Scopa

SPIELEN

Scopa is a classic two player game using the Italian 40 card deck (or French deck without 8,9 or 10s). The aim is to match in value 1 of your 3 cards to 1 or more of the open table cards. If you cannot make a match you choose 1 of your cards to be added to those in the centre. Points are awarded for a variety of achievements as detailed in the 'Game Instructions'.

Rankings

Please note that players can check their own progress in a game by clicking on their own name in the Lobby. All players start with 1500 points and the more cash games you win the higher your ranking will climb. All players can play with other players but if you improve significantly you may find that our weaker "bot" players, RookieBot and AmateurBot, will stop accepting your challenges. ProBot is happy to play all players. For your guidance we rank people according to their rating as follows, please note that we do not allow players to see other players' ratings.

Game Instructions

Scopa is a game using the Italian 40 card deck. Players start with 3 cards in their hand and an additional 4 cards are dealt face up on the table. The aim is to match in value 1 of your 3 cards to 1 or more of the open table cards. So if you have a king in your hand (worth 10 points for a capture) and the table cards include two 5s, you can click the king to 'capture' the two 5s from the centre. If you cannot make a match you choose 1 of the cards in your hand to be added to those in the centre. Players take it in turn making these captures/table additions until their hand is empty at which point another 3 cards are dealt - and so on until the deck is exhausted. Any player who clears the table card(s) through a capture scores a sweep or 'scopa' worth 1 point. More points are awarded for other achievements as follows:

Scopa - 1 point for each (except on last play when deck is exhausted)

• Most cards captured - 1 point
• Most diamonds captured - 1 point
• 7 of diamonds captured - 1 point
• 'Primera', or highest card from each suit (note the card ranking is different here with 7's counting highest - see cards guide at top right of game screen) - 1 point

The winner is the first to a certain number of points or having most points after a set number of hands are played, depending on the rule type chosen.

Captures

All captures are based on the value of cards.

• A 5 may capture another 5, or an ace may capture another ace
• More cards may be captured at the same time, if their sum is equal to the value of the card played. For example, a 7 may capture a 5 and a 2 or a 10 (king) may capture a 1 (ace) and a 9 (Queen)

The player is generally free to choose which cards to capture, if there are several value combinations available. For example, if on the table there is a 2, 5, 7 and 4 and the player holds a 9 (knight), he may capture either the 5 and 4 or the 7 and 2. However, if on the table there is one card whose value matches the one played, the player is not free to choose: he must take the single matching card. For example, if the table has a 5, 9 and a 4 and you choose to play a 9 in your hand, you must take the table 9, not the 5 and 4.

During the game, a variable number of cards may be on the table at any time, although there will typically be around 3 or 4 face up. Players are not forced to make a capture, if they don't wish to do so but are not permitted to discard a card which can make a capture. If a player who is capturing makes a clean "sweep" of the table, leaving it without cards, he scores a scopa, worth 1 point. See more on scoring below.

Quickstart

Scopa, meaning "sweep ", is one of the most popular Italian games, also played with slightly different rules in Spain, South America, Hungary and North Africa.

Games start with the deal of three hidden cards to each player. Four other cards are then dealt face up from the pile to the centre of the table, ready to be 'captured' by the two players. The starting player is chosen at random and he tries to capture one or more cards on the table. Captured cards are stacked up in front of each player.

To capture cards on the table a player needs to choose one of his own cards that adds up to the same value as one or more cards on the table. So, with a 7 in your hand, you can, for example pick up a 5 and a 2 on the table and add these to your own capture pile.

If a capture cannot be made, one of the player's cards must be discarded and placed face up on the table with the others, thus increasing the choice of cards which the opponent may then capture.

Each player continues in turn until both have no cards left in their hand. At this point, another three cards are dealt to each player and the game continues until all cards have been dealt from the deck. The last player to capture any cards on the table also picks up any remaining cards left face up.

Basic Strategy

The winner is the first person to a set amount of points or the player with the highest points score after a set number of hands have been played (the target scores/hands are agreed before starting a game).

Points are scored as follows:

• 1 point for making a scopa (except on final play when deck is exhausted)
• 1 point for capturing more cards than your opponent (if 20/20 no points awarded)
• 1 point for capturing more diamonds (coins) than your opponent (if 5/5 no points awarded)
• 1 point for capturing the 7 of diamonds, known as the settebello
• 1 point for building the best primera, or special combination of the best cards in each suit (more on this below)

The primera is a sequence of your best four cards from each suit. The player who has the best sequence or combination wins one point. In order to assess which sequence is the best, cards are given a different primera value as follows:

• 7s (the most valuable cards) are worth 21
• 6s (second best) are worth 18
• As (aces) are worth 16
• 5s are worth 15
• 4s are worth 14
• 3s are worth 13
• 2s are worth 12
• 8s, 9s and 10s (i.e. any picture card) are worth 10

Note that these special values are only used to assess which is the best primera, and have no bearing on the other point scoring. 7s are clearly of most value to a primera yet a player can still win the primera point with only one 7 captured (e.g. if you have all the 6's and one 7 and your opponent has three 7s but no cards at all in the fourth suit, your total will be higher). In the event of a draw on primera scoring, no primera point will be awarded to either player.

Scopa Rake

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