Bouillotte (Brelan)

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Cards and chips
3. Setup
4. Before the deal
5. The hands
6. Betting
7. Showdown
8. Winning the game
9. Tips for beginners
10. Variants

Overview

Bouillotte was the great gambling game of French salons from the time of the Revolution until poker replaced it. It grew out of the older game of Brelan, and the two differ only in details – the Académie universelle des jeux of 1834 says Bouillotte "differs very little" from Brelan. So this page covers both: Bouillotte as the main game, Brelan under Variants.

Everyone gets three cards, and one more card is turned face up for all. You bet chips on having the best hand. The best hands are three of a kind – but these are rare, and most pots are won on the point: at the end, all hands are shown, and the cards of each suit on the table are added up. The player who holds the highest card of the strongest suit wins – so even your opponents' cards can win the pot for you.

• Players: 3–5, best with 4. Everyone plays for themselves.
• You need: from a standard 52-card deck, the A, K, Q, 9 and 8 of each suit (20 cards) for four players. With five, add the four Jacks (24 cards); with three, leave out the Queens (16 cards). Plus chips – the same number for everyone, e.g. 100 each. Play for chips, never for money.

Cards and chips

The cards rank A K Q J 9 8 (Ace high). For the point, they count A = 11, K Q J = 10, 9 = 9, 8 = 8. Suits are all equal.

Your chips are your cave. You may bet only what you have in front of you, and you may not add chips to your cave while you still have any. Only when you have lost everything may you buy a new cave.

Setup

To choose seats, take one card of each rank from the Ace down (one per player), shuffle them and let everyone draw one. The Ace chooses a seat first, then the others in order. The King deals first. Dealing and play go anticlockwise (to the right), and the deal passes to the right after each hand.

Before the deal

1. Ante: everyone puts 1 chip into the pot, and the dealer adds 1 more (5 chips with four players).
2. Straddle (carre, optional): before any cards are dealt, the player on the dealer's right may put in as many chips as the pot already holds. If they do, the next player to the right may double the pot again, and so on up to the dealer. As soon as someone declines, the straddling stops. The last straddler will speak last in the betting.
3. Deal: the dealer deals three cards to each player, one at a time, and then turns the next card face up on the stock. This card is the turn-up (retourne).

The hands

From best to worst:

Betting

The player on the dealer's right speaks first – or, after a straddle, the player to the right of the last straddler. In turn, each player may:

• Pass: bet nothing for now but stay in (only until someone opens).
• Open: put in enough chips that your stake (ante included) is at least as big as anyone's so far – or more, if you like. Betting everything you have is called va-tout.

If nobody opens: without a straddle, the cards are thrown in, the chips stay in the pot, the next player deals and adds 1 chip. After a straddle, the last straddler wins the pot.

Once someone has opened, passing is no longer possible. Every player in turn – including those who passed before – must call (bring their stake up to the highest), raise (put in more than that) or fold (drop out and lose what they have staked). A straddler whose straddle is merely called may still raise.

The betting ends like this:

• One player left: that player wins the pot without showing.
• Two players left: as soon as one calls the other, there is a showdown.
• Three or more players: when everyone has called, the betting is not over yet. The first remaining player to the right of the last raiser (or opener) may raise again or say "no more"; then the next may, and so on. Any raise starts a new round of calls. When everyone except the last raiser has said "no more", there is a showdown.

Showdown

Everyone shows their cards – also those who folded. The best hand among the players still in wins the pot.

1. A brelan carré beats everything. Otherwise the highest brelan wins.
2. The point (if nobody still in has a brelan): add up the cards of each suit on the table – all hands, folded ones included, and the turn-up. Each suit belongs to the player still in who holds its highest card; a suit that no remaining player holds belongs to nobody. The suit with the most points that belongs to somebody wins, and its owner takes the pot. If two suits tie, the owner nearest the dealer's right wins.

Example: Dan deals; the turn-up is A♥. Anna holds A♦ 9♣ 8♥ and has folded. Ben holds Q♥ A♣ 8♣, Carla K♦ Q♦ A♠, Dan K♥ 8♦ Q♠ (folded). Hearts: 11 + 8 + 10 + 10 = 39. Diamonds: 11 + 10 + 10 + 8 = 39. Clubs 28, spades 21. Of the players still in, Ben has the highest heart (Q♥) and Carla the highest diamond (K♦). Hearts and diamonds tie, and Ben sits nearer the dealer's right – Ben wins the pot. Had Anna stayed in with her A♦, the diamonds would have been hers, and she would have won.

Brelan bonus: whoever shows a brelan receives 1 chip from every other player (2 for a brelan carré) – from folded players too, and whether or not the brelan wins the pot. Two players with brelans don't pay each other.

Short of chips: a player who can't meet a bet may call with all their remaining chips. That player can win from each opponent only as much as they staked themselves; the extra chips form a side pot for the others. The main pot is decided first. Its winning suit also decides the side pot: of the players in the side pot, the one with the highest card of that suit wins it (unless someone has a brelan).

Winning the game

Bouillotte has no natural end. Play for an agreed time, then compare everyone's chips with what they bought – the biggest gain wins.

Tips for beginners

• With four players, 13 cards will be on the table at the end. Count what you can see: your own three and the turn-up.
• Three cards of one suit headed by the King are strong – bet high to drive out everyone but a brelan.
• An Ace with only one more card of its suit is a weak point (21 at most); a card of the turn-up's suit is worth more.
• With a brelan, let others bet first – you can raise them later.
• Don't bet on an Ace alone unless its suit was turned up.

Variants

• Brelan (the older game): 2–5 players with 28 cards (A K Q J 10 9 8 of each suit). Everyone puts 1 chip into the pot; if nobody opens, everyone adds 1 more and the next player deals. Straddling came in late, and then only the first player could straddle, before looking at their cards. The betting ends as soon as nobody raises – there is no "no more" round – and there are no brelan bonuses. A game of Brelan lasts an agreed number of deals, whereas Bouillotte goes on as long as there are players to replace those who have lost their cave.
• Brelan favori: in R. F. Foster's rules, a pair in your hand with the turn-up of the same rank is a brelan favori. It ranks below an ordinary brelan and earns 1 chip from every player, or 2 if it wins the pot.
• Bigger bonuses: the Académie universelle des jeux of 1834 pays 2 chips for a brelan and 4 for a brelan carré; Foster pays 1 and 4.
• Brelan de Mistigri: at some tables, the Q♣ with a pair of the same colour (e.g. Q♣ 9♥ 9♦) counts as a brelan, below an ordinary one.
• No brelans: some high-stakes players ignored brelans altogether; the point always decided.