores a bonus of 10 points for taking the 17th (Penultimate) trick with the "Petit", 1st trump card. If however the winner of the auction loses ANY of the first 17 tricks then normal rules apply and the "Fool" is lost if it is played to the last trick.