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Troccas

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Death

Troccas is a member of the Tarot family of card games. It is played in the Romansh speaking part of the canton Grisons of Switzerland. It is not known exactly how this game entered Switzerland but it is generally thought to have arrived from Italy during the 17th century.

Troccas decks are sometimes called "1JJ" or "Jupiter and Juno" decks because they substitute Jupiter and Juno for the Pope and Papess of the Tarot of Marseilles.[1][2] The deck's captions are usually in French, but a version with English captions has been published.

The Cards

A full French pack of cards is used (that is, 56 minor cards and 21 major or trump cards, plus the Fool). Cards use traditional ranking, where red (or round) suits rank in reverse: K, Q, C, V, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Locally, the cards used are French but with "Italian" suits (swords, sticks, cups, and coins) rather than the more common French suits.

The cards are referred to in play by their Romansh (Rhæto-Romanic) names, but bear legends in French. The names of the trump cards are as follows:

Number French/English Name Rhæto-Romanic Name English Translation
I Le Bateleur/The Magician il bagat the pagat
II Junon/Juno la gaglina, la biua the chicken, the chicken (baby-talk)
III L'Impératrice/The Empress l'imperatura the empress
IIII L'Empéreur/The Emperor igl imperatur the emperor
V Jupiter il da Cuoz, il Diu fauls the man from Cuoz (a suburb of Disentis), the false God
VI Les Amoureux/The Lovers ils inamurai the lovers
VII Le Chariot/The Chariot il carr, la Catrina en crotscha the carriage, Catherine's chariot
VIII La Justice/Justice la giustia, la stadera Justice, the scales
VIIII L'Ermite/The Hermit il pader the monk
X La Roue de Fortune/The Wheel of Fortune la roda dalla fortuna, la ventira the wheel of Fortune, fortune
XI La Force/Strength la forza strength
XII Le Pendu/The Hanged Man il pendiu the hanged man
XIII La Mort/Death la mort death
XIIII Tempérance/Temperance la tempronza, igl aunghel Temperance, the angel
XV Le Diable/The Devil il giavel, il da cornas, il naucli, il bab dallas femnas the devil, the one with the horns, the Evil One, the Father of Women
XVI La Maison de Dieu/The House of God (The Tower) la casa da Diu, il tiaratriembel, il cametg, la Cadi, la claustra barschada the house of God, the earthquake, lightning, the Church, the burning monastery
XVII L'Étoile/The Star las steilas the stars
XVIII La Lune/The Moon la glina the moon
XVIIII Le Soleil/The Sun il sulegl the sun
XX Le Jugement/Judgement la dertgira, ils bluts, la giuventetgna (divine) Judgement, the naked ones, youth
XXI Le Monde/The World il mund, la vaca, la biala, il min, il miau, la ferma the world, the cow, beauty, the cat (baby-talk), the cat, beauty


Card Points

At end of play, cards are counted in groups of four, subtracting three points for each group. Dealer (in Romansh, scartist) will have two odd cards, counting for combined value, minus one point. The full deck totals 72 points, and cards are worth the following: kings and honours (1 and 21 of trump, and the excuse) five, queens four, cavaliers three, jacks two, everything else one.

The Deal

Prior to play, each player cuts for trump. The two highest and the two lowest form partnerships.

Each player is given nineteen cards; Dealer takes the last two, giving him a hand of twenty-two cards. The last card dealt to each player is traditionally turned up. Usually, the cards are dealt in packets of six, six, and seven, with dealer taking the last nine.

A team that is losing by at least nine points may request that the deal be in packets of nine and ten, with dealer taking twelve; a team losing by at least eighteen points may request that the deal be in a single packet each (nineteen cards and twenty-one for the dealer).

Play

Dealer discards two cards, which may not include Kings or Honours (the I or XXI of trump, as well as the excuse [il narr]). Other trumps may be discarded, though this is inadvisable. A good strategy is to eliminate a suit in which one is short, to allow trumping when this suit comes up in play; if this is impossible, it is advisable to discard the lowest two cards of a suit in which one is long.

Dealer leads the first trick with any card; each player in turn, moving to the right, must follow suit. If this is impossible, they must trump, and if this is impossible as well, they can play any card but can not win. The winner of the trick leads the next one.

The Excuse beats nothing "but a drum" (generally the figure depicted on the Excuse is that of a musician). It also, however, can not be beaten. If the side that wins the trick did not play the Excuse, they must return it to their opponents, in exchange for a one-point card.

Scoring

Players win or lose game points equal to the card points over or below thirty-six; in practice, each point generally corresponds to a small stake.

References

  1. ^ Dummett, Michael (1980). The Game of Tarot. Duckworth. p. 218. ISBN 0 7156 1014 7.
  2. ^ Tarotpedia. "Tarot Decks: Besancon Pattern". Retrieved 12 May 2013.
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