French Tarot is a trick-taking card game great for four players.
The bid winner will take on the other three players to win tricks and score points.
Find the video tutorial and written explanation for how to play French Tarot below. Be sure to keep the French Tarot quick guide close while playing for a quick reference to help you learn as you play.
French Tarot Tutorial
Needed
Jeu de Tarot card deck (78 cards); four players; pen and paper for scorekeeping
Deal
Each player is dealt 18 cards, three cards at a time. Six cards are also dealt to the middle while dealing the players’ hands.
Objective
The object of the game is to score points. Points are scored by a successful bid winner based on the cards won in tricks throughout the round. Additional bonus points (explained below) can also be scored.
Card Rank
Highest to lowest
Trump: 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Suits: King (R), Queen (D), Knight (C), Jack (V), 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Honor Cards
21 Trump
1 Trump
Fool
Bidding
Each player will have a chance to bid on becoming the taker for the round or can pass on bidding. During the round, the taker will play alone against the other three players.
There are four possible bids. From lowest to highest bid is a small, a guard, a guard without, and a guard against. Depending on the bid, a taker’s score will be multiplied by a factor during the scoring phase.
The bid winner will get to use the six cards in the middle with a small or guard bid. The six cards in the middle are flipped up for every player to see. The taker will take the six cards into his/her hand, and will choose six cards to set aside. The set aside cards will count towards the taker’s card points at the end of the round.
With a guard without bid, the taker doesn’t get to see the middle cards but gets the points from the middle cards at the end of the round.
With a guard against bid, the middle cards are not seen, and the points from the middle cards are given to the three opponents at the end of the round.
Game Play
The player right of the dealer will lead the first trick. A player must play a card in the same suit as the card that was lead whenever possible. When a player cannot follow suit, the player must play a trump card if possible.
There is one exception. The fool card can be played at any time instead of following suit, or playing trump.
The player who played the highest ranking trump card wins the trick. If no trump card was played, the winner of the trick is the player with the highest ranking card in the lead suit.
The player that wins the trick will lead the next trick. Play continues until all cards have been played.
Scoring
At the end of a round, the taker will add up the card points won during the round.
Honors/Kings 4.5 points
Queens 3.5 points
Knights 2.5 points
Jacks 1.5 points
All Others 0.5 points
The amount of card points needed for the taker to be successful depends on the amount of honor cards won by the taker.
Zero Honor Cards: 56 card points needed
One Honor Card: 51 card points needed
Two Honor Cards: 41 card points needed
Three Honor Cards: 36 card points needed
Bid Multipliers
Small = 1x
Guard = 2x
Guard without = 4x
Guard against = 6x
Bonuses
Petit: If the last trick of the round is won by the taker with the 1 trump, it is a ten point bonus.
Handful: Ten or more trump cards in the taker's hand. The fool card can be used as a trump card in a handful. The trump cards are shown to all opponents before playing to the first trick when declaring a handful.
10 trumps = 20 point bonus
13 trumps = 30 point bonus
15 trumps = 40 point bonus
Slam: If the taker is able to win all the tricks, it is known as a slam. If the taker declares slam before the first trick is played, the bonus is 400 points. If the taker wins all the tricks without declaring a slam, the bonus is 200 points.
Score Formula
S = (25 + Pt + Pb) x Bm + Hb + Sb
S = Score
25 = Base points
Pt = Points away from target score
Pb = Petit bonus
Bm = Bid multiplier
Hb = Handful bonus
Sb = Slam bonus
The score amount is won by the taker from all three opponents. For example, if the score won is 64 points by the taker, the opponents all score -64. The taker scores 192 points.
If a taker is unsuccessful in making the card points needed, the score is calculated and paid by the taker to each opponent.
Throughout the game, all scores added together should always equal zero.
The player with the most points after an agreed upon amount of rounds, such as 15, wins the game.
Rules
The Fool:
The fool card can be played on any trick at any time, even if the player can follow suit. The fool is kept by the player of the card, no matter which player wins the trick. By taking the fool out of the trick, the trick is one card short and must be replaced. The player that retained the fool must replace it with a half point card from their score pile.
There is an exception with the fool if it is played to the last trick. The fool will win the trick if the player has won all other tricks during the round. If not, the fool transfers to the opposing team regardless of who wins the trick.
The fool can be considered a trump card when declaring a handful.
If the fool is led, the next player can play any suited card. The suit of this card becomes the lead suit.
A player must follow the lead suit by playing a card in the same suit that was led whenever possible. If a player cannot follow the lead suit, the player must play a trump card. If a trump card has been played, a player must play a higher trump suited card is possible. If a player cannot follow suit or play a trump card, any card can be played.
If all players pass on bidding, the cards are collected and re-dealt.
When setting aside cards, the taker cannot set aside kings.
If a player announces a slam but does not win all the tricks, the player loses 200 points.