Discover in this article the rules of the Couillon game, a very famous card game in the Ardennes!

What if we played Couillon ? This very easy card game appeared towards the end of the XNUMXth century. We played there all over Europe, but it is especially in Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia) and in the Ardennes that we are the greatest players! Attention, atmosphere guaranteed!

The game's rules

Before you start playing!
The Couillon is played with 4, in teams of 2 players who compete. The objective of this game is to accumulate as many points as possible through the tricks that each team collects. This game is played with 24 cards. We will only use:

  • the ace
  • the king
  • the valet
  • the 10
  • the 9

These cards correspond to the cards strongest in the game. You can therefore remove all cards less than or equal to 8.

Cards have point values:

  • Ace: 4 points
  • King: 3 points
  • Queen: 2 points
  • Jack: 1 point
  • Other cards: 0 points

The total number of card points in the batch is therefore 40.

If we want to do it like in the old days, to score the points, we will have to use a slate and chalk. You have to draw a vertical line, cut by 5 horizontal lines.

The formation of the teams will be done randomly on the cards. Each player draws a card from the deck. The 2 players with the 2 strongest will form the first team. The players of the same team will place themselves diagonally, each in front of his opponent. The player with the highest card will also be the dealer.

The dealer gives the deck of cards to be dealt to his neighbor on the left. The latter must cut and shuffle the cards. The distribution of cards will be from left to right (clockwise). The dealer gives each player 4 cards, in batches of 2 cards each. He then turns over the 17th card of the deck (i.e. the first card of the remaining stock). The latter will determine the trump (one of the 4 suits).

The cards dealt, place to the game!

The fool is played as a trump card. As soon as the asset is defined, one passes to the announcements. The dealer's left neighbor speaks first. He will have the choice to “play” or “pass”.

Option 1: If he chooses to play!

  1. He chooses the suit of the return as that of the trump, he then becomes the declarer. He starts the game, playing a card of his choice. He will try to have the maximum of points and thus commits his team taking into account the value of his cards. The other players will therefore have to supply the flush as much as possible.
  2. If the color requested is a simple color, the other players must then play a card in this color, and if possible with a card of higher value. Otherwise, they can ruff with the trump. The other players will then have to overcut. If a player has neither the trump suit nor the requested suit, then he can discard any card of his choice without considering winning the trick.
  3. If the requested color is a trump, the other players must also play trump. If they have a stronger trump, then they will have to overcut. If their trump is lower in value, they must still play it. Otherwise, they can put a card of their choice.
    The player who has played the highest card in the requested color or in the trump wins the trick. He then begins the next trick. We will play in the same way until the hand is played, ie 16 cards in all. The players of the same team will then combine the lifts they have both made and the points will be counted.

Option 2: If he chooses to pass!

It will then be up to his neighbor on the left to speak, with the same choice as before. And so on.

If all 4 players pass, the dealer, who is the first to act, turns over a new card (the 18th card from the stock). The color of the latter is proposed in turn to the players. If this card is still not chosen by the players, a new card is turned over and so on.

Once the points are scored, we then proceed to a new deal. The dealer will then be the left neighbor of the next dealer. This turns over a card which will determine the color of the asset. We resume the announcements and we play the tricks.

Point counting

When counting points, only figures are counted. The numbered cards do not intervene.

In each lift performed:

  • Ace: 4 points
  • the King: 3 points
  • The queen: 2 points
  • Jack: 1 point

In total, the cards are worth 40 points.

  1. If declarer's team scores more than 20 points, they erase a line from their scoresheet. The opposing team does nothing.
  2. If the opposing team wins more points, declarer's team adds a loop to one of their lines. This means that this line is now worth two lines (for convenience, you can always add an additional line in the column of the declarer's team). On the other hand, the opposing team removes a row from its column.
  3. If both teams score the same number of points in an innings, the round is cancelled. A circle is then marked with a line. It's called "the chalk in the hole". A replacement turn is then played. The winning team can immediately delete two rows from its column. On the other hand, if declarer's team does not yet win that round, they will mark a loop on two of their lines.

Game over

The team that could erasing all her lines is the winner.

If we play with a prior bet, the winning team wins the kitty.

Source

http://www.jeux-de-cartes.com/jeux-de-cartes/couillon/

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