The French Tarot is a trick-taking strategy game (like Belote) where you need to score points to win the round. These points are obtained in Levées (or tricks), the game includes ( depending on the number of players):

  • 24 Levées (or tricks) at 3 players variant,
  • 18 Levées (or tricks) at 4 players variant,
  • 15 Levées (or tricks) at 5 players variant.

Once all players have their cards in hand, and at the end of the bidding phase, the player who announced the strongest contract receives the Chien (Dog):

  • 6 cards in the 3 and 4-player variants, 
  • 3 cards in the 5-player variant. 

They can take any card from the Chien in their hand and discard any card from their hand except for:

  • Kings
  • Oudlers
  • Trumps

Note: If the player cannot discard anything else, they may discard non-oudler trumps, and must show them to the defense.

Once the discard is made (it's called the Écart), forming the beginning of the attacker's score pile, the game can begin. The cards in the Chien will be added to the points of the attacker or the defense team, depending on the contract.

The 1 card played or Entame is played by the player placed on the right of the dealer.
Everyone plays in turn (counterclockwise) with the dealer being the last to play for this first Levée (trick). From the 2nd Levée (trick), the 1st card is played by the player who allowed his side to win the previous Levée (trick), and so on… until there are no cards left. 

The first player to play can play any card, but subsequent players must follow certain rules:

  • Play a card of the same suit ♠︎♥︎♦︎♣︎, the suit defined by the first card played (if possible),
  • If playing the same suit is not possible, the player must play a trump (if possible),
  • If the player must play a trump, then they must always play a higher trump than the one(s) already on the table (if possible), Note: Trumps are always higher than any suits.
  • If not, any card can be played,
  • While playing a card from the same suit, if the trick has been cut or not, there is no obligation to play a card from the suit higher than the one(s) already on the table.

Important: The Excuse

The Excuse can be played in each Levée (trick), instead of playing a color or cut with a trump. It never wins a Levée, unless it is played during the last trick and the player having placed it announces the Slam. It never changes side, unless it’s played on the last Levée: the defense team then picks up the Excuse in its tricks. Otherwise, after being played, it’s placed back into the scoring pile of the player who played it and they give the side who took the trick an "ordinary" card (0.5 pts) from their scoring pile.

The player with the highest card wins the Levée and speaks first at the next trick.

But there's still the question: Will you make your contract? Let's find out how in our next FAQ: Make your contract!