Trucker Rules

The Deck

A Spanish deck of 40 cards, 4 suits: Espada (swords), Basto (clubs), Copa (cups), Oro (coins). Ranks go 1 through 12 (no 8s or 9s).

Goal of the Game

A match is a series of hands. Each hand, players compete for chip pots playing tricks. The match ends when one player has all the chips.

Blinds (same as poker)

Before each hand, two players post forced bets:

• Small Blind (SB) posts sb chips to the main pot
• Big Blind (BB) posts bb to the main pot and another bb to the envido pot

Each game defines there own sb, bb quantities. Usually: bb = 2 * sb

The SB player is the first player to the right of the dealer (aka. "Mano"), BB is the next player to their right. In heads-up (2 players), the dealer is the SB.

Pre-flop Betting

After blinds are posted and cards are dealt, there's a betting round before any card is played. The player after the BB acts first. Players can call (match the bet), raise (increase it), check (if you owe nothing), or fold (quit the hand).

To play, a player must at least bet the bb. SB player must also match the full Blind. If the round reaches the BB flat (no raise, players simply called the Blind) BB is allowed to raise the bet, or check.

Card Hierarchy (Winning Tricks)

Cards have a specific power ranking. From highest to lowest:

Trick-Taking

Players play 3 tricks of 1 card each. The highest card wins each trick. Win 2 tricks and you win the hand. If 3 different players win each trick, the pot is split between the 3 winners.

Trick 1 is led by the SB. Subsequent tricks are led by the previous trick's winner (or SB if parda).

If a player folds, all their cards are turned face-down and worth nothing: tricks they won no longer count; the next best card becomes the trick winner.

Before playing a card, players can raise the truco bet instead.

Pardas (tie)

• If trick 1 is a tie, trick 2's winner wins the hand
• Tie in any other trick is won by winner of trick 1
• If all 3 tricks tie, remaining players split the pot

Envido: The Side Bet

Before or during the first trick, players can bet on the envido, a side contest based on your 3 cards' suits.

Envido is optional. You can fold envido and still play truco (and vice-versa).

Scoring:

• 2+ cards of same suit = 20 + sum of the two highest same-suit ranks (face cards = 0)
• All different suits = highest single card rank (face cards = 0)
• Flor: all 3 cards same suit, beats any normal envido. If multiple Flores, the Flor with highest score wins (same scoring as envido)

Scores are announced starting from the SB. You announce your score only if it beats the current highest, or say "I'm beat" otherwise. Ties go to the player closest to SB (anticlockwise). To claim the pot, the winner must show their cards at the end of the hand.