The rules and how to play Buraco in 6 players

The 6-player Buraco is a very interesting variation to the 4-player standard rules. The difference to other schemes as the 3-player or the 5-player is that this variation is a "symmetrical", to that the dinamics are the same of the 4-player one, but with increased complexity and opportunities.

The rules don't differ much from the original one, so we suggest you to first learn that rules. Here we will only explain the differences between the two versions.

Preparation

As for the 5-player Buraco 3 sets of cards will be needed to play the 6-players Buraco. In this case 66 cards will be dealt to the 6 players, plus 33 cards for the pots, 99 cards just to start the round.

As in the classic version every player will take a card to decide the players position on table. The players of each couple with the highest cards value will sit in the same order, then the other 3 players.

From here on the proceeding is almost the same as always. The dealer will shuffle the cards and the player on his right will cut the stock and create 3 "pots" of 11 cards each. In the meanwhile the dealer will deal 11 cards to every player.

Remaining cards will be placed in the middle of the table as the "stock". The first card will be turned and the round begins.

The playing phase

The round will proceed as in the classic 4-players version. Runs will be placed in front of only one player of each couple. When one of the couple players quits his hand he will take an 11-card pot and go on with playing. When a player of a couple quits again, having al least one Buraco in his runs, the round finishes and scores will be computed.

Scores

The score at the and of a round will be computed in the classic manner, with points added to each couple score. Winner is the first that exceeds the 1000 points mark.

Differences in game strategy

The 6-players game is tactically the same as the 4-player one, with the same dynamics and the save opportunities.

The real difference is that between one player and his mate there are 2 opponents. This makes much harder to "pass" cards to him to help, but also increases the number of cards in the pile.