Poker Online PokerStars.com		Texas Holdem Play Free Online

Tarot games originated in Italy in the early 15th century. They are still played in a number of European countries, namely: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland. Each of these countries has its own rather different version(s) of the game.

Tarot games require special cards - a Tarot pack normally consists of:

• four suits, which may be the French suits of hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades or the Italian suits of cups, coins, batons and swords)
• a series of 21 special cards which serve as trumps
• another special card (looking a bit like a joker, though there is no historical connection) called the fool or excuse.

Tarot games are point-trick games in which you must trump if you have no card of the suit led. The values of the cards are common to most games of the group: 5, 4, 3, 2 for the court cards in the suits; 5 for the 1 and 21 of trumps and the fool; and 1 for each other card. However, the method of adding up these values in most games is quite unusual and characteristic of Tarot games - see the page on counting points in Tarot games for a discussion.

In "Il Mondo e l'Angelo" (Bibliopolis, Napoli, 1993), Michael Dummett classifies Tarot games into three types. Games of type I, found only in Italy, depart from the usual card values in that besides the fool, 21 and 1 there are other trumps with a value greater than 1 point. This group includes:

• the Florentine game of Minchiate, played with 97 or sometimes 98 cards, which was very popular in central and southern Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, but seems unfortunately to have died out early in the twentieth century;
• the various forms of Tarocchi still played in Sicily with 63 or 64 cards, which are described in detail in Michael Dummett's book "I Tarocchi Siciliani" (la Zisa, Palermo, 1995).
• the forms of Tarocchi played in Bologna with their special 62 card pack. An example is:
  • Ottocento

Games of type II and type III use the normal card values already described, but are distinguished by the way that the fool is used. The classic role of the fool is as a card which can be played at any time instead of following suit or trumping, but loses the trick. It is used this way games of type I, and also in the type II games:

• French Tarot
• Danish Tarok
• Troccas (Switzerland: Graubünden)
• Droggn (Tyrol: Stubai valley)

In Central Europe, the standard card values are still used, but the role of the fool has been changed. It is simply the highest trump (effectively the 22), ranking above the 21. These games in which the fool has its modern role began to appear in the eighteenth century. Michael Dummett classifies them as type III Tarot games.

• Hungarian Tarokk (Paskievics)
• Illustrated Hungarian Tarokk (Palatinusz)
• Königrufen (Austria)
• Zwanzigerrufen (Austria)
• Tapp Tarock (Austria)
• Slovenian Tarok
• Taroky (Czech Republic / Slovakia)
• Cego (Baden, Germany)
• Romanian Tarok

There is one Swiss Tarot game which seems to be intermediate between types II and III. The card values are standard but the fool can be used in either the classic or the modern way.

• Troggu

There are a few examples where a tarot pack is used to play a game which is not really of the tarot family. An example is Vier-anderle.

For the history and rules of games played with Tarot cards, the standard reference is now A History of Games Played with the Tarot Pack (Edwin Mellen Press, 2004), by Michael Dummett and John McLeod. Volume 1 deals with type I and type II games; Volume 2 covers type III and miscellaneous games. Associated with the book is a web site www.tarotgame.org at which the authors intend to publish updates. This book provides a much expanded and updated version of parts of The Game of Tarot by Michael Dummett (Duckworth 1980), which has long been out of print.

Nosferatu has written a Tarot / Tarock module for the free format Vassal Game Engine. This enables any card game using a 78-card French suited Tarot or Tarock deck to be played over the Internet.

Hans-Joachim Alscher has published many useful source documents including rules of Tarot games from the 17th to 19th century at www.tarock.info and on his Tarock und Spielkarten page, which also includes a summary (in German) of the various types of Tarot game.

William N. Vossbrink has founded Club Taroc for discussion between players of all kinds of Tarot (Tarok, Tarocchi) games, with a map showing the location of members around the world.

At the site trionfi.com a group of researchers is collecting and publishing information and theories about the origin and early uses of Tarot cards, up to 1465.

Hans-Joacim Alscher's Tarock Gallerie provides illustrations of various standard designs of Tarot, Tarock and Tarocchi cards.

Players in North America can obtain various types of Tarot, Tarock and Tarocchi playing-cards from TaroBear's Lair.

Information on the history of various designs of Tarot cards (concentrating almost entirely on Italian suited cards) has been collected at The Hermitage site.

Michael Hurst's Tarot Notebook explores the possible allegorical significance of Tarot card designs.

Since the late eighteenth century, Tarot cards have also been used for occult purposes. In the twentieth century the occult interpretation of the cards has become more popular and widespread than the games for which the cards were originally intended. If you are interested in this aspect of Tarot, you could visit J. Karlin's Tarot FAQ or browse the sites on the Tarot Wheel Web Ring for further information.

Jan Frecè has made a German translation of this page, with a link to the rules of his version of Slovenian Tarok.