How to Play Taroky

Taroky is a turn-based point-trick game. The goal of Taroky is to earn as many chips as possible throughout a game. Each game contains several rounds, and usually lasts for an hour of playtime. Within each round, there are three main phases:

• The Setup Phase, where the cards are shuffled and dealt out, Povinnost determined, Prever and money cards are called, Valat, Contra, and Pagat on the End are determined
• The Play Phase, which consists of twelve consecutive tricks
• The Cleanup Phase, where points are counted and chips are paid

During each round, the goal is to earn chips through winning points during each trick. Chips can only be earned through money cards, penalty payouts, and winning the round. The game starts with a player shuffling the cards, the cut, and the deal

In an ordinary game, the deck usually goes to the most senior player at the table. In MachTarok, however, the deck instead defaults to the first player to join the room, called the room host Some players prefer to cut the deck and each choose a card, where the highest valued card decides the first player.

Regardless, the chosen player shuffles the deck and passes the deck clockwise to be cut. In most cases, the deck is then cut and passed back to the original player. However, when the cutting player feels that the deck has not been shuffled properly or, as is usually the case, is on a losing streak, the cutting player may decide from several various other choices. This is called "Knocking the deck" or simply a "knock", since the cutting player knocks on the deck and passes it back without cutting it. The cutting player may then choose from among these options:

• Deal by ones - normally chosen to incur a misdeal penalty, as it is the most difficult way to deal
• Deal by twos
• Deal by threes
• Deal by fours
• Deal by sixes - which is essentially just skipping the cut
• Deal by twelves straight
• Deal by 3, 4, 5
• Deal by twelves choice

No matter the choice, the dealer then takes the top six cards of the deck, in order, and places them in the center of the bord. This is known as the Talon, and will be important later. The dealer then moves counter-clockwise around the board, so that the dealer is the last player to receive cards, dealing either six or the chosen number of cards to each player. No matter the case, each player will end up with twelve cards in hand. In the case of twelves choice, the dealer places the remaining cards in piles of twelve and players choose which pile to receive in the same order they would have been dealt to, with the dealer receiving the last pile.

Once the cards are dealt, Povinnost (which means "Authority") is determined. Povinnost is the lead player of the round, and has several special characteristics which are important later. For the first round in each game, Povinnost is the player who was dealt the II. In the event the II was dealt to the Talon, the player with the III is instead Povinnost, on up until VIII, which is the highest possible. Each round after the first, Povinnost instead rotates counter-clockwise, such that Povinnost will be the dealer for the next round, then will cut the round after.

The first action made each game is declaring Povinnost and Prever. Povinnost will announce "Povinnost, can I go?", "Going 4", or simply "Povinnost" This essentially means "I would like to play with a partner", however Povinnost later may have the chance to play solo Each other player, in turn (counter-clockwise) then may either say "Go ahead" / "Pass" or "Prever" / "I'm going 3" / "I'm playing by myself" Prever, sometimes written prefer or preferanc, meaning "check" "choice" or "preference" is each player choosing to play alone against the other three players The rules after here diverge quite quickly

In the event that a player calls Prever, that player receives the top three cards of the Talon. Prever may then choose to reject these cards and take the bottom three cards from the Talon. Yet again, Prever may reject these cards and return to the top three cards. Two important things happen whenever Prever rejects a set of cards

First, the cards are shown to the other players

Second, the cost of losing for Prever doubles

Upon deciding, Prever then places the three chosen cards into the hand, and the other three cards are given to the opposing team's discard pile.

If, instead, no player wishes to play Prever, Povinnost receives the top four cards of the Talon. The remaining cards are given, counter-clockwise, to the second and third players Either of these players may, before seeing the card, offer it to the fourth player, who can either accept or reject it. If it is rejected again, the original player must draw it. After all the cards are drawn, players discard down to twelve cards

Each player, whether Prever, Povinnost, or other, must discard down to twelve cards before the game begins. The players may not ever discard any cards worth 5 points, including kings. The players may not discard trump cards unless only trump cards and 5 point cards remain. If a player must discard a trump card, that card is then revealed to all other players. A common tactic for discarding is known as "voiding" in a suit, which means discarding all cards of that suit so that a trump can be played later In MachTarok, this is done simply by clicking on a non-gray card during the discard action

After discarding, Povinnost leads the way in calling. If Prever is being played, Povinnost calls point cards first. Otherwise, Povinnost begins by announcing a partner card. Partner cards start at the XIX. If Povinnost has the XIX, either the XIX or the XVIII may be called. If Povinnost has both the XIX and the XVIII, instead the XVII may be called, down to the XV. If Povinnost has all the trumps XIX-XV, Povinnost must call the XIX. If Povinnost has the XIX, XVIII, and XVII, Povinnost may only call the XIX or XVII, not the XVIII. There is a maximum of two choices. When Povinnost calls a card which another player has, that player becomes Povinnost's partner, although that is not revealed yet. Otherwise, when Povinnost has the card which was called, Povinnost plays alone, although there are some important differences between this and playing Prever

After the partner card is determined, money cards (aka point cards) are called. There are eight different types of money cards:

It is also important to note that most of these do not stack. For example, a player cannot call both Bida and Uni. However, Pane and Trul do stack, as well as Rosa-Pane+ and Trul, and Pane / Rosa-Pane / Rosa-Pane+ with Uni / Bida / Tarocky / Taroky. Trul stacks with everything (except uni, bida, and Rosa-Pane because that would be impossible)

Povinnost also has the choice to skip calling Bida or Uni, in order to prevent Fleking. Chips are paid, then a few additional things may be called

First off, Valat (literally "to roll") may be called. A player who calls Valat must win every single trick or otherwise pay 40 chips If, however, that player's team succeeds in winning every trick, they receive 40 chips

Next, Contra ("contrary" or "against") may be called. Who is allowed to call contra is a very complicated process, but here's the gist of it: During a prever game, Prever's opponents may call contra. If they do, Prever may call rhea-contra. If prever does, the opponent's may call supra-contra. Otherwise, Povinnost's opponents may call contra. If they do, Povinnost's team may call rhea-contra. If they do, Povinnost's opponent's may call supra-contra. During a Valat game, the players who are not on Valat's team may call, etc. Each time Contra is called, the payout doubles. This means if contra, rhea-contra, and supra-contra are all called, the payout is 2x2x2 = 8 times what it normally would be

Finally, if Valat was not called (or in some variants even if it was), the Pagat may be called on the End, known as I on the End. Only the player who has the Pagat may call this. What this means is that the Pagat must be held until the last trick, must be played on the last trick, and no other players can play trumps on the last trick, even Pagat's teammate If any of these conditions are not met, Pagat's team pays 4 chips (some rules say as many as 20) to the opposing team. If all the conditions are met, however, Pagat's team receives 4 chips

Finally, down to business. The game starts with Povinnost leading a card. This is true even for Prever games. Povinnost may lead any card, although if Povinnost has a strong hand or someone called Tarocky/Taroky, it is customary to lead a low trump and "look for the partner" Each other player, in counter-clockwise order, must then follow. If a color was lead and a player does not have that color, a trump must be played. If the player has neither that color not a trump, instead any card may be played. After all four cards are played, whoever played the highest card wins the trick. Cards are ranked in this order:

Trump, starting with the Skyz, then going down XXI, then XX, etc.

The lead color's court, starting with the King, then Queen, then Rider, then Jack

Finally, the lead color, in black being 10, then 9, then 8, then 7 or in red being 4, 3, 2, 1 (Some players play where the Ace is higher than the other three)

Any cards which are neither trump nor the lead color cannot win. The winner of the trick then collects the cards by placing them into that player's discard pile Then, the winner leads the next trick, and these same rules are followed until all twelve tricks have been played

After the twelfth trick is collected, each team counts their points based on the point values of each card

• There are a total of 106 points available, so a team must have 54 in order to win.
• If both teams have 53, then Prever's team loses. If there is no Prever, then Povinnost's team loses.
• If one team won all the tricks, then that team has Valat'd and earns 20 chips each. If it was called, then they earn 40 chips each instead
• The difference from 53 is taken (0 in the case of a tie)
• Ten points are added (10 in a tie)
• That total is doubled, or tripled in a game of Prever (20 or 30 in a tie)
• Then, that number is rounded to the nearest 10 (2 or 3 chips in a tie)
• If any number of contras were called, they are applied here, for a maximum of times 8
• Finally, if the Pagat (the I) was played on the last trick, bonuses are applied here.
• If another trump was played with it, Pagat's team loses 2 chips (if called, 4)
• Otherwise, Pagat's team earns 2 chips (if called, 4)
• The losing team then pays the owed chips to the winning team
• In the case of a 3v1, each of the 3 pay to the 1
• In the case of a 1v3, the 1 pays to each of the 3

Congratulations, you just finished reading all the rules to Taroky. Now get going and play a few games!