How to Play Sueca

What is Sueca?

Sueca is the national card game of Portugal, played in cafés, at family lunches and at the beach from the Minho to the Algarve, and just as much in Portuguese communities abroad. Four players form two teams of two, partners sitting opposite each other, and play ten tricks with a 40-card deck. There is no bidding: the dealer's last card is turned up and its suit is trumps.

Every card has a point value, and the deck holds 120 points. The team that takes more than half of them, 61 points, wins the deal and scores one game, two for a capote (91 or more) and four for a bandeira (all 120). The first team to four games wins the partida.

The surprise for newcomers is the seven: in Sueca it ranks just under the ace and is worth 10 points. Players call it the manilha, the bisca or simply the sete, and keeping it safe until the ace has gone is half the skill of the game.

Sueca rules at a glance

Players

4, in two teams of two; partners sit opposite

Deck

40 cards: A, 7, K, J, Q, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 in each suit (no 8, 9 or 10)

Card order

A, 7, K, J, Q, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, high to low, in every suit

Points

A 11, 7 10, K 4, J 3, Q 2, the rest 0: 120 in all

Deal

10 cards each; the dealer's last card is shown to everyone and its suit is trumps

Direction

Anticlockwise: dealing and play pass to the right

Play

Follow suit if you can; if not, play any card. No duty to trump

Deal won

61-90 points: 1 game; 91-119 (capote): 2 games; 120 (bandeira): 4 games

60-60

Nobody scores; the next deal won is worth one game more

Game

First team to 4 games wins the partida

How to play Sueca, step by step

1. 1

   Sit in teams

   Four players form two teams of two, and partners sit opposite each other, so the turn always passes from one team to the other. All points are counted per team.

2. 2

   Deal ten cards

   In Portugal everything goes anticlockwise, to the right. The dealer gives ten cards to each player, starting with the player on their right and ending with themselves.

3. 3

   Turn up trumps

   The dealer's last card, the bottom card of the pack, is shown face up to everyone, and its suit is trumps for the deal. The dealer keeps that card in hand and plays it like any other.

4. 4

   Play ten tricks

   The player on the dealer's right leads the first trick, and play goes on anticlockwise. Everyone must follow suit if they can. If you can't, you may play any card: a trump to win the trick, or a card of another suit. The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led, and the winner leads the next trick.

5. 5

   Count the points

   Each team adds up the points in the tricks it won: aces 11, sevens 10, kings 4, jacks 3, queens 2. The team with 61 or more wins the deal.

6. 6

   Score games

   Winning the deal with 61 to 90 points is one game, with 91 to 119 (capote) two games, and with all 120 (bandeira) four games. The first team to four games wins the partida. The deal then passes to the right.

Card order and card points

Sueca uses the 40-card Portuguese deck: a standard pack without the eights, nines and tens. In every suit, trumps included, the cards rank A, 7, K, J, Q, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 from high to low. Note that the jack ranks above the queen, as in most of southern Europe.

Only five ranks carry points, and the 40 cards are worth 120 points together. There is no bonus for the last trick, so every deal holds exactly 120 points.

Ace (ás)

11

Seven (sete, manilha)

10

King (rei)

4

Jack (valete)

3

Queen (dama)

2

6, 5, 4, 3, 2

0

The deal and the trump card

The deal and the play go anticlockwise in Portugal: the next player is always the one on your right. The player on the dealer's right usually shuffles, the player on the dealer's left cuts, and the dealer gives ten cards to each player in one batch, starting on their right.

The dealer's last card is turned face up for everyone to see, and its suit is trumps (trunfo) for the deal. The dealer picks it up and plays it like any other card; until they do, everyone knows where that card is. Some tables let the dealer take the first card of the pack as the trump card instead; at bs.fyi the trump card is always the dealer's last card, the most common rule.

On the screen at bs.fyi the table turns the Portuguese way: the next player to act sits on your right, your partner across the table, and the player who has just played on your left.

Following suit, trumping and renúncia

If you have a card of the suit led, you must play one (assistir). You don't have to play a higher card: any card of the suit will do. If you have none of the suit led, you may play any card you like: a trump to try to win the trick, or a card of another suit, for example a point card to give to your partner. Unlike Belote or Klaverjassen, there is no duty to trump or to overtrump.

Failing to follow suit when you could is a <strong>renúncia</strong> (revoke), and at a real table it costs the offending team the deal, usually four games. At bs.fyi a renúncia is impossible: the game only lets you play cards that follow the rules, so nobody has to watch for it.

Scoring: games, capote and bandeira

At the end of the deal each team counts the points in its tricks. The two totals always add up to 120. The team with more than half, 61 points or more, wins the deal and scores games; the other team scores nothing for that deal.

If both teams have exactly 60 points the deal is drawn (empate): nobody scores. The common rule, which bs.fyi plays, is that the next deal that is won is worth one game more, and each further tie adds one more.

61 to 90 points

1 game (um jogo)

91 to 119 points (capote)

2 games

All 120 points (bandeira)

4 games: the partida at once

60-60 (empate)

No games; the next deal won is worth 1 more

Winning the game: the partida

Games add up from deal to deal, and the first team to reach four games wins the partida. A bandeira wins a partida on its own. A partida won four games to nothing is called a pente in some regions.

Many tables play several partidas in an evening. At bs.fyi you can play a single partida, or the best of three: the first team to win two partidas wins, and every partida starts again from nothing.

House rules on bs.fyi

Sueca strategy tips

• •Keep your seven behind the ace. A seven is worth 10, but the ace of the same suit beats it. While that ace is still out, don't lead the suit of your seven: wait until the ace has fallen, and your seven becomes the master card.
• •Carregar on your partner. When your partner is sure to win the trick, load it (carregar) with your aces and sevens, even of another suit when you are out of the suit led. When the trick is still in doubt, play your smallest card.
• •Lead your aces. An ace can't be beaten in its suit, so leading it early collects 11 points plus whatever the others have to follow with, before anyone runs out of the suit.
• •Count the trumps. Each suit has ten cards. Count the trumps that have fallen, and you will know when your plain-suit aces and sevens are safe from being trumped.
• •Use the trump card. Everyone saw the dealer's card. If it is a high trump, the dealer has it until they play it: plan around it.
• •Trump what is worth it. There is no duty to trump in Sueca. Trump a trick with an ace or seven in it; let a trick with no points go and keep your trumps for later.

Frequently asked questions