PORRAZZO
Hey there! Let me introduce you to Porrazzo, a super fun fishing card game that originally comes from Mexico. It’s a really popular game in the Southwest United States. In Porrazzo, it’s all about the score. The first person to reach sixty-one points becomes the winner. And guess what? You can score points by capturing cards and playing special cards on the table!
SETUP
First things first, we need to set up the game. We have to decide who sits where and who deals the cards. The simplest way to do this is by drawing cards to see who gets the highest one. The person with the highest card gets to choose their seat first, while the one with the lowest card gets the last pick. Easy peasy, right?
When we start the game, the player with the highest card becomes the first dealer. The dealer must shuffle the cards and deal three cards, face down, to each player. And now we’re ready to begin!
How to Play
The game starts with the player on the left of the dealer, and it goes around the group in a clockwise direction. During your turn, you need to play one card facing up in the middle of the table. If there are already cards in the middle, you might have a chance to capture them.
If you can’t capture any cards, don’t worry. Just leave them in the center of the table until you get the opportunity to capture them. There are two ways to capture cards. First, if there’s a card on the table that has the same rank as the card you just played, you can capture both cards.
If you play a card that’s the same as the lowest card in a row, you get to take that row. And if you take all the cards on the table, you get a bonus. If you take them by matching, the bonus is the same as the rank of the card. If you take them by sequence, the bonus is the same as the rank of the last card.
Kings are worth four points, Queens are worth three points, Jacks are worth two points, and all other cards are worth one point. If you can take cards, you have to do it.
Did you know that there are other ways to get bonus points in the game? I learned that if I play a card that can’t be captured, and it’s less than five, and matches the number of cards on the table, I earn a bonus equal to that amount. Pretty cool, right?
Another way to score a bonus is if I play a card that has the same rank as the card played by the previous player. This bonus is called Porrazo, and it’s worth the same as the rank of the card. So, if I play a card with a rank of 7 and the previous player also played a 7, I get a nice bonus!
Now, let me tell you about how the game progresses. After each player has played three times and they have no more cards left in their hand, the dealer will give everyone three more cards. This keeps going until there aren’t enough cards to deal a full hand. Once that happens, the round comes to an end, and we start tallying up the points.
Oh, and before I forget, the cards get shuffled before the next dealer takes over. The dealer changes in a clockwise direction each round. It keeps things fair and exciting!
So here’s the deal. After we finish a hand and tally up the points, the game is over. Whoever reached sixty-one points first, or has the highest score, wins the whole shebang!
GAME OVER!
Once a hand is done, the scores are added up. It’s each player’s job to keep track of their own score. As soon as someone hits sixty-one points, it’s game over and they’re crowned the champ!
After every hand, we add up the points. It’s up to each player to keep track of their own score. As soon as someone reaches a grand total of sixty-one points, that’s it! Game over! And they’re the big winner!