Welcome to Zecchinetta!

Zecchinetta is a fun banking game that you can play with your friends. The objective of the game is to win bets and collect chips from other players. You can play as a regular player or take on the role of the bank, which moves around the table.

In Zecchinetta, the players get to decide the minimum and maximum bets before the game begins. This way, everyone can set their own limits and play comfortably.

Getting Started

To start the game, we need a dealer. The dealer is chosen randomly, and then the role will pass to the next player on the right for each new hand. The dealer will also decide the range for the bets that can be placed on each card. Once the bets are set, the dealer shuffles the deck of cards and any player can cut the deck. After that, the deck is placed face down in front of the dealer.

Okay, here’s how it goes. First, the banker shows us the top two cards – those will be our player cards. If the cards have the same rank, we shuffle the deck and deal again. But if the cards have different ranks, that’s when it gets interesting. Now we can start placing our bids on the cards.

Once we’ve all placed our bets, the banker reveals the third card – that’s the banker’s card. If the banker’s card matches one of our player cards, guess what? The banker takes all the bets! Talk about a lucky break for them. Then the bank gets passed to the player on the right, and we start a fresh new hand.

However, if the banker’s card is different from our player cards, that’s when we really get into the game. That’s when things get real.

Card Ranking

Here’s the thing – there’s no fancy ranking system for the cards. All that matters is if two cards have the same rank, regardless of their suits. So don’t worry about which suit you get, just look for matching ranks, got it?

GAMEPLAY

So here’s how the game kicks off: I, the banker, will uncover a card from the top of the deck. What happens next depends on what rank that card has. There are four possibilities: it matches one of the players’ cards, it matches my card, it’s a card with a new rank altogether, or it’s a bad card (we’ll dive into that one later).

If the card matches any of the players’ cards, I win all the bets placed on that matching card. We’ll toss that card from the hand, and any other cards with the same rank will become bad cards. We can keep the game going if players still have bets on their cards, but if no bets remain, then the hand is done.

If the card matches my card, I lose, and I have to shell out an even amount to cover all the players’ bets. That puts an end to the hand, right there.

Now, if the card happens to be a new one, it goes on the players’ side, and they have the chance to make additional bets on it.

If I reveal a bad card, I simply discard it and draw a new one.

PASSING THE BANK

After each hand, the bank moves to the person on the right, and the new banker starts the setup process.

END OF GAME

The game continues until we decide to stop. Since it’s a bidding game, players can cash out or join in between hands. To make things fair for everyone, we should all have an equal chance to be the banker, since the banker has an advantage.

Hi, my name is Amber (They/Them) and I’m an Austin-based writer and gaming enthusiast. I consider myself a gaming expert and I have a deep love for dogs, plants, and D&D.

Hi, my name is Amber (They/Them) and I’m an Austin-based writer and gaming enthusiast. I consider myself a gaming expert and I have a deep love for dogs, plants, and D&D.