Guiñote

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Playing the tricks
5. The last six tricks (arrastre)
6. The seven of trumps
7. Singing 20 and 40
8. Scoring
9. Winning the match
10. Tips for beginners
11. Variants

Overview

Guiñote (pronounced ghee-NYO-tay) is the regional cousin of Tute played in Aragón, Navarra and neighbouring parts of Spain. Two teams of two play for tricks that contain valuable cards – above all Aces and 3s – and for the last trick. A team that wins a trick may sing a marriage: King and Jack of the same suit, worth 20, or 40 in trumps. Unlike Tute, the cards are not all dealt at once: each player starts with 6, and after every trick everyone draws a card until the stock is gone. Only then do the strict rules begin. The first team to 101 points wins the game.

• Players: exactly 4, in two teams of two; partners sit opposite each other.
• 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. Note that the 3 ranks right below the Ace, and that the Jack beats the Queen. From highest to lowest, with their card points:

The cards are worth 120 points. The team that wins the last trick gets 10 more, for a total of 130, plus any points for singing.

Setup

Deal and play go to the right (anticlockwise).

1. Dealer: pick the first dealer at random; the deal passes to the right after each game.
2. Deal: the dealer shuffles and deals 6 cards to each player, in packets of 3, face down. Partners may not show each other their cards.
3. Trump: turn the next card face up. Its suit is trumps. Place it face up under the stock (the rest of the pack, face down), so that it is the last card to be drawn.

Playing the tricks

A trick is one round in which each player plays one card, face up. The player to the dealer's right leads to the first trick; the winner of each trick leads to the next.

Who wins: the highest trump, or if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led.

While the stock lasts you may play any card – you don't have to follow suit or beat anything. After each trick, every player draws the top card of the stock, starting with the trick's winner. The last card to be drawn is the face-up trump card.

The last six tricks (arrastre)

Once the stock is gone, the arrastre begins and the strict rules apply:

1. Follow suit if you can, and beat the best card in the trick if you can.
2. If you can't follow suit, you must trump. If the trick has already been trumped, you must overtrump if you can.
3. If you can neither follow suit nor win with a trump, you may play any card.
4. You needn't beat or trump if your partner is winning the trick at that moment – so put your most valuable cards on your partner's trick.

Example: Clubs are trumps; the stock is empty. Anna leads K♥. Ben has A♥ and 5♥ and must play the A♥. Carla has no hearts; she must trump and plays 2♣. Dan holds 7♣, 3♣ and 6♠ and no hearts – he must overtrump the 2♣ with one of his clubs.

The seven of trumps

After you have won a trick, you may exchange the 7 of trumps in your hand for the face-up trump card under the stock. It lets you pick up a high trump. Once the trump card has been drawn, the exchange is over.

Singing 20 and 40

A player who holds the King and Jack of the same suit can sing them – announce the pair – and score extra points for the team.

• 40 (las cuarenta) for King and Jack of trumps.
• 20 (las veinte) for King and Jack of any other suit.

You may sing only right after winning a trick, before playing the next card, and only one pair at a time. If you hold a second pair, you must win another trick first. If you want to sing both a 40 and a 20, the 40 comes first. The pair stays in your hand and is played normally later.

Scoring

Each team counts the card points of its tricks, plus 10 for the last trick, plus its songs. Spanish players call the first 50 points malas ("bad") and everything above buenas ("good"): 101 points are "51 buenas". The team to reach 101 wins the game.

Example: Anna and Carla take 62 card points, the last trick (10) and sing a 20: 92. Ben and Dan take 58 card points and sing the 40: 98. Nobody has reached 101.

If neither team has 101 after the first deal, play a second deal (partida de vueltas), and the points carry over. In it, points are counted as soon as they are earned, and the game ends when a team reaches 101. If both teams had more than 100 in the first deal, the team that won the last trick wins.

A quick way to count: the cards are worth 130 in all with the last trick, so if you know your side's total, subtract from 130 to find the other's (before songs).

Winning the match

Traditionally, a coto is the first team to win 3 games, and a match is two cotos. The losers buy the drinks.

Tips for beginners

• Discard early. While the stock lasts, get rid of side-suit cards, especially if you have no Ace or 3 in the suit. It helps to discard different suits from your partner.
• Beware the last trick before the arrastre. Winning it means you lead the first trick of the arrastre, which is usually a disadvantage.
• Count the Aces and 3s. There are eight of them; they make up 84 of the 120 card points.
• Save trumps for the arrastre. The team that enters the arrastre with more trumps often wins the game.
• Load up your partner. If your partner is winning a trick, add an Ace or a 3.

Variants

• Several songs: in some tables, a player may sing all the pairs held after a single trick.
• Exchange other cards: agree whether a lower card, such as the 2, may be swapped for the trump card.
• Revoke: breaking a play rule is a renuncio; the offending team loses the game.
• The dealer: some tables let the winner of the last trick deal next.
• All 48 cards or 36: play with 8s and 9s in, or without the 2s. Adjust the deal accordingly.