4 players · You against 3 AI · Single deal

Bid to become declarer and face three defenders. Capture card points and the three key bouts to make your contract.

1. 1

   Objective

   • The three bouts are Le Bateleur (trump I, the Petit), Le Monde (trump XXI) and Le Mat (the Fool, following the Excuse rules). The taker’s target depends on the number of bouts ultimately captured, not the number originally dealt.
   • The declarer needs 56 card points with 0 bouts, 51 with 1, 41 with 2, or 36 with all 3. Reaching or exceeding the applicable target wins the contract.
2. 2

   Setup

   • Use all 78 Marseille cards: 14 each in Cups, Swords, Batons and Coins, trumps I–XXI and Le Mat (the Fool). Deal 18 to each player and six to the chien. The player to the dealer’s right starts, and play proceeds anticlockwise.
   • Each seat bids once, passing or choosing a contract above the current bid: Prise ×1, Garde ×2, Garde sans ×4, Garde contre ×6. The highest bidder becomes taker. The other three defend together.
   • If everyone passes, cancel the deal. Also cancel for Petit sec: a player holds Petit as their only trump and has no Excuse.
3. 3

   Chien and discards

   • Prise/Garde: reveal the chien, let the taker take it, then discard six. Kings and bouts cannot be discarded. Use ordinary cards first. Only when fewer than six are available must non-bout trumps fill the shortfall. Discarded trumps are public, and discards count for the taker.
   • Garde sans: do not reveal or take the chien. At settlement it counts for the taker. Garde contre: keep it hidden too, but award it to the defenders at settlement.
4. 4

   Declarations before your first card

   • Poignée (handful) is optional. Show 10/13/15 trumps for a bonus of 20/30/40. Excuse may fill a one-card shortfall only when every trump is shown. The table offers sorted subsets at all available levels.
   • Exception: a taker holding four Kings and a total of 15 trumps across the hand and forced public discards may include those discards in the triple handful.
   • Only the taker may announce Chelem before play. An announced slam scores +400 for winning all 18 tricks or −200 on failure. An unannounced slam scores +200 for the team taking every trick.
5. 5

   Playing a turn

   • Each player plays one card to a trick. Follow the led suit if possible. Otherwise play a trump. If you have neither, play any card. Excuse may always be played.
   • When required to play a trump, overtrump the highest trump in the trick if possible, even a defender partner’s. Only if you cannot may you play a lower trump. This also applies when trumps are led.
   • The highest trump wins. Otherwise the highest card of the led suit wins. Ordinary ranks, highest first: Roi > Reine > Cavalier (Knight) > Valet > 10 > … > 2 > As. Trumps compare by number. The winner leads next.
   • Normally the player to the dealer’s right leads the first trick. If the taker announces Chelem (slam), the taker leads instead.
6. 6

   Handling Excuse

   • Excuse normally does not win. If led, the next non-Excuse card sets the suit. Before the last trick, it stays with its original team. If the other team wins the trick, the table automatically compensates them 0.5 points without exchanging a card.
   • On the last trick, Excuse normally goes to the opposing team. Exception: if its team won the previous 17 tricks and leads Excuse on the last trick, it wins to complete a slam and stays with that team.
7. 7

   Card points and bonuses

   • Card points: bouts and Kings = 4.5. Queens = 3.5. Knights = 2.5. Jacks = 1.5. Others = 0.5. The deck totals 91. Card points determine whether the taker meets the target. They are not the final settlement.
   • Petit au bout: Petit in the last trick awards 10 × the contract multiplier to that trick’s winning team. If a slam ends with Excuse, use the penultimate trick instead.
   • Poignée bonuses go to the team winning the contract, not necessarily the declaring team. Neither Poignée nor Chelem bonuses are multiplied by the contract.
8. 8

   Scoring and ending

   • After 18 tricks, count the taker’s card points, including any chien or discards awarded to the taker and Excuse adjustments. Captured bouts determine the target.
   • First calculate the basic contract settlement: (25 + the absolute difference between the declarer’s card points and the target) × the contract multiplier. If the contract succeeds, each defender pays the declarer. If it fails, the declarer pays each defender.
   • Example: Garde has multiplier 2. With 2 bouts the target is 41, and the declarer takes 45 card points. With no extra bonuses, each defender pays (25 + 4) × 2 = 58 points, and the declarer receives 174 in total.
   • Finally add or subtract the Petit, Poignée and Chelem bonuses according to which side earns them. These can change the final settlement.
   • All three defenders have the same final gain or loss. The taker’s is three times each defender’s with the opposite sign, making the four scores sum to zero.