Botifarra online with ButiArena

Four players, two pairs

Botifarra is played with the full Spanish deck of 48 cards by four players in two pairs, partners sitting opposite each other. Each player receives twelve cards.

The 9, called the manilla, is the strongest card of each suit, followed by the ace, the king, the knight and the jack. Botifarra is not a member of the Brisca family: it descends from the old game of manilla and is played above all in Catalonia.

Points

The manilla is worth 5 points, the ace 4, the king 3, the knight 2 and the jack 1, and every trick adds one more point: 72 points in each hand. The pair that takes more than 36 scores the difference.

Calling the trump

In each hand one player chooses: name a suit as trumps, call botifarra (no trumps, and the hand is worth double), or delegate the choice to their partner, who cannot pass it back. The turn to choose moves one seat every hand.

Double, redouble and Sant Vicenç

Before the first card, the opponents can double (contro), the calling pair can answer with a redouble (recontro), and the opponents can raise again to Sant Vicenç. The hand is then worth two, four or eight times as much.

Free or required

In free Botifarra you must follow suit and, when an opponent is winning the trick, beat it if you can, trumping when you have no card of the suit led. ButiArena also offers the stricter required (obligada) Botifarra.

Winning the game

Scores add up hand after hand until one pair reaches 101 points, or 51 for a shorter game. In rooms with friends you can choose any limit between 31 and 301.