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Introduction
This page is about the card game Buraco as played in Brazil. Similar games are played in some other countries, and there are separate pages about:
- the Italian card game Burraco
- the Argentinean tile game Burako
Buraco is a four-player partenrship game related to Canasta, and in some ways similar to Samba, in that the aim is to meld combinations of seven or more cards that can be either sets of equal rank or sequences in a suit. As in several of the newer games of this family each team is dealt an extra hand of cards which is picked up by the first member the team who plays all the cards from their initial hand.
Canasta and Biriba are other name variations for Buraco, a card game that can be played with 2 or 4 participants. Choose the mode that suits you best and knock on! Play online with other people or practice your skills against the A.I. What people are saying about Buraco Jogatina: ★ 'Great app for whomever likes a good card game.'
Buraco originated in South America, probably in the 1940's, and is still widely played there. A similar game Burako is played in Argentina using tiles instead of cards, and since the 1990's a variation Burraco has become extremely popular in Italy.
Several versions of Buraco are played in Brazil, where the game is also known as Canastra, Biriba or Perida. Buraco Aberto (open buraco) will be described first, then the differences in Buraco Fechado (closed buraco), and finally some other variants.
Players and Cards
There are normally 4 players in two fixed partnerships. The deal and play are clockwise. A 108-card pack is used, consisting of two standard 52-card packs with four wild jokers, known as curingão. The twos, known as curinga can be used either as wild cards or as natural twos in sequences. The card values are:
- Each joker: 20 points
- Each two: 10 points
- Each ace: 15 points
- Each K, Q, J, 10, 9 or 8: 10 points
- Each 7, 6, 5, 4 or 3: 5 points.
Deal
The first dealer is chosen by drawing cards and thereafter the turn to deal passes to the left. The player to dealer's right cuts the cards and forms two 11-card piles (mortos) from the cut portion: these are put aside to be taken by the first player of each team who runs out of cards. The dealer deals the cards one at a time from the remainder of the pack: 11 to each player. The remaining 42 cards are stacked face down to form the draw pile (monte). The game begins with the discard pile (lixo or bagaço) empty.
Melds
The aim of the game is to score points by putting down melds. Each team keeps its melds together. Players can add cards to their own team's melds but not to melds put down by their opponents.
A meld consists of a sequence(seguida) of three or more consecutive cards of a suit. For this purpose the cards rank A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A. It is possible to have a 14-card sequence with an ace at each end. A meld can contain at most one wild card (a joker or a two) as a substitute for a missing card. A two of the correct suit can alternatively be used as a natural card, immediately below the three, and it is possible for a sequence to contain a wild two or joker in addition to a natural two.
A sequence that contains a wild card is dirty(suja): a sequence consisting entirely of natural cards is clean(limpa). A sequence of seven or more cards is called a canastra, and the team scores a bonus for this.
In Buraco Aberto there are no sets of equal cards, only sequences.
Play
The first player, to the right of the dealer, takes the top card of the draw pile, looks at it, and decides whether or not to keep it. The options for the first player are:
- Keep the first card; possibly put down one or more melds; discard one card from hand face up to end the first player's turn.
- Discard the first card face up; take a second card from the draw pile; possibly put down one or more melds; discard a second card face up on top of the first to end turn.
Thereafter, the turn to play passes counter-clockwise and each turn consists of:
- Taking either the top card of the face-down draw pile or the whole of the face-up discard pile.
- Optionally putting down melds or adding cards to melds already put down by the player's team.
- Discarding one card face up on the discard pile.
In this open game, the cards of the discard pile are overlapped, so that all their values can be seen.
Note: the special procedure for the first player is almost equivalent to having turned up a card after the deal to start the discard pile and giving the first player a normal turn, choosing between this and drawing an unknown card from the stock pile. The only real difference is that if the first player keeps the first card drawn, the other players do not know what it was.
The first player who gets rid of the last card from his or her hand picks up takes the first morto of 11 cards to use as a new hand. The second morto is taken by the first player of the other team who runs out of cards. Running out of cards is known as a batida and there are two types:
- batida direta (or batida seco) in which all the player's cards are melded. The player picks up the morto and carries on melding, until the turn is ended by discarding from the new hand.
- batida indireta: when a player discards his or her last card to claim a morto, the new 11-card hand cannot be used until the player's next turn.
When a team has taken its morto, either player of that team can end the play with a second batida if the following conditions are fulfilled:
- The player melds all but one card from hand, and discards this last card.
- The team has melded at least one canastra limpa - a clean sequence of seven or more cards without a wild card.
If the draw pile runs out before both the mortos have been taken, then a morto is converted into a new draw pile of 11 cards, and play continues. If the draw pile becomes empty and both mortos have been used, the play ends. The turn of the player who took the last card from the draw pile is completed, and the points are then counted.
Scoring
When the play ends, both teams score as follows:
| cards in melds on the table | plus card value |
| cards in players' hands | minus card value |
| canastra limpa (clean sequence of 7+ cards) | 200 points extra |
| canastra suja (7+ card sequence including wild card) | 100 points extra |
| canastra meia real (clean 13-card sequence) | 500 points extra |
| canastra real (clean 14-card sequence) | 1000 points extra |
| for going out (closing) | 100 points extra |
| if one team has not taken its morto, that team scores | minus 100 points |
If a player takes a morto after discarding (batida indireta), but never plays a turn with it because someone else goes out before the player's next turn, the team is charged the 100 point penalty for the unused morto, rather than adding up the values of the cards in it. Note that if neither team has taken its morto, the 100-point penalty does not apply to either side.
The game is normally played to 3000 points: when a team reaches or passes this total, the team with the higher score wins.
A team whose cumulative score is at least half the target score (at least 1500 when playing to 3000) is said to be vulnerable. The first meld(s) put down by a vulnerable team must have a card value of at least 75 points.
Buraco Fechado
This game is called 'closed buraco' because the cards of the discard pile are stacked so that only the top card is visible. It is usually played with several other differences from the above rules.
- It is possible to meld a set of three or more equal cards, known as a lavadeira or charuto or tripa. At most one wild card can be included in the set. A set of seven or more forms a canastra suja or canastra limpa, depending on whether it contains a wild card, and scores accordingly. It is possible to meld a set of twos, and a canastra of twos scores 1000 points extra instead of 100 or 200.
- The discard pile can only be taken if its top card is immediately used in a meld. This meld can include other cards from the pile, and if the team is vulnerable, meldable cards from the pile can be used towards the 75 points to justify its first meld. If the top card of the discard pile is a wild card (two or joker), the pile can only be taken is the wild card is used as part of a new meld.
- A player can go out if the player's team has taken its morto and made at least one canastra - the canastra does not have to be clean.
Variations
Some play to a target of 2000 or 3500 points rather than 3000.
Some players round all scores up to a multiples of 10 - for example 485 is recorded as 490.
Some play without vulnerability - there is no minimum meld value.
Some play that jokers are worth 50 points each rather than 20.
Some play without jokers, so with 106 cards only. In this version the only wild cards are the twos.
Some score 150 for a dirty canastra and 300 for a clean canastra.
In buraco fechado, some count any clean set of all 8 cards of a rank, such as eight 9's, as a canastra real, worth 1000 points.
In buraco aberto, some allow a set of three of more aces to be melded, but no ranks other than aces.
Some award a bonus of 100 points to the non-dealing team if the player making the cut does so in such a way as to leave exactly 44 cards, so that the dealer has exactly enough cards to deal to the players. However, when playing with this rule, if the cutter leaves the dealer with fewer than 44 cards, the cutter's team is charged a 100-point penalty.
Some play that the person who cuts the deck can look at the bottom card from the upper portion of the cut. If that card is a joker or a 2 (that is, any wild card), they can keep it as a card for their hand. Dealing happens normally, but the person who cut and already has their first card is skipped during the first dealing round.
Other Brazilian Buraco websites
There is a description of Buraco on Portuguese Wikipedia
You can play Buraco on line at
- the Brazilian Megajogos site
- The Brazilian Jogatina site, which offers two versions of Buraco and a related game Tranca.
- The Brazilian Ludopoli site, where you can play buraco aberto and fechado, tranca and other card games.
This page is based on contributions from Alexandros Kouridakis, Tracey Skagias, Ömer Furtun, Marie Kinneary and Thanos Tsakonas.
Introduction
Biriba (Greek: «Μπιρίμπα») is one of the best known card games in Greece, and is also played in Cyprus. It is a member of the rummy family, somewhat similar to Italian Burraco and more distantly related to Canasta. The most usual and probably the optimal form of Biriba is for 4 players playing in two fixed partnerships, but it can be played by any number from 2 to 6 or even more. The four-player partnership game will be described first.
There are numerous variations of Biriba, some well-known and some obscure. Therefore when players meet for the first time it is common for each to be familiar with a different version and a discussion of the rules is needed before play begins. We try to present the most usual rules first, followed by a selection of alternatives that may be encountered.
Players and Cards
A deck of 108 cards is used, consisting of two standard international 52-card packs plus four Jokers.
Four players play in two fixed partnerships, each player sitting opposite their partner. The direction of play is anticlockwise.
Objective and Melds
The aim is to score points by meldingsets of cards of equal rank and runs of consecutive cards in a suit. Cards are melded by laying them face up on the table where they remain until the end of the play. Sets and runs are laid down as columns of cards, with each card except the bottom one partially covered by the one below it. Each team has their own area where they keep their melds. Players can add further cards to their own team's melds, but not to those of their opponents.
- A set consists of at least three cards of the same rank (for example three Nines). Duplicate cards are allowed, so a set can contain as many as 8 natural cards.
- A run consists of at least three cards of the same suit and of consecutive ranks (e.g. 10-J-Q-K). For the purposes of a run, Aces may count either as lower than 2’s (e.g. A-2-3) or above Kings (e.g. J-Q-K-A) but never both at the same time (Q-K-A-2-3 is not a valid run). Each run may only contain one Ace (that is to say, a run cannot have both one Ace below a 2 and another Ace above a King).
Jokers (μπαλαντερ) and Twos are wild cards. They can be used to represent any card needed to complete a set or run. Twos can also be used as natural cards ranking between the Ace and Three of their own suit. For example:
- A-A-Joker is a valid set containing a wild card
- 6-2-8 is a valid run containing a wild card
- A-2-3 is a valid run containing a wild card
- A-2-3 is a valid run without a wild card
A set or run cannot contain more than one wild card. For example:
- 8-2-10-J-Q-Joker-A is not a valid run as it contains two wild cards
- A-Joker-3-Joker-5 is also not valid
- A-2-3-2-5 is a valid run, since the 2 does not function as a wild card in this case.
Once a card has been laid down as part of a run or set, it may not be moved to another run or set, nor may it be returned to the player’s hand. However, wild cards may freely be moved within a run of which they are a part. For example, if a team has a 6-Joker-8-9 run on the table and a member of the team acquires 7, they may insert the 7 into the run and move the Joker to form 6-7-8-9-Joker. If a member of the team later draws a 4, they are allowed to form 4-Joker-6-7-8-9. Twos can also be moved, and in this case a wild Two can become natural or vice versa. For example, the run 3-4-2-6-7, which contains a wild card, can be extended by adding a 5 and moving the 2 to make 2-3-4-5-6-7, which does not contain a wild card. This run can then be further extended to A-2-3-4-5-6-7 (which does not contain a wild card) or to 3-4-5-6-7-2-9 (in which the Two is now wild again).
Note however, that it is not legal to replace a wild card in a run by another wild card, even if the first wild card could thereby be moved to a position where it became natural. For example, in the run 3-4-2-6-7 it would be illegal to replace the 2 by a Joker or the 2, moving the 2 below the 3. The rationale is that although the final result would appear valid, the process for creating it is not valid, because at the moment of replacing the 2 by a different wild card there would be two wild cards involved in the run and this is not permitted.
A run or set consisting of at least 7 cards is called a “biriba” (Greek: «μπιρίμπα», plural: “biribas” / «μπιρίμπες»). “Biribas” score extra points, and are also required for a player to “go out” and end the round. To indicate that a set or run on the table is a “biriba”, its bottom card is usually turned sideways. A “biriba” containing no wild cards is called “clean”, while one containing a wild card is called “unclean” or “dirty”. A “biriba” run of 13 cards, the maximum length, is called a “full biriba”.
Deal
The first dealer can be chosen by any convenient method. The dealer shuffles and the player to dealer's left cuts the deck. The dealer then deals 11 cards to each player, one at a time anticlockwise, starting to dealer's right. The player who cut then prepares two packets of 11 cards from the top of the remaining deck and sets them aside face-down, one on top of the other crosswise. These packets are called the “biribakia” (Greek: «μπιριμπάκια», singular: “biribaki” / «μπιριμπάκι»). The rest of the deck is placed face-down in the middle of the table to form the draw pile.
The top card of the draw pile is flipped face-up next to it to begin the discard pile. The suit of this card is known in Greek as κόζι (kózi) which is normally translated as 'trump' although this is not a trump suit in the normal sense of the word. Biriba is not a trick-taking game and there is no question of cards of this 'kózi' suit beating or capturing cards of other suits. Its significance is only that a biriba in this suit scores more than in the other suits, so 'bonus suit' would perhaps be a better translation.
The turn to deal passes to the right after each hand.
Play
The player to dealer's right plays first and the turn to play passes anticlockwise. Each turn consists of the following three steps, which must take place in the order listed below.
- 1. Draw cards
- The player must either draw one card from the top of the draw pile or pick up the entire discard pile and add it to their hand. Players are allowed to examine the contents of the discard pile whenever they need to during the game.
- 2. Lay down cards
- This is the only optional step of the turn. The player may lay down any number of cards from their hand by placing them face-up on the table to form valid melds (sets or runs) as described above. One member of each team has an area in front of them where the team's melds are kept. A player may add a new meld or melds to their own team's area and/or extend melds that are already there by adding cards to make a larger valid meld.
A player may never take cards from a meld nor move cards from one meld to another. Players are never allowed to add cards to the meld area of the opposing team.
If a player holds the natural card that is represented by a wild card in a run in their own team's area can add the natural card in place of the wild card and move the wild card to one end of the run. - 3. Discard a card
- The final step of every turn is to discard one card from hand and place it face up on top of the discard pile. Note that if a player picked up a single card from the discard pile during the first step of their turn, they may not discard the same card (or an identical card ) during this third step. They may, however, discard a card they drew from the draw pile the first step of the same turn. Discarding a card marks the end of the player’s turn, and the next player to their right begins their turn.
In general, a player must always keep at least two cards in their hand at the end of step 2, one to discard at the third step of their turn and one to continue play. The only exceptions are:
- When the player's team has completed at least one biriba and has not yet taken a biribaki. In that case the player may lay down their last card in a meld during the second step and immediately take a biribaki, or may keep just one card at the end of step 2, discard it as step 3 and then take a biribaki - see below.
- When the player's team has already taken their biribaki, the player may keep just one card at the end of step 2 and discard that card to go out, ending the play - see below.
Taking a biribaki
On the first occasion that a player whose team has formed at least one biriba gets rid of their last card in hand, either by laying it down in a meld (in step 2) or by discarding it (in step 3), the player picks up the top biribaki of 11 cards and this forms the player's new hand.
- If the biribaki was picked up during step 2 the player may continue laying down cards until they end their turn by discarding a card (step 3).
- If the biribaki was picked up because the player discarded their last card in step 3, the player must wait for their next turn when they will be able to lay down cards in step 2 after drawing from the draw pile or taking the discard pile.
After the first biribaki has been taken, the second biribaki belongs to the opposing team. If they have completed at least one biriba, a player of that team may get rid of the last card of their hand, either by laying it down in step 2 or discarding it in step 3, and take the second biribaki as above.
Play continues normally after a biribaki has been picked up.
End of the play
There are two ways that the play can end.
- Most of the time, the play ends when a player “goes out”. This happens when a player whose team has picked up their biribaki discards their last card from their hand to end their turn. Note that such a player is not allowed to lay down their last card in a meld in step 2 of their turn. They must keep a card to discard at the end of each turn. When a player goes out, the play immediately ends.
- Rarely, the play may end before any player goes out. If the draw pile becomes empty, play continues as long as each player in turn wishes to pick up the discard pile. If a the player whose turn it is does not want the discard pile and the draw pile is empty they may declare “pass” and their turn is skipped. If all players pass consecutively, the play ends immediately, without anyone going out.
Scoring
At the end of the play, each team scores positive points for the cards in their meld area, and negative points for the cards remaining in the players' hands. Each individual card has a value as follows.
| Rank | Value |
|---|---|
| Joker | 20 |
| Ace | 15 |
| 2 | 10 |
| 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K | 10 |
| 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 | 5 |
In addition, bonuses and penalties are scored as follows.
- If a player went out, that player's team adds a bonus of 100 points.
- A team that did not pick up their biribaki incurs a penalty of 100 points subtracted from their score and the cards in their biribaki do not count against the team.
- If a player picks up their team's biribaki at the end of a turn (after their last card) but the play ends before their next turn, their team incurs a 100-point penalty but the cards in their unplayed biribaki do not count against the team.
- Bonuses are scored for all melded biribas as follows:
Type of biriba clean dirty run of 7-12 cards in plain suit 200 100 set of 7 or more equal cards 300 150 run of 7-12 cards in the bonus ('trump') suit 400 200 full biriba (run of 13) in plain suit 1000 500 full biriba (run of 13) in bonus ('trump') suit 2000 1000
Further deals are played until at least one team's exceeds 5000 (or whatever target score is agreed before the game - see variations). Note that is necessary to have more than the target score to end the game, so if the target is 5000 a team will need at least 5005 points to end the game. The team with the higher score wins the game. If the scores are equal another hand is played to break the tie.
Six players
Three decks of cards are used including 6 jokers - total 162 cards. The players form three teams of two players, partners sitting opposite, so that if the teams are A, B and C the players will sit around the table in the order A, B, C, A, B, C.
The dealer deals 11 cards to each player as usual and the player to dealer's left creates three biribakia of 11 cards, one for each team.
The rules of play and the scoring are exactly as in the four-player game.
Five players
Three decks of cards are used including 6 jokers - total 162 cards. The player to dealer's left creates three biribakia: the first contains 18 cards and the second and third 11 cards each.
Each hand begins with the players playing as individuals. This continues until one player is able to take the first biribaki of 18 cards. From this moment onwards, the player who took the first biribaki plays alone and the other four form two teams of two, opponents sitting alternately. In other words, if the players in order around the table are A, B, C, D and E and player A is the first to take a biribaki, then for that hand B and D play together as a team and C and E play together. As usual the second and third biribakia go to the first player on each team who is able to meld all the cards in their hand, the team having made at least one biriba.
In the first phase of the game, until a player is able to take the first biribaki and thereby determine the partnerships, no melds are put down. Each player's turn consists of drawing the top card from the draw pile or taking the discard pile and then discarding one card. After the first biribaki has been taken, players draw, meld and discard as in the four-player game. There would in any case be no advantage in putting down meld before the partnerships are known, because this would simply give away information about what the player was collecting.
When the hand is scored, the lone player scores their points as usual, while each of the teams calculates its point score and divides it equally between the team members, each team member scoring half the team score.
Three players with partnerships
Two decks are used (108 cards). The player to dealer's left creates two biribakia: the first containing 18 cards and the second 11 cards.
The players play initially as individuals and do not meld. A turn consists of drawing the top card of the draw pile or taking the discard pile and then discarding one card. This continues until a player is able to meld their whole hand (except possibly for a discard) and take the 18-card biribaki. From this point onward the other two players become partners, and all players can meld as usual. The 11-card biribaki is taken by the first of the partners who is able to meld all the cards in their hand, the team having made at least one biriba.
When the hand is scored, the lone player scores normally while each of the partners scores half the amount scored by their team.
Two players
The rules are the same as in the four-player game, but the players play as individuals. Two decks (108 cards) are used, with two biribakia of 11-cards each.
In this game there is no advantage in putting down melds until either you are able to take your biribaki or you fear your opponent is about to go out and you want to score points for cards on the table rather than a penalty for cards in your hand. Therefore players tend to hoard cards. Some players consider this undesirable, so in the two-player game it is common to play the rule variation described below in which the discard pile can only be taken if at least one of the cards in it is immediately put down on the table as part of a meld.
Other rules and scoring are as in the four-player game.
Three players as individuals
The rules are the same as in the four-player game, but the players play as individuals throughout. Three decks (162 cards) are used, with three biribakia of 11-cards each.
Like the two-player game, this game is often played with the rule variation that the discard pile can only be taken if at least one of its card is immediately melded. This is to avoid the tendency of players to hoard cards.
Variations
This variation is often used in the two-player game and when three players play as individuals, since otherwise players would be reluctant to put down meld, resulting in a less interesting game with little interaction between the players. This is not an issue in partnership games where partners share their meld. If a player has a partner it is in their interest to put down meld so that their partner can add to it, and they can coordinate their efforts to complete biribas.
Some require that the first meld put down by a team must contain cards whose total value is greater than a certain minimum amount. The player putting down the first meld for the team can use more than one set or run to achieve this value. The minimum value depends on the team's current cumulative score. There are many different schedules in use by different groups, depending also on the target score for the game. For example: | Target 5000 points | |
|---|---|
| Cumulative score | Minimum initial meld |
| up to 1495 | 0 |
| 1500 - 2995 | 75 |
| 3000 - 3995 | 100 |
| 4000 or more | 120 |
| Target 3000 points | |
|---|---|
| Cumulative score | Minimum initial meld |
| up to 495 | 0 |
| 500 - 995 | 75 |
| 1000 - 1995 | 100 |
| 2000 or more | 120 |
| Target 2000 points | |
|---|---|
| Cumulative score | Minimum initial meld |
| up to 1245 | 0 |
| 1250 - 1745 | 75 |
| 1750 or more | 150 |
| Target 5000 points | |
|---|---|
| Cumulative score | Minimum initial meld |
| up to 1995 | 0 |
| 2000 - 2995 | 75 |
| 3000or more | 90 |
| Target 3000 points | |
|---|---|
| Cumulative score | Minimum initial meld |
| up to 995 | 0 |
| 1000 - 1495 | 75 |
| 1500 or more | 90 |
| Target 3030 points | |
|---|---|
| Cumulative score | Minimum initial meld |
| up to 1025 | 0 |
| 1030 or more | 75 |
| Target 5000 points | |
|---|---|
| Cumulative score | Minimum initial meld |
| up to 1495 | 55 |
| 1500 - 2995 | 75 |
| 3000 or more | 95 |
- All agree that a basic biriba consisting of a run of 7-12 cards in a plain suit counts 200 if it is clean or 100 if it includes a wild card.
- Some count a biriba of equal cards as the same value: 200 clean / 100 dirty. Others increase these values to 300 / 100 or to 300 / 150 for a biriba of equal cards.
- In variants with no kózi (bonus, trump) suit there are of course no extra points for biribas in such a suit.
- The score for a clean / dirty 7-12 card biriba in the kózi (bonus, trump) suit may be 400 / 200 or 600 / 300.
- The score for a full (13-card) biriba in a plain suit in different variants ranges from 500 to 1000 if clean and from 100 (i.e. no extra score) to 500 if dirty.
- The score for a full (13-card) biriba in the kózi (bonus, trump) suit in different variants ranges from 1000 to 2000 if clean and from 200 (no extra score) to 1000 if dirty.
- Some score 1000 points for a full set of 8 equal cards when using two decks.
- A rare variation is to award a special score for a biriba of Twos: 2000 points if clean or 1000 if dirty.
- Another rare variation has no kózi (bonus, trump) suit and no extra points for full biribas.
Some impose a penalty of 300 points in total for a team that has not melded any cards at all when play ends (in place of the penalties for not taking a biribaki and for no biribas).
Biriba Card Game App
Alexandros Kouridakis recommends the variant where no sets allowed, the discard pile can only be taken if at least one card from it is melded, and full biribas in the bonus/trump suit count 1000 if clean and 500 if dirty.