If no Italian cards are available, it is also possible to play with a standard international 52 card pack from which all the 10s, 9s and 8s have been removed. Players in North America can obtain Italian cards of various regional patterns from TaroBear's Lair. In some north-eastern regions of Italy Scopa is played with a French-suited pack with suits of diamonds ( quadri), hearts ( cuori), clubs ( fiore) and spades ( picche) and the cards in each suit are King ( Re), Queen ( Regina or Donna), Jack ( Fante), 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace ( Asso).įor the purposes of capturing, the cards have values as follows: King In parts of Italy where Latin-suited cards are used, the suits are coins ( denari), cups ( coppe), swords ( spade) and batons or clubs ( bastoni) and the cards in each suit are King ( Re), Horse ( Cavallo), Jack ( Fante), 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace ( Asso).

If there are more than two player's the deal and play are counter-clockwise.Ī 40-card pack is used. The game can also be played by 4 or 6 people divided into two equal teams with each player sitting between two opponents, but with four players it is more interesting to play Scopone. It is possible, though less satisfactory, for three to play, using the same rules and each playing for themselves. The basic game of Scopa described on this page is most often played by two people. Players who prefer a more intellectually demanding game of the same type may prefer Scopone (big Scopa), a game for four players using the same rules of play and scoring, but with all the cards dealt at the start of the game so that players begin with 9 or 10 cards in their hands. Closely related games are also played in nearby countries, such as Escoba in Spain, Chkouba in Algeria and Tunisia, and Scopa in Corsica. My thanks to Salvatore Rossi and others who have sent information about these. There are numerous variants, some of which are described on this page after the explanation of the basic game.

Scopa is played in all parts of Italy, using a 40-card pack of the local pattern. Points are scored for taking the most cards in total, for taking the most cards in the suit of coins (or diamonds), for collecting the best primiera (consisting of one card from each suit, Sevens being the most valuable), for taking the settebello (the Seven of coins or diamonds), and for capturing all the cards on the table leaving it empty, which is known as a scopa (sweep). Players take turns to play a card from their hand to capture cards of equal value from the table.

Along with Briscola and Tressette, Scopa is one of the best known and most widely played traditional Italian card games.

Gioco scopa carte sicilianet