Scopone scientifico Rules

In Italy there's a said that goes: "the poker player should dare; the tresette player should infer; the Scopone player should remember".
In fact, the most important trait a Scopone player should have is memory, that let him remember the cards already played by the other players.
There are at least two variant of the famous italian card game: Scopone classico, in which 9 cards are dealt to each player, and the remaining 4 cards are placed face-up on the table, and Scopone scientifico – in which 10 cards are dealt to every player, leaving none on the table.

The italian card game of Scopone scientifico (or classico) is played with a standard Italian 40–card deck, with the cards ranked from the Ace (lowest) up to the King (highest), with Knave, Horse and King counting as 8, 9 and 10 respectively. It's also possible to play Scopone with a standard 52–card deck, provided one removes the Jokers, and the 8s, 9s and 10s.
The number of players in a Scopone online match is four, divided in two couples. In Scopone classico online, the dealer deals (counter-clockwise, starting from the player at his/her left) 9 cards to each player, and put the remaining 4 cards on the table, face-up. If among these cards there are 3 Kings, the dealer have to re-deal the cards, as it would be impossible to score any scopa in this case.
In a Scopone scientifico online match, the dealer deals 10 cards for every player.

Just like in the italian card game of Scopa, the goal is to win by scoring more points than the adversaries; to win a match of Scopone scientifico online you have to score 21 points.

Each player, in his/her turn, has to play a card, aiming to collect one or more cards from the ones laid on the table. If on the table there's a card whose value is the same as the card played, then the player can collect the card from the table, placing it (along with the card played) in front of himself, face-down (as per rules).
Example 1:
If the player plays a 6, and there are 6, 3, 2 and Ace (=1) on the table, the player can collect the 6.
If there's no card of the same value, the player can collect two or more cards on the table, provided that the sum of their vales add up to the value of the card played (as per Scopone rules).
Example 2:
If the player plays a 6, and there are 4, 3, 2 and Ace (=1) on the table, the player can collect the 4 and the 2 (4+2=6), or he can decide to collect the 3, the 2 and the Ace (3+2+1=6).
If, adding the cards on the table in various combination, that player can't (as per Scopone scientifico rules) collect anything, the card played is laid on the table, along wth the other already there.
Example 3:
If the player plays a Knave, and the cards on the table are 7, 2 and a 4, then the Knave will be laid on the table, and the plaer won't collect any card.
As a general Scopone online rule, you can't collect more than one card if a card of the same value as the card played is already on the table (See Example 1, in which is only possible to cllect the 6, not the 3, 2 and 1).
If by playing a card the player collect all the cards on the table, this is called "scopa": the player will put, as usual, the collected cards in front of himself (on top of the other collected cards), but the card played will bu put face-up and cross-wise, under the collected cards. This is important to remember how many "scopa" were scored during the match.
Example 4:
If the player plays a 7, and a 4, a 2 and an Ace are on the table, then the player score a "scopa" (4+2+1=7).
The game continues like this, with the each player playing a card on his/her turns, until the last card is played and then - as per Scopone rules - it's time to calculate the score.
Note:
• the player who plays the last card of the hand cannot score (as per Scopone rules) any "scopa" even if he/she collect all the cards on the table;
• if, after the last card of the hand is played, there are still some cards left on the table, those are awarded to the last Scopone online player who collected any card/s.

When a hand is finished, the score is calculated as follows (the score of the team is, of course, the sum of the score of the two teammates):
• Scopa: 1 point is awarded for each scopa;
• Cards: the team who collected at least 21 cards is awarded 1 point (if the teams collected 20 cards each, then it'sa draw, and the point is not awarded);
• Coins: the team who collected 6 or more Coins-suit (or diamond-suit) cards is awarded 1 point (if the teams collected 5 Coins cards each, then it's a draw, and – as per Scopone online rules – the point is not awarded;
• Seven of Coins: the team who collected the Seven of coins (the 7 of the Coins suit) is awarded 1 point (this is the only point that's always awarded); • Primiera: the primiera is the highest score obtained by the sum of 4 cards (one for each suit); the values are as follows: 7=21 points, 6=18 points, Ace=16 points, 5=15 points4=14 points3=13 points2=12 points, face cards=10 points; the team that has the higher primiera score is awarded 1 point (if the score is the same for the 2 teams, the point is not awarded).
Note: to have a chance at scoring the primiera, the team has to have collected at least one card for each suit.
As per Scopone scientifico online rules, the team that first obtain 21 points win the Scopone match. In case of a draw, the match continues untile there's a team with an higher score.

Compared to its "big brother" Scopone scientifico, the italian card game Scopa is less complex and strategic (but not so, when compared to other card games, like Kalooki 40 or Buraco), and more fast-paced, as only 3 cards are dealt each hand. The rules of Scopa online are very similar to those of Scopone, with slight differences.

The deck used in a Scopa online match is the same as the one described above for the online Scopone. The number of players can vary from 2 to 4. Each player is dealt 3 cards by the dealer, while 4 cards are laid on the table, face-up (if 3 or more Kings are present,the dealer have to re-deal the cards); then the first player ca start the game by playing a card.
When all the three cards in hand are played, other 3 cards are dealt to each player, and so on until all the cards of the deck are played.

The same as online Scopone scientifico rules: in the italian card game of Scopa, the goal is to score more points than the opponent(s). Usually, in a Scopa match, the first to obtain 11 points win.

The game proceed as explained for online Scopone rules, with the players playing a card in their turn, aiming to collect the cards on the table, until all tha cards have been played.

The scoring system,too, is the same as per Scopone online rules, with the points awarded for collected "Scopa", for the Cards, for the Coins, the Seven of Coins and the "primiera". The only difference from the card game Scopone scientifico it's onlyn ecessary to score 11 points to win an online Scopa match.