Pilotta
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| Origin | Cyprus |
|---|---|
| Type | Trick-taking |
| Players | 4 |
| Cards | 32 |
| Deck | Anglo-American |
| Play | Counter-Clockwise |
| Card rank (highest to lowest) | A 10 K Q J 9 8 7 |
| Playing time | 25 min. |
| Related games | |
| Bid whist | |
Pilotta (in Greek Πιλόττα) is a trick-taking 32-card game derived from Belote. It is played primarily in Cyprus, being very popular among the Cypriot population, especially the youngsters, who usually arrange “pilotta meetings” in places such as cafés and cafeterias. Its counterpart played in Greece is named Vida (in Greek βίδα)
First, the 32 card deck is shuffled and then 'cut' by the player on the left of the one who shuffled. The one who cut is assigned hearts ♥ and moving on anticlockwise the players are assigned a suit in this order ♥ > ♦ > ♣ > ♠. If the suit which made the cut is hearts, for example, then the player who shuffled and cut the deck will be the dealer. If it was spades, then the person on the left of the shuffler is the dealer.
At the end of each turn, the player on dealer's left becomes the new dealer.
The cards are given counter-clockwise; first, 3 cards are given to each player, starting from the one on the dealer's right and ending at the dealer himself. Then, another 2 cards are dealt, and then another 3.
Starting from the player on the dealer's right, players bid on the score they expect to gain. The player with the highest bid is eligible to decide the trumps for the game. Bidding is typically performed in increments of 10, with the lowest opening bid being 80.
There is a more recent variation to the game known as Pilotta Palaristi, which reintroduces a point-based bidding system.
The player who bid first in the bidding round is the one who plays first. The first player plays any card he wants. The next one has to match the card suit. If the player is unable to do that, he has to play a trump if has one or otherwise play any other card. If a trump is played the other 3 players are require to play a higher trump if they have any.
Each player plays a card and the one with the highest rank wins them all. Every trump wins any non-trump. The rank of trumps from highest to lowest is given by J 9 A 10 K Q 8 7 while the rank of non-trumps is given by A 10 K Q J 9 8 7.
Usually the score ends when the first team reaches 351 points. In some cases, the limit can go up to 400 points if the players want to pursue a "lengthy" game, or correspondingly lowered to 251 and even 151 points if they are in a hurry, or just want to finish quickly.
Usually one of the four players is responsible to keep the score for the whole game for the two teams.
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Wikipedia