Let Me Tell You About Petrangola (31)

Petrangola is a really cool card game that you can play with a group of 3 to 12 people. It’s best when there are around 6 or 7 players. The objective of the game is to outlast your opponents and be the last player standing.

People usually play Petrangola with some kind of bet involved. If you want, you can even buy back in once during the game. Before starting the game, make sure everyone agrees on how much each bet is.

Getting Ready to Play

To start the game, each player has to pay the agreed-upon bet. The first dealer is chosen randomly and then passes to the right in future rounds. Every player also gets 3 tokens.

The dealer shuffles the deck and lets the player to their left cut it. Then, starting from the player to the left, the dealer deals each player a hand of 3 cards, going counterclockwise. The dealer can’t look at their own hand just yet.

As the game begins, I’ll take a look at the remaining cards in the stockpile. I’ll draw the top 3 cards and keep an eye on them. Now, I have a decision to make. Should I stick with these 3 cards as my hand for the round, or should I go with the unknown cards I was initially dealt?

If I decide not to keep the cards, I’ll flip them over and place them in the center play area. These cards are known as the monte.

On the other hand, if I choose to keep the cards, I’ll flip over my unknown hand and make it the monte. But here’s the catch: choosing this option also counts as a knock, meaning the round will only consist of one round.

Now, let’s talk about card and hand ranking. The highest-ranked card is the Ace, followed by the King, Horse, Jack, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2.

When it comes to hand ranking, the Petrangolone is the highest. Then we have the sequence, the run, and the 3-card as the lowest-ranking hands.

So, here’s the deal. A sequence is when you have three cards in a row that are all the same suit. Pretty straightforward, right? The trick is, the sequence with the highest card wins. Gotta keep that in mind.

Now, let’s talk about runs. A run is when you have three cards that are all the same rank. But hold up! Aces don’t count in this case. They’re a bit special, and we’ll get to that later. So, when it comes to runs, the set with the lowest ranked cards comes out on top. It’s a bit counterintuitive, but hey, that’s how it goes.

Alright, moving on. For a 3-card hand, you gotta add up the values of the cards that are all the same suit. Here’s the lowdown: Aces are worth 11 points, Kings through Jacks get you 10, and the rest of the cards are worth their good ol’ numeric values. The key here is that higher point values mean a higher ranking. So, aim for those big numbers if you wanna be the winner.

GAMEPLAY

When it comes to playing this card game, the first thing you need to know is that the gameplay goes counterclockwise, starting with the player to the right of the dealer. Now, on your turn, you have a few options. You can choose not to exchange any cards from your hand and knock. Alternatively, you can exchange 1 or 2 cards from your hand with cards from the monte. And finally, you have the option to exchange your entire hand for the monte and then knock.

Knocking is a big deal because it signals the end of the game. Once someone knocks, all the remaining players get one more turn to exchange cards from their hand if they want to. In that last turn, they can choose to exchange anywhere from 0 to 3 cards from the monte.

Now let’s talk about scoring.

After a round is over, it’s time to reveal all the hands. The player with the lowest-ranked hand is the loser and has to lose a token. If there are multiple players with the same lowest hand, well, tough luck for all of them because they all lose a token.

When you lose all your tokens in the game, you’re out. But here’s an opportunity: before the next deal starts, you can buy yourself back in. If you do, you’ll get as many tokens as the player with the fewest tokens still in the game.

If you have 3 aces in your hand, congratulations! You’ve got Petrangolone, a special hand that never loses. And guess what? You’ll even get a token for it. And hey, you can earn more than 3 tokens this way.

GAME OVER

The game ends when there’s only one player left. And that player? They’re the winner. Occasionally, in the very last round, all the players except one might get eliminated. In that case, the dealer of that round takes the win.

VARIATIONS

If you’re curious about the different ways you can play, you can find a list of possible variations here.

Petrangola 31 game rules – how to play petrangola 31