Traditional card games
Barbu
Play through a series of contracts, most of them to be avoided, while taking as few penalty points as possible.
- players
- 4
- minutes
- 60-90
- variants
- 3
You’ll need: 52-card deck. Marquoir gives you all the rules and keeps score.
Never played? Aim of the game and full rulesStep by step, with examples, for a first game.Setup
- Four players, with a 52-card deck dealt out entirely.
- Each player takes a turn as declarer and chooses the contract to play.
How to play
- The declarer announces the contract, then a normal hand of tricks is played, with no trumps.
- The negative contracts are endured: you try not to take anything.
- The Réussite, the only positive contract, is played by laying your cards out around the jacks.
Scoring
- The scale varies from table to table, but it always follows the same principle: each contract should weigh about the same, otherwise a single one decides the game. Agree on it before the first deal.
- Usual scale, with 52 cards and thirteen tricks: No tricks, -10 per trick, so -130 at stake.
- No hearts: -10 per heart, so -130.
- No queens: -20 per queen, so -80.
- No King of Hearts, the Barbu: -80 for that single card.
- No last two tricks: -30 for the second-to-last, -50 for the last, so -80.
- Salad (Salade): every negative contract at once, each at its own value.
- Réussite: +45 to the first player to go out, +20 to the second, +10 to the third, -10 to the last.
End of the game
- Each player declares seven contracts, so 28 deals in all.
- The best total, usually well below zero, wins.
House rules and pitfalls
- The declarer chooses the contract to suit their hand: that is where Barbu is won, far more than in the card play.
- Nothing in the scale is official. What matters is that the contracts carry roughly the same weight, otherwise a single one decides the game.
never played?Aim of the game and full rules9 chapters · about 3 min read
Goal of the game
Barbu is a series of small games, the contracts, played with the same cards. Almost all of them are to be avoided: take no tricks, take no hearts, don't take the King of Hearts (the Barbu)… Only one scores points, the Réussite. In turn, each player becomes declarer and chooses the contract that best suits their hand. At the end, the best total wins.
What you need
A 52-card deck and four players. Have a score sheet or Marquoir ready: each player must remember which contracts they have already played.
Card ranking
In each suit, from highest to lowest: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10… 2. There are never any trumps.
How a trick is played
The player on lead plays a card; its suit is the suit led. Each player in turn must follow that suit if they can; otherwise they discard any card they like. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick, and its winner leads to the next one. The thirteen tricks of a deal are played this way, except in the Réussite.
How a game unfolds
- The first declarer deals all 52 cards: thirteen each.
- They look at their hand and announce a contract they have not yet played.
- The deal is played under that contract, then the points are counted.
- The same player stays declarer until they have played all seven of their contracts, in whatever order they like.
- The role of declarer then passes to the player on the left. When all four players have declared, the game is over: 28 deals.
The contracts to avoid
- No tricks: each trick taken costs 10 points (130 in all).
- No hearts: each heart taken costs 10 points (130 in all). You may not lead a heart while you still hold another suit.
- No queens: each queen taken costs 20 points (80 in all).
- The Barbu: taking the King of Hearts costs 80 points. Whoever holds it must play it as soon as they can: as soon as hearts are led, or at the first chance to discard.
- The last two tricks: the second-to-last trick costs 30 points, the last one 50.
- The Salad: all the previous contracts at once, each at its own value. A Queen of Hearts taken in the second-to-last trick therefore costs a trick, a heart, a queen and the second-to-last trick.
The Réussite, the only contract that scores
No tricks are played. In the middle, four rows are built, one per suit, around the Jacks:
- The declarer starts. If they have a Jack, they place it in the middle; otherwise, they pass.
- Each player in turn, clockwise, places one card: either a new Jack, or a card that extends an existing row, of the same suit, just above (Queen, then King, then Ace) or just below (10, then 9… down to 2).
- You must play if you can; you only pass if no card can be placed.
- The first to have placed all their cards scores +45, the second +20, the third +10, the last −10.
for example
The Jack of Hearts is down. Tom holds the Queen and the 10 of Hearts: he may play either. He plays the 10, and keeps the Queen to block the hearts above.
Scoring
After each deal, note for each player their penalty points (negative) or Réussite points (positive). The scale above is the most common, but nothing is official: the main thing is that the contracts weigh about the same. Agree on it before the first deal. At the end of the game, the highest total (often the least negative) wins.
Tips for beginners
- Choose each contract to suit your hand: a hand full of low cards is perfect for "No tricks", a hand without hearts for "No hearts".
- Keep the Salad for a weak hand, and the Réussite for a hand with Jacks and cards in sequence.
- When another player is declaring, spot the contract they are trying to dodge: it is often the one they keep for last.
Variants
Contracts played
7 contracts (28 deals)
The six negative contracts, Salad included, plus the Réussite.
6 contracts, no Salad (24 deals)
The Salad alone weighs as much as three contracts: dropping it makes the game shorter and closer.
Short game (12 deals)
Three contracts per declarer, freely chosen.
chosen when starting, the scorer follows
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is the Barbu?
The King of Hearts. The "No King of Hearts" contract means not taking it: whoever does takes 80 penalty points on their own.
Who chooses the contract?
The declarer, in turn. Each player declares seven contracts — the six negative ones plus the Réussite — so 28 deals with four players. A contract a player has already declared cannot be declared by them again.
What is the Salad?
Every negative contract at once in the same deal: tricks, hearts, queens, the Barbu and the last two tricks, each at its own value. It is the heaviest deal of the game.
How is the Réussite played?
It is not a trick-taking deal: you lay your cards out around the jacks, in rising and falling sequences. The first to go out scores +45, then +20, +10, and the last -10.
Are there trumps in Barbu?
No, never. You follow the suit led if you can, and the highest card of the suit led takes the trick.
Is the scale the same everywhere?
No, it varies from table to table — the one on this page is the most common in France. The main thing is to agree on it before the first deal, and stick to it until the end.
The box
- Age
- Ages 10+
- Origin
- Traditional game, with no specific designer or publisher
- Mechanics
- Plis