Touti glossary: the language of the game
By The Atlas Carta teamUpdated on ✓ Rules checked in the app
Every word you'll hear around a Touti table, explained simply, with its French (fr), Spanish (es) and Arabic (ar) equivalents. Each definition matches the Touti rules as they apply in the app.
Play Touti online
The cards
- Spanish deck (40 cards)(fr : jeu espagnol, es : baraja española, ar : الكارطة الإسبانية)
- The Touti deck: four suits of ten cards (Ace, 2 to 7, Sota, Cabal, Rey), with no 8s or 9s.
- Oros (coins)(es : oros, ar : الدهب)
- The suit of gold coins.
- Copas (cups)(es : copas, ar : الكوباص)
- The suit of cups.
- Espadas (swords)(es : espadas, ar : الصبادة)
- The suit of swords.
- Bastos (clubs)(es : bastos, ar : الكحل)
- The suit of clubs (wooden batons).
- Ace(fr : As, es : as, ar : الآس)
- The highest card in each suit; worth 11 points.
- Three (3)(fr : trois, es : tres, ar : الثلاثة)
- The second-highest card in its suit, just below the Ace; worth 10 points and beats the court cards.
- Rey(King, es : rey, ar : الري)
- Court card numbered 12; worth 4 points. With the Cabal of the same suit it forms a Ghna.
- Cabal(Knight, es : caballo, ar : الكابال)
- Court card numbered 11, a rider on horseback; worth 3 points.
- Sota(Jack, es : sota, ar : السوتا)
- Court card numbered 10; worth 2 points.
- Low cards(fr : petites cartes, es : cartas sin puntos, ar : الأوراق الصغيرة)
- The 7, 6, 5, 4 and 2: worth no points, but useful for following suit, trumping and discarding.
- Master card(fr : carte maîtresse, es : carta ganadora, ar : الورقة الأقوى)
- The highest card still in play in its suit: it will win the trick unless someone trumps.
The auction
- Bid(fr : enchère, es : subasta, ar : المزايدة)
- The number of points a team commits to winning in the hand: from 70 to 230, in steps of 10.
- Pass(fr : passer, es : pasar, ar : باص)
- Decline to bid. A player who passes is out of the auction for the whole hand.
- Declarer(bidder, fr : preneur, es : ganador de la subasta, ar : صاحب المزايدة)
- The player who wins the auction; they choose trumps. Their team is the declaring team.
- Defenders(fr : défense, es : defensa, ar : الفريق المدافع)
- The team that did not win the auction; they try to make the contract fail.
- Contract(fr : contrat, es : contrato, ar : العقد)
- The winning bid: the number of points the declaring team must reach.
- AS (signal)(es : AS, ar : لاص)
- Signal to your partner during the auction: "I have an Ace".
- COMPTE (signal)(es : CUENTA, ar : كونت)
- Signal to your partner: "I have a Ghna" (Rey + Cabal of the same suit).
- +10 (signal)(fr : +10, es : +10, ar : +10)
- Signal to your partner: "I can bring you about 10 points".
- PASS (signal)(fr : PASSE, es : PASA, ar : باص)
- Signal to your partner: "I can't help you any more".
- Early announcement(fr : annonce anticipée, es : anuncio anticipado, ar : الإعلان المسبق)
- Announcing AS or COMPTE on your own turn instead of bidding; it counts as a pass.
- Redeal(fr : donne annulée, es : mano anulada, ar : إعادة التوزيع)
- If all four players pass without a bid, the cards are dealt again.
Card play
- Trumps(fr : atout, es : triunfo, ar : الورقة الرابحة)
- The suit chosen by the declarer: any trump card beats the cards of the other suits.
- Trick(fr : pli, es : baza, ar : اللفّة)
- The four cards played in turn; a hand has 10 of them.
- Lead(fr : entamer, es : salir, ar : بدء اللفّة)
- Play the first card of a trick. Whoever wins a trick leads the next one.
- Follow suit(fr : fournir, es : asistir, ar : اتّباع اللون)
- Play a card of the suit led; compulsory if you have one.
- Play higher(head the trick, fr : monter, es : montar, ar : اللعب بأعلى)
- Play a card above the highest card of the suit led; compulsory if possible, unless the trick has already been trumped.
- Trump (verb)(ruff, fr : couper, es : fallar, ar : القطع)
- Play a trump when you can't follow suit; compulsory, even if your partner is winning the trick.
- Overtrump(over-ruff, fr : surcouper, es : contrafallar, ar : القطع بأعلى)
- Trump with a higher trump than the one already played; compulsory if you can.
- Discard(fr : se défausser, es : descartarse, ar : الرمي)
- Play any card, when you have neither the suit led nor trumps.
- Feed points(fr : charger, es : cargar, ar : التعبئة)
- Play cards worth points into a trick your partner is going to win.
- Draw trumps(fr : faire tomber les atouts, es : arrastrar, ar : سحب الأوراق الرابحة)
- Lead trumps to force the opponents to play theirs.
Scoring and the game
- Ghna(compte, es : cante, ar : الغنا)
- Rey and Cabal of the same suit in the hand of a player on the declaring team: +40 in trumps, +20 otherwise; declared after a trick won by their team, within the limit allowed by the bid.
- Ghna cap(fr : plafond du Ghna, es : tope del Ghna, ar : حدود الغنا)
- Limit on Ghna depending on the bid: none at 70, a single +20 at 80, 40 in total at 90, all at 100 and above.
- Last trick(fr : dernier pli, es : diez de últimas, ar : آخر لفّة)
- The 10th trick of the hand; it gives 10 points to the team that wins it.
- Hand(round, deal, fr : manche, es : mano, ar : الجولة)
- One complete deal: auction, choice of trumps, 10 tricks, scoring.
- Contract made(fr : contrat tenu, es : contrato cumplido, ar : العقد المحقَّق)
- The declaring team collects at least its bid: it scores the bid amount.
- Go down(fail, fr : chuter, es : fallar el contrato, ar : العقد الفاشل)
- Fail to reach your bid: the defenders then score the bid amount.
- Conceding the hand(fr : abandon de manche, es : abandono de la mano, ar : التنازل عن الجولة)
- Ending the hand before the 10th trick, decided by the defenders, and only if both defenders agree. The declaring team takes all the remaining cards and the last trick (+10); any Ghna still in hand are credited within the caps.
- Game(fr : partie, es : partida, ar : المباراة)
- A series of hands; the first team to 600 points wins.
Frequently asked questions
What does Ghna mean in Touti?
It's the Rey and Cabal of the same suit in one hand. It gives the declaring team 40 points in trumps and 20 otherwise.
What does "play higher" mean in Touti?
Playing a card above the highest card already played in the suit led. It's compulsory if you can, except when the trick has already been trumped.
Read also
Other games on Atlas
- RondaCapturing card game with a 40-card Spanish deck, for 2 players or 4 in teams of 2; the first side to 33 points wins.
- RummyRummy game with two 52-card decks and jokers: you lay down runs (Suivi, e.g. 7♥ 8♥ 9♥) and sets (Tria, e.g. 9♠ 9♥ 9♦). Simple, Rummy 51 and Rummy 71 modes, 1 vs 1 or 2 vs 2.
- BeloteTrick-taking game with trumps and declarations, for 4 players in 2 teams of 2. Moroccan variant with 32 Spanish cards to 1,000 points, or French variant with 32 French-suited cards to 1,000 points.
Play Touti online
On iOS and Android, play all four games online and invite your friends to a private table.