JULEPE
Welcome to the world of Julepe, a thrilling trick-taking game that shares similarities with Bourre and is popular in Spanish-speaking countries! In this game, my friend, we place our bets and vie to collect the most tricks, hoping to emerge victorious and claim the coveted pot of chips. But remember, you must win at least two tricks to stay in the game, otherwise, you’ll have to pay an extra amount equal to the pot. Brace yourself, for Julepe is an exciting game of chance, reminiscent of casino-style games, though we recommend playing purely for enjoyment.
THE CARDS & THE DEAL
Hey there! Let’s talk about Julepe, a fun card game that you can play with a special deck. Usually, we use a 40-card Spanish deck, but don’t worry if you don’t have one. You can simply modify a regular 52-card deck by removing all the 8s, 9s, and 10s to create the 40-card deck you need for the game. The ranking of the cards is pretty straightforward: 2s are the lowest, followed by Kings. However, in Spanish and Italian games, the 3 often becomes the second highest ranked card, which is pretty interesting!
Now, let’s get into how the game is played. Before we start, everyone playing the game receives a set number of chips, and we all agree on an ante, which is a certain amount of chips that each player needs to contribute to the pot for each hand. It’s like a little entry fee to join the excitement!
When we play this game, the dealer shuffles the deck, and then each of us gets five cards. After that, the dealer turns over a card to determine the trump suit for the round. We take turns deciding whether we want to play or pass. If we choose to play, we have to pay a fee called an ante. We can also swap out some of our cards for new ones from the deck. But if we pass, we have to give up our hand and wait until the round is over. The dealer always has to play.
If we decide to discard some of our cards, the dealer can collect them and use them to add new cards to the deck if they need to.
When you decide to play a round of this game, you have to commit to capturing at least 2 tricks. Failing to do so means you’ll have to pay an additional fee to the winner. Here’s an interesting twist: the dealer can choose to exchange the turn-up card with a card from their hand. But here’s the catch – they have to do it blindly, without looking at the cards in their hand. The card they pick will replace the turn-up card, and the chosen card will be discarded. However, if the dealer goes for this move, they have to up the ante and capture at least 3 tricks. If they fail to do so, they’ll have to pay even more to the winner of the round.
TIME TO PLAY
When it’s my turn to play, I get to start the game by laying down any card I want. Then, the other players have to follow my lead and play a card from the same suit if they can. But if they don’t have a card from the same suit, they can play a trump card instead. The player with the highest card from the lead suit or the highest trump card wins the trick. It’s like a little battle to see who can play the best card.
After we’ve played all five tricks, it’s time to figure out who won the round and who has to pay up. We collect all the cards and count up how many tricks we each won. The player who won the most tricks gets the biggest payment, and the others have to pay them. Then, the dealer passes the card-shuffling duties to the next person, and we start all over again.
PAYMENTS
In this game, the player who collects the most tricks (with a minimum of 2) is the winner. If you don’t manage to capture at least two tricks, you’ll have to pay an extra amount equal to the total pot to the winning player. If two players tie for the most tricks, the pot and payments will be split between them. And if no player collects at least 2 tricks, everyone must make a penalty payment equal to the value of the pot for the next round.
HOW TO WIN
To win the game, you need to have the most chips or be the last player remaining with chips.
To win the game, you need to have the most chips or be the last player remaining with chips.