Rules of Truco Paulista/Mineiro
Introduction
Truco is a card game of Arab origin and very popular in Brazil (truco paulista / truco mineiro), Eastern Spain (truc)and a good part of South America (argentinian truco).
Truco paulista and Truco mineiro are played by pairs, although there is the option available for 2 players. Only 40 cards are used of the English deck (removing the eights, nines, tens and jokers).
Truco paulista
The aim of the game is to get 12 points through bets (trucos) that are made throughout the different rounds.
Value of the cards (from the highest to the lowest)
- Manilla of clubs (see definition of “manilla” below)
- Manilla of hearts
- Manilla of spades
- Manilla of diamonds
- 3s
- 2s
- Aces
- Kings (K)
- Jacks (J)
- Queens (Q)
- 7s
- 6s
- 5s
- 4s
How to play Truco paulista
At the beginning of the game, the hand player is decided randomly, that is, the player that starts to play. The player on the left of the current player starts the following round, that is, the game goes on clockwise.
At the beginning of each round, 3 cards are dealt to each player and 1 card is placed face up on the table. This card will define the “manilla” that will be the following card according to the order described before.
For example, if that card is the “7”, the manilla will be the “Q”; or if it is the “3”, the manilla will be the “4”.
Each player will throw a card on their turn. The player with the highest card will win that hand and will discard firstly on the following hand (if there is a tie, the previous player will be repeated.
The first pair that gets two hands, wins the round. If there is a tie on 3 hands in a row, no one scores points.
It is possible to throw the cards faced down to hide your plays except on the first hand.
Truco
Truco is a bet that can be made at any time of the game and it is made by the winner of the round.
The opponent pair must respond with one of the following options:
- Reject. Rejects the truco and the opponent pair wins the round.
- Accept. Accepts the bet that will be decided at the end of the round.
- Truco 6/9/12. Raises the bet and passes the turn to the opponent pair to decide.
| Bet | Points |
|---|---|
| If there is no bet | 1 point for the winner of the round |
| Truco | 3 points |
| Truco 6 | 6 points |
| Truco 9 | 9 points |
| Truco 12 | Wins the game |
Hand of 11 and Iron hand
It is said “hand of 11” when one of the pairs already has 11 points. It is not allowed to call truco in this situation and the pair that has 11 points can see the cards of the partner and decide whether to play the round or not.
- If they do not play the round, the opponents win the round and score 1 point.
- If they accept to play the round and do not win it, the opponents score 3 points.
It is said “iron hand” if both pairs have 11 points. It is not allowed to see the cards of the partner and it is not allowed to call truco. The winners of this round will be the winners of the game.
Truco mineiro
The card rankings are fixed and have the following order:
4 of clubs. 7 of hearts. Ace of spaces. 7 of diamonds.
Therefore, there is no showcard.
How to play Truco mineiro
In Truco mineiro, in the case of a draw in the first hand, each player must throw down 2 cards at a time, one uncovered and the other hidden below. In case of another draw, the hidden cards are shown.
In the hand of 10, the uncovered card must be higher value than the hidden card, otherwise it loses its value.
Scoring in the game
| Bet | Points |
|---|---|
| If there is no bet | 2 stones to the winner fo the round |
| Truco | 4 points |
| Truco 6 | 8 points |
| Truco 9 | Wins the game |
Hand of 10
Truco paulista is different in that it has a hand of 10.
- If they don’t play the round, the rival pair win the round and get 2 stones.
- If the round is played and not won, the rival pair get 4 stones.
Game controls
Click on a card to put it into play.
Why do robots play? What for?
In some games, when a player loses connection during the game, a robot substitutes until the player can return. The player has a time allowed of some minutes to return to the game and continue playing.
End the game amicably (cancel game)
Some games have the option of ending the game amicably. If this happens, the game is cancelled. That is, the players don’t receive or lose points and the game doesn’t count in the leaderboards or statistics. What’s more, the chips bet are returned to each player (except in the case of penalisation for abandoning the game).
To cancel a game, one of the players must click the following button 
. All the players must agree to end the game, otherwise the game will continue.
The robot doesn’t count in the votes to end a game amicably.
Table options
The table options are chosen by the master (the first player to sit at the table and that has a star 
beside his/her avatar).
To see or change the table options, press the following button 
. The table options can be changed before starting a game or in the middle of the games. If the icon is changed to red, that means the master changed some of the options.
- Time per turn
- Used to indicate the time a player has to play on his/her turn. If the time ends, the game plays for him/her. See also: Game in automatic mode
- Compete for points and chips.
- Permits playing competitive games. Deactivate this option to practise (you will not score points or win chips, nor will you get badges or level up).
- Bet per game:
- Indicate the amount of game chips you will bet in the game. The winner takes the pot. See also: What are the game chips? How can I get them?
- Private table.
- If this option is active, only invited players or friends can sit in. See also: How to invite other players to play at your table.
- Spectators allowed.
- Other people can enter the table to watch the game and chat. See also: Watchers during the games
Ranking for points
To take part in the leaderboard of this game, it is necessary to be registered and have chips enough to meet the bets.
To score points, the games have to be competitive (indicated by a boxing glove or swords). There is no scoring if 2 players at the table share the same IP.
If at one table game chips are being bet, you will need to have sufficient chips available to cover the bet. The winner of the game will get the XP points and the chips bet (the bank will receive 25% of the pot).
The scoring is distributed the following way:
- The player that wins the game (individual or in pairs): +20 points.
- The players that lose a game, add 5 points.
- If the game is ended amicably, each player gets back their chips bet.