Touti variants: house rules and the app’s rules

For comparison, here is the base applied to every game in the app. All these rules are detailed on the Touti rules page.

The target score is the easiest house rule to change. A game to 500 is shorter and more nervy; a game to 1000 leaves time to come back from a big deficit. Some people also prefer to play a fixed number of hands and count the points at the end.

Some tables allow an opening bid of 60. It lets you take the contract with an average hand and cuts down the number of deals where everyone passes. On the other hand, contracts become easier to make, and each hand weighs less on the score.

In a simpler version, every Ghna (Rey + Cabal of the same suit) always counts, whatever the bid. Hands at 70 then become much more attractive for the team holding a Ghna in trumps, and the auction loses some of its suspense.

Some players just follow suit, without having to play a higher card. The game becomes more flexible: you can keep your 3 or your Rey for later. But it also becomes harder to bring down the opponents' master cards.

Another way of keeping score is to write down, in each hand, the points each team actually collected, with a penalty for the declaring team if it fails. The score rises more steadily, but the bid matters less.

Around a real table, how much partners may communicate during the auction varies a lot: some forbid any exchange, others let people talk freely. Both extremes change the game deeply.

• Agree before the first deal: target score, minimum bid, Ghna caps, obligation to play higher.
• Keep the points consistent: there are 120 card points, 10 for the last trick and at most 100 points of Ghna, so 230 in total. A maximum bid above that would make no sense.
• Write the scores down: our online score sheet follows the app’s rules and saves you arguments over the maths.
• Change one rule at a time: the best way to see what it really brings.

Want to play by the app’s rules, with no arguments about refereeing? In Atlas Carta, the same rules apply at every table, whether you play against other players, with friends or in a tournament. You can brush up first with the beginner’s guide.