Escoba
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Escoba is a trick-taking card game for two to four players, originating in Spain. The game is played with a deck of traditional Spanish cards or naipes.
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Rules
The object of the game is to be the first player to score 21 points through capturing tricks. Points are scored in a variety of ways detailed below. Unlike some other trick taking games, it does not necessarily follow that the player with the most tricks in any particular round will get the greatest score from that round.
The Deal
A traditional spanish deck of 40 cards is used to play. A standard deck of playing cards can be modified by removing the 8, 9 and 10 of every suit, leaving 40 cards (a typical deck of spanish playing cards omits these cards). At the start of each round the dealer will deal three cards to each player, face down. After all the players have been dealt their cards, four board cards are dealt face up in the center of the table, and play commences.
On the rare occasion where the four initial cards dealt to the board add up to 15 (see below for card value), they are taken by the dealer and added to his scoring pile.
Play
Play commences with the person to the left of the dealer. Each player in turn attempts to match one card from their hand with one or more cards on the board to produce a total of 15. When using a traditional deck, all cards are worth their face value except for the 10 sota (valet), 11 caballo (horse) and the 12 rey (king), which are reduced in value to 8, 9 and 10, respectively (in a modified deck of standard playing cards, the jack, queen and king may be valued at 8, 9 and 10 respectively). All cards matched, including the one from the player's hand, are removed from the board and placed in a scoring pile beside the player. If the player is unable to make a total of 15, they must discard one of the cards from their hand, adding it to the available cards in the centre of the table. After either scoring a hand or discarding, the play then moves to the next player in clockwise fashion.
If the player can combine one card from his hand with all of the cards on the board to total 15, this player has scored an Escoba, worth one additional point at the end of the round. Each escoba scored is typically denoted by the player turning one card of their scoring pile face up.
After each player has exhausted their hand, the dealer will then deal a fresh hand of three cards each just as from the beginning of the round. The last hand in any particular round is the one which exhausts the deck. At the end of this round, the last player to have taken cards from the board receives any remaining cards regardless of their value. After this, the round is scored, and the deal progresses to the next player on the left.
Scoring
Points are determined at the end of each round. Players score points based on the following categories;
- Most Cards : The player with the most cards in their score pile gets one point
- Most Coins : The player with the most oro (coins) gets one point
- Most Sevens : The player with the most sevens gets one point
- Seven of Coins : The player with the seven of coins gets one point
- All of the Sevens : If a player has managed to capture all of the sevens, they get one additional point
When using a modified deck of cards, any suit may be substituted for the coins.
If two or more players score the same in any category, none of them is awarded a point in that category.
Players also get one additional point for each Escoba they have obtained.
The first player to reach a score of 21 is declared the winner. If two players reach 21 at the same time, play continues until the tie is broken.
Background
Escoba is the Spanish version of an Italian game called "Scopa di Quindici". Escoba means "broom", a name that refers to the situation in the game where you "sweep" all of the cards from the board in one turn.