Welcome to the world of Guinote!

Let me tell you all about this exciting card game that’s played by four players in teams of two. It’s a spin-off of Tute, a popular game played in many regions of Spain. While it’s usually played with a 40-card Spanish deck, we’ll use a standard 52-card deck for our description.

The Cards and the Deal

We’ll start with a standard 52-card deck, but we’ll remove all the 8s, 9s, and 10s. This leaves us with a 40-card deck to play with. In this deck, the cards are ranked from 2 (low) to 7, followed by the Jack, Queen, King, 3, and Ace. It’s important to note that the 3 becomes the second highest-ranking card in our game.

When playing the card game Guinote, it’s important to set up the partnerships correctly. You and your partner should sit across from each other at the table. To start the game, shuffle the deck and deal 6 cards to each player. The remaining cards are placed face down to create the stock. Flip over the top card and put it face up under the stock so everyone can see it. This card, known as the Pinta, determines the trump suit for the round. During the game, players will draw cards from the stock after each trick. The Pinta will be the last card drawn.

THE PLAY

Guinote is played in two phases. The first phase is called “trick and draw”. In this phase, players are not required to follow suit when playing their cards. The second phase, known as “no draw”, begins once the stock is empty. During this phase, there are stricter rules for playing tricks.

PHASE 1 – TRICK AND DRAW

When we start playing the game, it’s important to know that the player sitting on the left of the dealer goes first. You can choose any card you want from your hand, and the same goes for the other players as the game continues. You don’t have to follow the suit that was led. The trick is won by playing the highest card in the led suit or the highest-ranking trump suited card.

The player who wins the trick gets to draw the top card from the stock. Then, going in a leftward direction around the table, each player draws a card as well. The player who won the trick then leads the next trick.

While the game is in progress, the leading team can declare marriages. A marriage is formed by having a King and Queen in the same suit. Each player on the team can only declare one marriage at a time. If a player has more than one marriage in their hand, they must win another trick before declaring it. Teammates declare marriages before leading the trick.

PHASE 2 – NO DRAW

After the fourth trick is played, the player who drew the last card will grab the Pinta and put it in their hand. Now, the rules for playing tricks change. When it’s your turn to start a trick, the other players have to beat your card if they can. If they don’t have a higher card in the same suit, they must play a trump card. And if they can’t do either, they can play any card they want. You don’t have to beat your partner’s card if it’s already winning the trick, only if it’s an opponent’s card. But you should try to follow the suit of the card that was led, if you can. If you can’t, you can play any card you want.

The trick is won by the card that’s the highest in the suit that was led, or if there’s a trump card, the highest trump card. The player who wins the trick gets to start the next one.

Let me tell you a story about a card game called Pinta. Imagine I’m Theo, and I start off the game by playing the 6 of Hearts. Alice, who sits to my left, has to beat my card if she can. She decides to play a Jack of Hearts. Now it’s Janet’s turn, my partner in the game. She doesn’t have any Hearts, so she has to play a Spade card that matches the trump suit. She trumps the trick with a 5 of Spades. Now it’s Filbert’s turn, and he has a Heart that he must play. He chooses to play the Queen of Hearts. Janet wins the trick with her trump-suited 5 of Spades and leads the next trick.

PINTA EXCHANGE

Let me tell you about a special move called the Pinta Exchange. When the player holding the trump-suited 7 card has the lead, they can exchange that card with the Pinta before starting the trick.

We keep playing until all of the cards have been played.

SCORING

In Pinta, you earn points for certain cards you collect, any declarations you make, and for winning the last trick.

When it comes to playing the card game Trump, there are specific rules that determine how points are earned. These rules can determine the outcome of the game and who the winner is.

If I have a marriage of trump cards, my partner and I earn 40 points. However, if the marriage is composed of non-trump cards, we only earn 20 points each.

There is an additional way to earn points in Trump—by capturing the last trick. If my partner and I manage to do this, we earn 10 extra points.

Each card in the deck has a value assigned to it, and these values determine the points earned:

– Aces are worth 11 points each.

– 3s are worth 10 points each.

– Kings are worth 4 points each.

– Queens are worth 3 points each.

– Jacks are worth 2 points each.

WINNING

The ultimate goal of the game is to be the first team to reach 101 points or more. A team can declare that they have reached 101 points, which will immediately end the game. It’s important to keep track of the score correctly, as if the declaring team made a mistake, the game still ends, but the opposite team wins. If neither team has reached 101 points by the end of the game, a second round is played. The second round doesn’t have to be completed and can end as soon as a team believes they have reached a total of 101 points, by adding the points earned in the second round to their score.