Ronda rules: how to play, step by step

Four suits — oros (coins), copas (cups), espadas (swords) and bastos (clubs) — of ten cards each: 1 (Ace), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and the face cards Sota (10), Cabal or Caballo (11) and Rey (12). There are no 8s or 9s. In Ronda only the value matters: suits play no part at all.

More on the face cards and run order: the Ronda cards.

With four, you form two teams of two; partners sit opposite each other, so the two teams alternate around the table. With two, it is a straight duel. In this guide, “side” means the team in a four-player game and the player in a two-player game.

Each player first receives 4 cards. When every hand is empty, the dealer gives everyone 3 cards, then 3 more: 4 + 3 + 3 = 10 cards per player, 40 in all. The third deal is the last of the round: at many tables the dealer marks it with “Khlassou”, a traditional word meaning “that’s it, all done”.

In 1 vs 1, each player receives 4 cards per deal, five times in a row, until the deck runs out (5 × 4 × 2 = 40). The fifth deal is the last one, the deal that the traditional word “Khlassou” greets around the table.

The round starts with an empty table. Cards played without capturing stay there, including from one deal to the next: the table is never cleared between deals.

If a card of the same value as yours is on the table, you take it together with your card. Suits do not matter: a 5 of coins takes a 5 of clubs. Captured cards go face down in front of your side and count at the end of the round.

You do not only take the matching card: you also take the whole unbroken run that continues upwards from it. The order is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 — the 7 is followed directly by the Sota (10). The run stops at the first gap.

If there is no card of your value on the table, your card stays there for everyone to see. That is where things get interesting: the next player may answer it with the same value…

Your opponent has just played a 7 that captured nothing. You immediately play another 7: that is a B'wahed. Both 7s, plus any run on the table above the 7 (10, 11…), gather into a pile that stays in the middle for now.

If the next player — your opponent — then plays the third 7, that is a B'khemsa, worth 5 points. Their card joins the pile, which still stays in the middle. With four players, it is the first player’s partner who answers, taking the play away from your team.

If the next player plays the fourth 7, that is a B'3echra: 10 points, the strongest play in the game. There are only four cards of each value, so the chain ends there and that player picks up the whole pile at once.

The chain ends as soon as the next player plays a different value. Then only the last player in the chain scores, and they collect the whole pile (the matching cards and their run). Gains do not add up: you score 1 or 5 or 10, never 1 + 5 + 10.

• Chain stopped after the B'wahed: the B'wahed player scores 1 and collects.
• Chain stopped after the B'khemsa: its player scores 5 and collects; the opposing B'wahed earns nothing.
• B'3echra: 10 points and an immediate pick-up.

After every deal, all players declare at the same time. Declaring is optional: you may pass. During the deal, the others only see the type of your declaration (Ronda, Double Ronda or Tringa), not the value of your cards.

A Double Ronda (two pairs) can only be declared on the first deal of the round; on later deals, two pairs count as a single Ronda (the higher one). Four cards of the same value count as two Rondas, i.e. a Double Ronda, and that holds on any deal: with four players only the first deal (4 cards) makes it possible, but in 1 vs 1, where every deal is 4 cards, four of a kind is a Double Ronda on the second deal just as on the fifth.

Declarations are not scored separately: the best declaration takes the value of all the declarations made in that deal. To find the best one:

• A Tringa always beats any Ronda, single or double. Between two Tringas, the higher value wins.
• Between Rondas (single or double), the highest pair wins: a Double Ronda does not automatically beat a Ronda. Face value counts: the Rey (12) is highest, the Ace (1) lowest.
• Exact tie between the two sides’ best declarations: the points of all declarations are split equally, any half point rounded down.

Example: you declare a Ronda of 6s (1 point) and an opponent a Ronda of Reyes (1 point). Their pair is higher, so their side scores 2 points — your declaration helped them. Another: a Double Ronda (6s and 3s) against a Ronda of 7s: the 7 beats the 6, so the Ronda of 7s wins 2 + 1 = 3 points.

When the type alone settles the winner (only one team has a Tringa, for instance), the points are scored right away without revealing the cards. Otherwise the values are revealed and the points scored at the end of the deal, before the next one.

If both partners declare, they do not compete: the better of the two represents the team, and if it wins, the team takes the value of all declarations in that deal.