Sueca

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Playing the tricks
5. Scoring
6. Winning the game
7. Tips for beginners
8. Variants

Overview

Sueca is Portugal's favourite card game, played in parks and cafés all over the country. Four players in two teams try to win tricks containing valuable cards – above all the Aces and 7s. There are 120 points in the cards; the team with 61 or more wins the hand. Partners may not talk or signal to each other – Sueca is a silent game.

• Players: exactly 4, in two teams of two. Partners sit opposite each other.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck, and paper and pen to keep score.

The cards

Take out all 8s, 9s and 10s and the jokers. You play with 40 cards: A, 7, K, J, Q, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 in each suit.

The ranking is unusual – the 7 (called the manilha) comes right after the Ace, and the Jack ranks above the Queen. From highest to lowest:

Each suit is worth 30 points; all four together make 120.

Setup

In Portugal, play goes anticlockwise (to the right).

1. Dealer: pick the first dealer at random. After each hand, the player to the right deals next.
2. Shuffle and cut: the player to the dealer's right shuffles, the player to the dealer's left cuts.
3. Deal: the dealer gives each player 10 cards in one batch, going clockwise (the only thing that goes to the left), starting with the player on the left and ending with themselves.
4. Trump: the dealer turns the last card of the pack (the bottom card, which is the dealer's own) face up for everyone to see. Its suit is trumps for this hand: any trump beats any card of another suit. The card still belongs to the dealer's hand.

Playing the tricks

A trick is one round in which each player plays one card, face up; the best card wins all four.

1. The player to the dealer's right leads (plays the first card) to the first trick. After that, the winner of each trick leads to the next.
2. The others play one card each, in turn to the right: - You must follow suit – play a card of the suit that was led – if you can. - If you can't, you may play any card: a trump, or a discard of another suit. You don't have to trump.
3. Who wins the trick? If any trumps were played, the highest trump. Otherwise, the highest card of the suit led. A card of another suit (not trump) never wins.
4. The winner's team keeps the trick face down in one pile.

Example: Spades are trumps. Anna leads K♥. Ben plays A♥ (11), Carla – Anna's partner – has no hearts and trumps with 2♠, Dan plays 5♥. Carla's 2♠ wins the trick for Anna's team: 4 + 11 + 0 + 0 = 15 points.

Revoke: failing to follow suit when you could is called a renúncia. The other team may accuse you; if the tricks show it was a revoke, the accusers win the hand and score 1 game. At some tables they score two games instead.

Scoring

After all 10 tricks, each team counts the points in its tricks.

After a 60–60 tie, the next hand is worth more: its winners score 2 games for 61–90 points and 3 games for 91 or more.

Example: Anna and Carla take 94 points, Ben and Dan 26. Anna's team scores 2 games.

Winning the game

The first team to win 4 games wins the match (partida). Taking all the tricks (a bandeira, "flag") therefore wins it in one go from 0. Winning 4–0 is called a pente ("comb").

Tips for beginners

• Watch the 7s. A 7 is worth 10 but only the Ace beats it. Don't lead a 7 while its Ace is still out.
• Count trumps. There are 10 trumps; knowing how many are left tells you when your Aces are safe.
• Give points to your partner. If your partner is sure to win the trick, add a 7 or an Ace.
• Keep low cards to throw away. When you can't follow suit and don't want to trump, a small card saves your points.
• Keep your face still. Signals are forbidden – everything you learn about your partner's hand comes from the cards they play.

Variants

• Other deal: the dealer may instead deal anticlockwise, starting with themselves; then the dealer's first card (the top card after the cut) is turned up for trump.
• Brazil: play goes clockwise.
• Azores: the 10 is the manilha (second-highest, 10 points) instead of the 7, so 7s, 8s and 9s are removed. The trump suit is set by cutting these unused cards.
• Sueca italiana: a related form for 4–6 players with bidding for the trump (not described here; this page covers four players).