Traditional card games
Écarté
- players
- 2
- minutes
- 20
- years
- 12+
In the box
1 32-card deck
Box details
- Origin
- Traditional game, with no specific designer or publisher
- Mechanics
- Betting and BluffingPush Your LuckTrick-taking
Where to buy it
Near you
In a shop
Within 50 km.
The basics
A trick-taking duel with a 32-card pack in which the king is the highest card and the ace ranks between the jack and the ten. Each player gets five cards and the eleventh, turned up, sets trumps; the non-dealer may then play straight away or propose an exchange, and if the dealer accepts, both swap cards from the stock. Five tricks are then played, following suit, playing higher if you can and trumping if void: three or four tricks score 1 point, all five 2 points, and the king of trumps, turned up or announced, 1 point. Whoever plays without proposing or refuses the first proposal, then fails, gives 2 points to the opponent; the first to 5 points wins.
Traditional rules, checked against reference sources · October 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
32 cards, 2 players, 5 cards each, 11th card sets trumps
- A 32-card pack, two players. Five cards each, dealt in threes then twos, or twos then threes: the dealer chooses and sticks to it.
- The eleventh card is turned up: it sets trumps. If it is a king, the dealer scores 1 point at once.
- The card ranking is unusual: king, queen, jack, ace, ten, nine, eight, seven.
- The rest of the pack forms the stock, used for exchanges.
How to play
Propose an exchange, Follow, go higher, trump, Announce king of trumps
- The non-dealer either plays straight away, without exchanging, or proposes an exchange. If they propose, the dealer accepts or refuses.
- If the dealer accepts, the non-dealer discards face down as many cards as they like and receives as many from the stock; the dealer may then exchange too. This can be repeated as long as the dealer accepts and the stock allows. The turned-up card is not part of the stock and is never dealt.
- The holder of the king of trumps scores 1 point if they announce it before playing their first card, or as they play it if that card is the king.
- The non-dealer leads. You must follow suit and win the trick if you can; if you cannot follow suit, you must trump.
Scoring
3 or 4 tricks: 1 point, The vole: 2 points, King of trumps: 1 point
- Three or four tricks, the point: 1 point. All five tricks, the vole: 2 points.
- The king of trumps, turned up by the dealer or announced by its holder: 1 point.
- A non-dealer who plays without proposing, or a dealer who refuses the first proposal, and who fails to take three tricks, gives 2 points to the opponent, never more, even if the opponent wins the vole.
- A deal can therefore earn the same player 3 points at most. In Marquoir, enter each player's points for every deal, king included.
End of the game
First to 5 points, Best of 3
- The game ends as soon as a player reaches 5 points.
- The king is scored at the start of the deal: a player on 4 points who turns up or announces the king wins at once, without finishing the deal.
- It is often played as the best of three games, a rubber, with a decider if needed.
House rules and pitfalls
The card ranking always surprises: the ace sits between the jack and the ten, not at the top.
- The card ranking always surprises: the ace sits between the jack and the ten, not at the top.
- Playing without proposing or refusing the exchange is a gamble: failing costs 2 points instead of 1. Some hands, the jeux de règle, are usually played without proposing, but nothing requires it.
- Players sometimes agree to play to seven points, according to de Savigny as cited by the French Wikipedia, or else to let the first card turned up set the target: a court card makes it ten, an ace eleven. Set it when you start. The London club rules reported by Cavendish also allowed, by agreement, a game to count double or treble when the loser had scored little.
- There are variants for three and four players, played to seven points; the Marquoir counter follows the two-player rules.
Going further
Frequently asked questions · In the same family
Frequently asked questions
Why is the ace so weak in écarté?
It is the game’s own ranking, which the sources give without explaining it: king, queen, jack, ace, ten, nine, eight, seven. The ace ranks below the three court cards but still beats the ten, nine, eight and seven. A more modern variant, mentioned by the English Wikipedia, puts it back on top, above the king.
What do you risk by refusing the exchange?
A dealer who refuses the first proposal commits to taking at least three tricks: if they fail, their opponent scores 2 points instead of 1. The same goes for a non-dealer who plays without proposing anything.
When should you announce the king of trumps?
Before playing your first card, or as you play it if it is the king itself. A forgotten king scores nothing. A turned-up king, on the other hand, goes to the dealer automatically.
Do you have to win the trick?
Yes: you must follow suit and play higher if you can. Without the suit led, you must trump.