How to Play King

Goal

Every player for themselves. A match is ten deals: six where you avoid something, then four festas where tricks score. After ten deals the highest total wins — the scores always add up to zero.

The deal

Play goes clockwise. A full 52-card deck, 13 cards each, ranked as usual: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10 down to 2. The dealer moves one seat every deal, and the player after the dealer leads. Follow suit if you can; otherwise play any card. The highest card of the suit led — or the highest trump — takes the trick. Once the first deal has been played, the seats can no longer be changed.

The six negative deals

Played in this order, with no trumps. Hearts, Queens, Men and the King of Hearts end as soon as the last card that costs points has been taken.

1. No tricks — −20 for every trick you take.
2. No hearts — −20 for every heart. You may not lead a heart while you hold another suit, and on the first trick you may not throw one either.
3. No queens — −50 for every queen.
4. No men — −30 for every king or jack.
5. No King of Hearts — −160. No leading hearts while you hold another suit, and if you cannot follow suit you must play the King of Hearts — except on the first trick, where it may not be played unless you must follow hearts.
6. Not the last two tricks — −90 for each of the last two tricks.

The festas

Deals 7 to 10 are festas, and each belongs to its dealer, the owner. With trumps, every player scores +25 for each trick. In nulos there are no trumps and every player scores 325 − 75 for each trick taken.

The auction

The other three bid for the festa, starting on the owner's left and going round until everyone has passed. An offer is in positive tricks (25 points each) or in nulos tricks (75 each, up to 3). You must beat the highest offer; the player nearer the owner's left may just match it. The owner then accepts, says “too little” (the bidder raises or gives up), or — to an offer of 6 or 7 positive — says “8 or nulos”: offer 8, or the owner plays nulos.

Who plays it

1. Offer accepted: the bidder pays the offer to the owner, then picks the trump — or plays nulos, for a nulos offer — and who leads: themselves or the next player.
2. “8 or nulos” refused: the owner plays nulos and nobody pays.
3. No offer taken: the owner chooses nulos, a trump (and who leads), or “433” — no cards are played: 4 tricks for the owner, 3 for each of the others.

Trumps

In a festa with trumps you must follow suit. If you cannot, you must trump, going above a trump already on the table if you can. If you cannot go above it, you may play any card. When trumps are led, you must go above the highest trump on the table if you can.