Escoba

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Playing a turn
5. Escoba – the sweep
6. Later deals
7. End of a round
8. Scoring
9. Winning the game
10. Tips for beginners
11. Variants

Overview

Escoba is the Spanish cousin of Italy's Scopa and a great game for practising mental arithmetic. It is a fishing game: you play a card from your hand to capture cards lying face up on the table – but only if your card and the cards you take add up to exactly 15. Points go to whoever captures the most cards, the most diamonds, the 7♦ and the best sevens – and for every escoba ("broom"), when you sweep the table clean. The first to 21 points wins.

• Players: 2 or 3, each for themselves, or 4 – individually or in two teams of two (partners sitting opposite).
• You need: a standard 52-card deck and paper and pen for scoring.

The cards

Take out all 8s, 9s and 10s and the jokers. You play with 40 cards. For capturing, each card has a value:

Suits only matter when scoring: diamonds are special, and the 7♦ is the most valuable single card.

Setup

1. Dealer and direction: everyone draws a card; the lowest card deals first. In Spain, dealing and play go to the right (anticlockwise).
2. Deal: the dealer shuffles, the player on the dealer's left cuts, and the dealer deals 3 cards face down to each player. Then the dealer lays 4 cards face up on the table.
3. Lucky deal: if the four table cards add up to exactly 15, the dealer takes them at once and scores an escoba. If they add up to 30, the dealer takes them and scores two escobas.
4. The rest of the deck stays face down beside the dealer. Each player (or team) keeps a face-down pile for their captured cards.

After the deal (two players), the table looks like this:

Playing a turn

The player to the dealer's right starts; then take turns to the right. On your turn, play one card from your hand face up:

• Capture: if your card plus one or more table cards add up to exactly 15, take those table cards together with your card. If there are several ways to make 15, choose one.
• No capture: your card stays face up on the table with the others.

You may play any card you like, even one that captures nothing. But if the card you play can make 15, you must capture. Put the captured cards face down on your pile.

Example: The table shows A♠ · 3♥ · 4♣ · 7♦. You play a 4. You can take 4♣ + 7♦ (4 + 4 + 7 = 15) or A♠ + 3♥ + 7♦ (4 + 1 + 3 + 7 = 15) – you choose, and grab the 7♦ either way. If you play a Q (9), you would need 6 from the table – no combination makes that, so your Queen just stays there.

Escoba – the sweep

If your capture takes all the cards on the table, you've made an escoba, worth 1 point. Put your card face up and crosswise in your pile, so it can be counted later. The next player has to play onto the empty table.

Later deals

When everyone has played their three cards, the dealer deals 3 more cards to each player – but none to the table. Keep going until the deck is used up (6 deals with 2 players, 4 with 3 players, 3 with 4 players).

End of a round

After the last card is played, the cards still on the table go to the player or team who made the last capture. This does not count as an escoba.

Scoring

Each player or team counts their pile. There are four points to win, plus the escobas:

If there is a tie for most cards (e.g. 20–20), most diamonds (5–5) or the setenta, nobody scores that point.

Setenta: pick your best captured card in each suit. The ranking is 7 (best), 6, A, 5, 4, 3, 2, and the face cards (worst). Compare your four cards with your opponents', best against best: usually whoever has more 7s wins. If the 7s are equal, the next-best cards decide, and so on.

Example: Anna's best cards are 7♠ 7♥ 6♦ 5♣; Ben's are 7♦ 7♣ A♠ A♥. Both have two 7s, but Anna's 6 beats Ben's Ace – Anna wins the setenta.

Example round: Anna has 23 cards, 4 diamonds, won the setenta and made two escobas: 1 + 1 + 2 = 4 points. Ben has 6 diamonds and the 7♦: 2 points.

Winning the game

Play rounds until someone reaches 21 points; the deal passes to the right each round. If both sides pass 21 in the same round, the higher score wins; if they are tied, play another round.

Tips for beginners

• Keep the table awkward. Avoid leaving cards that add up to 5–14: your opponent may sweep them with one card.
• Don't open with a high card. Playing a 5 or higher onto an empty table invites an escoba – the next player only needs the card that makes 15.
• Chase the 7♦. It's a point on its own and helps with the cards, diamonds and setenta too. Then go for the other 7s and 6s.
• Count the table. All 40 cards add up to 220, so at the end the leftover table cards always total 10, 25, 40 or 55.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Sevens only: the rules published by the Spanish card maker Fournier give the setenta point simply to whoever has the most 7s; two each is a tie.
• Old setenta (primera): as in Scopa, add up your best card of each suit: 7 = 21, 6 = 18, A = 16, 5 = 15, 4 = 14, 3 = 13, 2 = 12, J Q K = 10. You need all four suits.
• Big wins: 30 or more cards, with the opponents under 10, score 2 points instead of 1; all 10 diamonds score 2 instead of 1; all four 7s score 3 instead of 2 for the setenta and 7♦.
• Shorter game: play to 15 – Spanish Wikipedia calls this the usual target.