Barbu

Barbu, also known as Tafferan, is a trick-taking, compendium card game similar to hearts, in which four players take turns leading seven different sub-games (known as contracts) over the course of 28 deals. Barbu originated in France in the early 20th century where it was especially popular with university students, and became a prominent game among French bridge players in the 1960s. The French version of the game was originally played with a stripped deck of 32 cards ranked seven to ace in each suit. Modern forms are played with a full 52-card deck. Barbu may be descended from earlier compendium games popular with students and originating in the Austro-Hungarian Empire such as Lorum or Quodlibet. Barbu literally means 'the bearded [man]', a reference to the common depiction of the king of hearts, which is the only heart with a beard. This card is of special significance in one of the seven contracts featured in the game. Rules Preliminaries Four players (no partnerships) use a deck of 52 French suited cards (♠ ♣ ) ranking A (high) K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 (low). There are 28 deals in a game and each player deals seven times in succession, the deal passing to the left. Players draw for high card to determine who will be the first dealer. The dealer is automatically also the declarer. He shuffles the cards, offers them to the right for cutting and then deals 13 cards to each player. He then names which contract all will play for that deal. The declarer names each contract once only. After having played all seven contracts, the roles of dealer and declarer pass to the left for the next seven hands, and so on, until all have done their seven contracts.