Traditional card games
French Tarot
- players
- 3–6
- minutes
- 45-90
- years
- 12+
In the box
1 78-card deck: 56 suit cards, 21 trumps and the Excuse
Official rules (PDF, federation's site)
Box details
- Origin
- Traditional game, with no specific designer or publisher
- Mechanics
- AuctionTeam-BasedTrick-taking
Where to buy it
Near you
In a shop
Within 50 km.
The basics
With 78 cards, four suits, 21 trumps and the Excuse, everyone receives their hand and a dog is set aside; players bid Small, Guard, Guard without or Guard against, and the taker plays alone against the others. You must follow the suit led, trump or overtrump if you cannot, and play higher in trumps; the taker must reach between 36 and 56 points depending on how many oudlers they win. After a number of deals that is a multiple of the number of players, the best cumulative total wins.
Checked against the official rules · September 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
78 cards, 18 cards with 4 players, 6-card dog
- A 78-card deck: four suits of 14 cards, 21 numbered trumps and the Excuse.
- The dealer deals anticlockwise. With four players, each receives 18 cards in packets of three. Six cards form the dog (kitty), placed one at a time during the deal, never the first or the last card of the pack.
- With three players, 24 cards each, dealt in fours, and a six-card dog. With five players, 15 cards each and a dog of only three cards.
- A player with a bare Petit (the 1 of trumps as their only trump, without the Excuse) must show it: the deal is cancelled and redealt.
How to play
Small to Guard against, Follow, trump, go higher, Excuse never wins trick
- The player to the dealer's right speaks first. Each player speaks only once: they pass or bid, in ascending order, Small (Petite, also called Prise), Guard (Garde), Guard without the dog, Guard against the dog. Each bid must be higher than the previous one. If everyone passes, the cards are redealt.
- For Small and Guard, the taker turns up the dog for everyone to see, adds it to their hand, then discards the same number of cards. They may discard neither an oudler nor a king, and may only discard a trump if they have no choice, showing it.
- For Guard without, the dog goes to the taker unseen. For Guard against, it goes to the defence.
- With five players, the taker calls a king before seeing the dog: whoever holds it becomes their partner, without saying so. Holding all four kings, they may call a queen. If the called card is in the dog or in their own hand, they play alone against four.
- The player to the dealer's right leads. You must follow the suit led, with no obligation to play higher. Without the suit, you must trump, and overtrump if a player has already trumped; failing that, you play a lower trump. With no trumps, play whatever you like.
- When trumps are led, you must play higher than the highest trump played, even if it belongs to your partner.
- The Excuse never wins the trick but stays with the side of the player who played it, who gives a low card to the other side in exchange. Played to the last trick, except in a slam, it changes sides. If it leads a trick, the next card sets the suit.
Scoring
0 oudlers: 56, 3: 36, 25 points + the margin, Times 1, 2, 4 or 6
- The oudlers are the 1 of trumps (the Petit), the 21 of trumps and the Excuse.
- The target depends on the number of oudlers won: 56 points with none, 51 with one, 41 with two, 36 with three.
- Card values: each oudler and each king 4.5 points, queen 3.5, knight 2.5, jack 1.5, any other card 0.5. The deck totals 91 points.
- They are often counted in pairs: an oudler or a court card with a low card (5, 4, 3 or 2 points), two low cards together 1 point.
- For Guard without, the points in the dog, and any oudler in it, go to the taker; for Guard against, they go to the defence.
- Taker's score: 25 points plus the difference from the target, all multiplied by the contract's multiplier — 1 for Small, 2 for Guard, 4 for Guard without, 6 for Guard against.
- Each defender loses this amount, and the taker collects the defenders' total. The game is zero-sum.
- With five players and a partner, the defenders pay the same; the taker takes two shares and their partner one.
- Bonuses: each goes to one side, which is not necessarily the taker's.
- Petit au bout is worth 10 points times the contract's multiplier, i.e. 60 under a Guard against. It goes to the side that wins the last trick when that trick contains the Petit, attack or defence, whether the contract is made or not.
- The handful (poignée) — single 20, double 30, triple 40 — is added as is, without multiplier, to the side that wins the deal, whoever showed it.
- A handful is shown just before playing your first card, trumps sorted: with four players, exactly 10, 13 or 15 trumps; with three, 13, 15 or 18; with five, 8, 10 or 13. The Excuse can stand in for a missing trump; holding more means hiding some.
- Slam (chelem): 400 if announced and made, 200 if made without announcing, a 200 penalty if announced and missed; if made by the defence, it scores 200 for each defender. It is not multiplied. Whoever announces the slam leads first.
End of the game
Everyone deals equally, Best cumulative total
- Play a number of deals that is a multiple of the number of players, so everyone deals equally often.
- The winner is the player with the best cumulative total, often far from zero.
House rules and pitfalls
Petit au bout is the 1 of trumps in the last trick: the side that wins that trick scores 10 points times the…
- Petit au bout is the 1 of trumps in the last trick: the side that wins that trick scores 10 points times the contract's multiplier, even if the Petit was played by the other side.
- A bare Petit, the only trump in your hand without the Excuse, means the deal must be cancelled: it is an obligation under the federation rules, not an option.
- A frequent mistake with five players: forgetting that the called partner is only revealed when the called king is played.
- With six players, the dealer sits out the deal: they are the dummy. They receive no cards, score zero, and the other five play as with five, calling a king. This is a table custom: the federation rules do not cover six players.
- With three players, the defence is scored as with four and the taker collects double.
Going further
Variants · Frequently asked questions · In the same family · Play with the game assistant
Variants
Number of players
3 players
4 players
5 players (called partner)
The taker calls a king: their partner takes one share of the result, the taker two, and each defender pays one.
6 players (with a dummy)
Each deal, the dealer sits out: they are the dummy and score zero. The other five play with a called partner.
Game length
4 deals
One round of dealers with four players.
8 deals
Two rounds of dealers with four players.
Open-ended game
Stop whenever you like. Remember to finish on a full round of dealers.
choose them when you start a game: the scorer adapts
Frequently asked questions
How many points do you need to make your contract in tarot?
It depends on the oudlers: 56 points with no oudler, 51 with one, 41 with two and 36 with all three. The more oudlers you have, the easier the contract.
What are the three oudlers in tarot?
The 1 of trumps, called the Petit, the 21 of trumps and the Excuse.
Can you discard a king or an oudler into the dog?
No. The discard may contain neither an oudler nor a king. Trumps may only go into it if the taker cannot do otherwise, and they must then show them.
How much are the cards worth in tarot?
Each oudler (the Petit, the 21 and the Excuse) and each king is worth 4.5 points, a queen 3.5, a knight 2.5, a jack 1.5 and any other card 0.5. The whole deck totals 91 points. To go faster, count in pairs: an oudler or a court card with a low card, and two low cards together for 1 point.
How are the points of a deal worked out in tarot?
Start from 25 points, add the difference between the points made and the target, then multiply by the multiplier: 1 for Small, 2 for Guard, 4 for Guard without, 6 for Guard against. For example, a Guard made with two oudlers and 47 points beats the target of 41 by six points: (25 + 6) × 2 = 62. With four players, each defender loses 62 and the taker wins 186. Petit au bout, the handful and the slam are added afterwards.