Cards4Couples
Hard · 4/5Jass group (trick-and-draw, point-trick with melds)Hungary (also Austria)

Tartli

Also known as Felsos, Tartl (Austrian)

A rich Hungarian trick-and-draw game where you both fight for valuable cards in tricks and collect and declare melds — sequences and four-of-a-kinds — as you assemble them during play. First to 501 card points wins the deal.

You'll need: A 32-card German-suited (Hungarian 'Tell') pack. With a standard deck, use Queens for Overs and Jacks for Unders and remove the 2s-6s.

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Objective

Reach 501 card points (over successive deals) by winning valuable tricks and declaring melds.

Card ranking for sequences

High to low: Ace, King, Over, Under, Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven.

Card values

Trump suit

Over (20), Nine (14), Ace (11), Ten (10), King (4), Under (2), Eight (0), Seven (0).

Plain suits

Ace (11), Ten (10), King (4), Over (3), Under (2), Nine/Eight/Seven (0).

Note

Last trick worth an extra 10; 161 card points total in the deck.

Melds

  • Sequences (3+ consecutive in a suit): Terc (3) = 20, Kvart (4) = 50, Kvint or longer (5-8) = 100.
  • Sets of four equal cards (not 8s/7s): Unders/Kings/Tens/Aces = 100, Nines = 150, Overs = 200.
  • Bela: King + Over of trumps = 40, scored independently and never beaten by other melds.
  • In any trick only the player with the single highest declared meld actually scores (any set beats any sequence; longer/higher sequences win).

Setup

  1. 1Deal 9 cards to each player in packets of three. Turn the next card for trumps and stack the remaining 14 cards (the talon) crosswise over it.
  2. 2Non-dealer leads first.

How to play

  • Tricks are won by the highest trump, or the highest card of the led suit if no trump is played.
  • First 7 tricks: no need to follow suit. After each, the trick winner draws the top talon card, then the loser draws, keeping 9-card hands.
  • Before leading (first 7 tricks) the leader may swap the trump Seven for the trump indicator.
  • During the first 8 tricks, before playing, a player may declare up to one set and one sequence they hold; only the higher declaration scores that trick.
  • From the 8th trick on (talon empty), strict rules apply: follow suit, and trump if unable to follow (Hungarian rules); no obligation to win the trick.

Scoring

Scored in card points (then 'buli' victory points) · play to 501

Each deal

  • Total the card values won in tricks; the last-trick winner adds 10 (both players' totals sum to 161).
  • Winning all of the last 9 tricks ('stichmatsch') forfeits the opponent's tricks: 161 to 0.
  • Meld points are added as declared during play.

Match scoring

  • First to 501 total card points scores 1 buli point (2, a 'maccs', if the opponent is under 251); then card points reset.
  • A player may 'go out' and claim the win the moment they reach 501; a false claim hands the buli to the opponent.

Winning

Win each deal by being first to 501 card points; win the session by reaching an agreed number of buli points (commonly 5 or 10).

Game mechanics referenced from pagat.com (John McLeod); rules text is our own wording.

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