The deck
French Tarot is played with 78 cards: four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs), each with 14 cards from Ace through King including the Knight, making 56 suited cards; 21 numbered trumps; and the Excuse, a special card. The three oudlers (also called “honours” or “ends”) are the Petit (trump 1), the 21 and the Excuse. They determine how many points the taker needs.
Dealing and the dog
Cards are dealt in packets, with a small pile kept face down in the centre called the dog. Its size depends on the number of players. What happens to the dog depends on the contract: the taker may pick it up and discard cards, or it may be counted for one side without being viewed.
Bidding and contracts
After looking at their cards, each player passes or bids a contract higher than any previous bid. The player who wins the bidding becomes the taker and plays against the defence. The four contracts, from lowest to highest, are Take (Petite) ×1, Guard ×2, Guard Without the Dog ×4 and Guard Against the Dog ×6.
Playing the tricks
Players must follow the suit led if they can. If they cannot follow suit, they must play a trump when required by the rules; when trumping, they may have to overtrump. The highest trump wins a trick; if no trump is played, the highest card of the suit led wins. The Excuse is special and generally returns to the side that played it rather than winning the trick.
The objective
At the end of the hand, count the points captured by the taker’s side. The target is 56 points with no oudlers, 51 with one, 41 with two and 36 with all three. Meet the target and the contract succeeds; fall short and the taker is down. The scoring page explains the calculation and bonuses.
Open the score calculator How to count points →