PIŞTI
Hey there! Let me tell you about this awesome card game called Pişti. It’s a game you can play with 4 people, and the goal is to be the first team to score 151 points.
So, how do you win? Well, you need to capture cards and score points during the rounds of the game. It’s all about strategy and skill!
SETUP
Alright, let’s get started with the setup. The first dealer is chosen randomly, and then the dealer position will pass to the right at the beginning of each new round. The dealer shuffles the deck of cards and then the player on their left gets to cut the deck.
Now here’s where it gets interesting. When cutting the deck, you have to make sure that the bottom card of the cut portion is not a jack. If it happens to be a jack, you’ll need to recut the deck. That’s just the way it goes!
Alright, here’s how the game goes. First, the dealer will give out four cards in the middle of the table. Each player will also get their own set of four cards. The dealer keeps the rest of the cards for future rounds. Oh, and they also place one card face-up under the deck, slightly off-center so that everyone can see it.
Now, the top card from the four cards in the middle is revealed. This card becomes the play pile. But, if it happens to be a jack, another card is revealed. If all four cards are jacks, we’ll have to redeal.
And as for the remaining cards, they stay hidden and will be added to the score pile of the first team to capture the play pile.
Card Rankings and Values
In this game, the ranking of cards doesn’t matter. What’s important is matching the ranks of the cards. Plus, Jacks have a special power where they can grab a pile of cards without needing to match the top card.
When it comes to scoring, the captured cards have different values. Each Jack that you capture is worth 1 point. Aces are also worth 1 point. The 2 of clubs gives you 2 points, and the 10 of diamonds is worth a nice 3 points.
But that’s not all! There are extra points up for grabs. The team that captures the most cards gets additional points. And there’s something called Piştis, where you get even more points for special captures. More about that later, but just so you know, the team with the most captured cards gets 3 points, and each Pişti is worth a whopping 10 points!
LET’S PLAY!
Once the cards have all been dealt and the play pile is ready, it’s my turn to start the round. I play a card from my hand onto the play pile. It’s important to remember that this game is played counterclockwise, so the player to my right will go next.
If the card I play matches the rank of the top card on the play pile, my team captures the pile. And if I happen to play a jack, my team gets to capture the play pile as well.
However, if the card I play does not match the rank of the top card or is not a jack, it simply becomes the new top card of the play pile.
The team that manages to capture the play pile first also receives the remaining center dealt cards that were not used initially. We can look at these cards before putting them into our score pile, but we can’t show them to the other team.
If you ever capture a play pile with just one card, and it happens to be the same rank as the capturing card (not a jack), you get a Pişti. But if a jack is captured by another jack, then that’s a double Pişti worth 20 points. Keep in mind that the first and last cards played cannot score a Pişti.
Once all players have played their 4 dealt cards, the dealer gives each player a new hand of 4 cards. This continues until all the cards are played.
When the last card is played, any remaining uncaptured cards go to the last team that captured the play pile.
Now, let’s talk about scoring. After the round is over, teams add up their score piles and calculate their scores.
If my team and another team both capture the most cards in a round, neither of us gets the 3 points for winning. The scores are added up after each round to see who is in the lead.
The game ends when one team reaches 151 points. That team is the winner. But if both teams reach 151 points in the same round, the team with the most points wins.
Hi, I’m Amber! I love playing games and I’m really good at them. I also love dogs, plants, and Dungeons & Dragons.
Hi, I’m Amber! I love playing games and I’m really good at them. I also love dogs, plants, and Dungeons & Dragons.