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Card games in Uruguay

This page is part of the National and Regional Card Games Index of the Card Games Web Site.

Two games played with the 40-card Spanish suited pack:

• A special version of Truco (somewhat different from the version played in neighbouring Argentina.
• Tute Cabrero - a variation of Tute for 3 to 6 players playing as individuals.

Uruguay is famous in card game history as the country of origin of Canasta, which is said to have been invented in Montevideo in 1939 and became a worldwide craze in the 1950's.

The book El Juego es Cosa Seria by Juan Capagorry (Montevideo, 1979) describes a number of Uruguayan card games and variants, including:

• Escoba de 15 (similar to Spanish Escoba) with the variants Baciga and Escoba Chorizo, in which after each pertial deal players can in addition declare and score for various combinations of cards in hand.
• Brisca - similar to the Spanish game.
• Several versions of the Spanish game Tute
• Purrete - a game of the Rams group with 3 cards dealt to each player.
• Siete e Medio - a banking game also played in southern Europe, in which players try to achieve a total closer to seven and a half than that of the banker, numeral cards being worth face value and picture cards one half.
• Solo. In Uruguay this name is used for a three-player game of the Manille family, with bidding.
• Chin-Chon - a rummy game, also played in Spain, with a variation called Conga.
• Golfo - a Spanish vying game played with a 28-card pack - the 2-9 of each suit each counting face value - in which the winner is the player who has most points in one suit.
• Mus - the Basque partnership vying game.
• Truco Oriental also known as Hasta el Dos, a variant of Truco.
• Faraon - which is a version of the banking game Faro

The World Casino Directory includes a listing of Casinos in Uruguay.