Gatti (also known as Mitigatti, often simply called tarocchi) is a traditional Ligurian tarot game. In its basic form, the game is for three players, but there are also two- and four-handed variants. It is related to the northern Italian tarot game known as Mitigati, but with peculiarities that give it greater strategic depth.

We wish to express sincere thanks to Romano Romani and Patrizia cuneo from Genoa, M.T. from La Spezia and F.C. from Novi Ligure for generously sharing the rules of the game. A special acknowledgement goes to Jonathan Kandell and Samuele Pasi for their significant contribution to the improvement of this page.

Basic Concepts

Deck

The deck consists of 78 cards: 14 cards for each of the 4 suits (hearts ♥, diamonds ♦, clubs ♣ and spades ♠)^[1]; 21 trumps numbered 1 to 21; plus the Fool (★, which has the number 0 on some decks). The cards of the four suits are, in ascending order, 1, 2, …, 9, 10, Jack (J), Cavalier (C), Queen (Q) and King (K)^[2]. The trumps beat all other cards and, among themselves, the trump with the higher number usually wins. The only exception is represented by the Judgment (trump №20), which always beats the World (trump №21). The Fool is a special card that cannot beat any card nor be beaten.

Counting Cards

In tarot games, some cards, called “counting cards”, have an intrinsic value for scoring purposes:

Hands

The game is divided into “hands”, which are the phases of play between one card distribution and another. Each game consists of three hands.

Deal

For the first hand, the dealer is randomly chosen; for subsequent hands, the role passes to the other players in a counter-clockwise direction. After shuffling the cards and having them cut by the opponent to their left, the dealer deals 25 cards per player counter-clockwise. Cards are dealt in five “packets” of five cards at a time. During the final dealing round, the dealer uncovers the card on top of the last packet dealt to each player, so that three of the 25 cards dealt are visible to all. The players, after waiting until their opponents have seen the uncovered cards, also add the last packet to their hand.

Discard

After having dealt the 25 cards, the dealer adds the three remaining cards to their hand. The dealer then chooses three cards to discard – so as to have the same number as the other players – and sets them aside, without showing them to the opponents. This group of cards is known as the discard pile, and kings may not be placed in it. The Bagatto (trump №1) may only be placed in the discard pile if it is the only trump held by the dealer.

Melds

After the deal and the discard, the players, starting with the one to the right of the dealer, may, if they so wish, score additional points by announcing that they are holding certain combinations of cards (melds) in their hand certain melds. They are immediately rewarded with the following bonus points:

The announcement of melds is not mandatory, but it is necessary to obtain the related points. A player who intends to announce a meld must do so before drawing their first card, by showing the cards that compose it to their opponents. Players may announce multiple melds, even using the same cards for different ones (for example, a king of hearts can contribute simultaneously to both the “family of hearts” and the “four kings”). Melds which were not declared at the beginning of the hand cannot be claimed later. For the “trumps” meld, the Fool is not considered a trump; for the “frilli” meld, all number cards of the four suits (hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades) are considered pip cards.

Gameplay

Tricks

Just like in tressette and bridge, each hand of a tarot game consists of a sequence of “tricks”. A trick is the phase of play in which each player plays a card. For the first trick, the player to the right of the dealer leads (i.e., plays the first card). Other players respond by each playing another card. For tricks following the first one, the winner of a trick becomes the player on lead for the next one. The player who played the highest trump wins the trick, keeping in mind that the Judgment (trump №20) always beats the World (trump №21). If no trumps were played, the player who played the highest card of the suit which was led (the suit of the first card of the trick) wins. The winner collects the three cards on the table and places them face down in a pile next to them. In each trick, the player who leads is free to play any card, while the players who follow must adhere to the following rules.

• If the card that was led is of one of the four suits (hearts, diamonds, clubs or spades) and the player has cards of that suit, they must play any card of the same suit. If they have no cards of that suit, they must play any trump. If they don’t have trumps either, they may respond with any card.
• If the card that was led is a trump and the player has trumps, they must play one^[4]. If they have no trumps, they may play any card.

The Fool

The only exception concerns the Fool: the holder of this card always has the right to play it during their turn, without having to respect the aforementioned rules. The Fool cannot win a trick, but it is not captured either: the player who played it takes it back and puts it, face up and sideways, in their pile of captured cards. If the Fool is led to a trick, the next player is free to play any card, and this card will be considered as the card that was led.

Since the player who played the Fool is left with one extra card (having “rescued” it from a lost trick), they will later have to give the winner of the trick in which it was played another card in its place^[5]. They will therefore have to win one or more tricks after the one in which the Fool was played (a process called “covering the Fool”) and give that opponent any of the cards captured in these tricks; once the card has been given, the Fool can be turned face down. If they fail to win at least one trick after playing the Fool, at the end of the hand they will have to give the Fool to the winner of the trick in which it was played. To keep track of the winner of this trick, players might find it helpful to place the Fool askew in the deck of captured cards, orienting it towards the player in question.

Covering the Discard

The dealer’s discard is to all effects counted as if it were their first trick of the hand. It must however be “covered”: the dealer must win at least one other trick in the same hand. If they fail to do so, the discard is given to the winner of the last trick.

Bagatto Ultimo

An optional rule awards additional points for Bagatto Ultimo: if a player, in possession of the Bagatto (trump №1), plays it in the last trick, winning it, they obtain 20 points; however, if the attempt fails and the trick is won by an opponent, the opponents obtain 10 points each^[6].

Scoring

Computing the Score

At the end of the hand, the three players tally up the final score, given by the sum of the so-called “deck points”, the melds, and a possible Bagatto Ultimo.

For the “deck points”, each player counts one point for each trick taken (i.e., one point for every three cards captured), remembering to count one point for the discard too, which counts as a trick. To these points, each player will add the points of the counting cards which they captured^[7]. The sum of the “deck points” of the three players will always be 78 points (52 for the counting cards, plus one point for each of the 26 tricks).

To form the final score, players must add the points of the declared melds and the points for Bagatto Ultimo (if applicable) to the “deck points”.

How to Mark the Score

The score is marked on a sheet of paper, in a table, with a column for each player. A horizontal line is drawn to separate the hands.

The example shown above represents two hands of three-handed tarot. In the first hand, player A scores 20 points for “20 frilli” and no deck points; player B scores 10 points for a “family of diamonds”, and 39 deck points; player C scores 5 points for “three kings” and another 5 for a subsequent “four kings”, and 39 deck points. In the second hand, the first player gets 7 deck points; the second player gets 10 points for “10 trumps” and an additional point for a subsequent announcement of “11 trumps”, and 58 deck points; the third player gets 7 deck points.

Variants

Four-Handed in Pairs

The rules of four-handed tarot are similar to those of three-handed tarot, but the game is played in pairs. Games consist of four hands.

Deal and discard. Players sit so that members of the same team are opposite each other. The dealer deals 19 cards each, in three packets of five cards and one packet of four (the latter with an exposed card). The remaining two cards go to the dealer; the discard will also be of two cards.

Tricks and melds. The members of a team keep a single pile for their captured cards and have a joint score. Melds are identical to the three-handed game, with two exceptions: “frilli” can be obtained with 15 or more pip cards, “trumps” with 8 or more trumps. It should be noted that teammates are not allowed to combine their cards to form melds.

Covering the Fool and the Discard. If the dealer’s team fails to cover the discard, i.e. fails to win a single trick during the hand, the discard goes to the opposing team. Similarly, if the team of the player who played the Fool fails to win any subsequent tricks, they must surrender it to their opponents.

Bagatto Ultimo. The “Bagatto Ultimo” rule may be used in this variant too: if the player in possession of the Bagatto plays it on the last trick and wins it, they gets 20 points for their team; if, however, the trick is won by any other player (an opponent or even their teammate), the 20 points go to the opposing team.

Scoring. The “deck points” are counted in the same way as in the three-handed game, i.e. by counting the values of the counting cards and adding to them one point per trick taken (i.e. one point for every four cards captured), counting the discard as if it were a trick. In this way, the sum of the deck points of the two teams will always be 72. To these, players add the points of the counting cards and the “Bagatto Ultimo” points (if applicable).

Two-Handed with Two Dummies

A two-handed variant, known as “tarot with two dummies”, is played like the four-handed variant, but each player controls a “virtual” partner sitting opposite them, consisting of a hand of cards that is uncovered immediately after the discard. The mechanics of the game, the melds and the score remain identical to those of the four-handed version.

Four-Handed with Calling

In this variant of the four-handed game, the teams are not determined by the arrangement of the players at the table, but by the calling mechanism, which adds an element of unpredictability and strategic calculation.

Calling. The dealer, after the discard but before the announcement of the melds, calls one of the four kings by announcing its name aloud (e.g. “king of hearts”). The holder of the called king becomes the dealer’s partner for the current hand; the other two players form the opposing team. If the dealer holds all four kings, they may call a queen. The identity of the dealer’s partner remains concealed until they play the called card. If the dealer calls a card in their possession, they will be playing alone against three opponents.

Omitting or Capturing Melds

All of the game variants illustrated above may be played without melds. In this mode, the overall score is made up solely of the sum of the “deck points”, and the “Bagatto Ultimo” bonus (if applicable). These versions are generally considered to have greater strategic depth, as the removal of melds reduces the impact of luck in the composition of the hand, instead emphasising the players’ skill in handling the cards as the game unfolds.

A less common variant, applicable to both four- and three-handed games, involves the use of cards captured during play to form melds. This can replace the declaration of melds at the beginning of the hand, or co-exist with it. In the case of team games, cards captured by both partners are considered jointly for the formation of melds. This variant is also considered more strategic, as it requires careful planning of tricks.