French Tarot Rules

Objective

Your goal is easy to put into words yet endlessly exciting to chase. You try to win the bidding, take the lead as the taker, and then gather enough card points through bold, well-timed tricks to meet your contract. When you succeed, you stand alone against the table, and every choice suddenly feels like you’re balancing on a wire with the whole room watching.

Number of Players

French Tarot welcomes 3 to 5 players, though you’ll most often see a table of four. With four, the game finds its sweet spot: quick enough to stay lively, but deep enough that every hand carries its own little story. It’s the format where strategy, tension, and table talk all blend into something special.

Material

• 78-card French Tarot deck
• Four classic suits with 14 cards each: King, Queen, Knight, Jack, then 10 down to 1
• 21 permanent trumps numbered 1 through 21
• 1 Excuse, also called The Fool, a wonderfully strange card with its own rules

Setup

Deal the cards clockwise. The number of cards each player receives depends on how many sit down to play.

• 3 players: 24 cards each and 6 cards in the chien
• 4 players: 18 cards each and 6 cards in the chien
• 5 players: 15 cards each and 3 cards in the chien

Players now bid for the privilege of being the taker, the one who challenges everyone else.

• Petite for a standard attempt
• Garde when you feel confident
• Garde Sans le Chien if you dare to play without looking at the kitty
• Garde Contre le Chien when you want the chien counted against you, a dramatic and risky contract

The highest bid wins. In Petite or Garde, the taker reveals the chien, adds those cards to their hand, and discards the same number face down. These discards count as tricks for the taker. Kings and trumps cannot be discarded unless specific exceptions allow it.

How to Play

The player to the dealer’s right leads the first trick.

Trick-Taking Rules

• You must follow suit if you can
• If not, you must play a trump
• If you cannot trump, you may discard anything
• If you trump, you must overtrump when possible, a rule that often creates very tense exchanges

The Excuse behaves unlike any other card. You may play it anytime, and it never wins the trick. You keep it unless it is played on the last trick and the taker is losing. Because it is worth 4.5 points, players handle it with great care.

The three Oudlers are precious cards that shape the whole game.

• Trump 21
• Trump 1
• The Excuse

The taker plays alone while all others collaborate to bring the taker down.

Scoring

Cards earn points measured in halves. Count them in groups of two to keep your head clear during play.

• Kings and all three Oudlers: 4.5 points
• Queens: 3.5 points
• Knights: 2.5 points
• Jacks: 1.5 points
• All other cards: 0.5 points each

The deck contains 91 points in total.

Target Score depends on how many Oudlers the taker wins.

• With 3 Oudlers: 36 points needed
• With 2 Oudlers: 41 points
• With 1 Oudler: 51 points
• With none: 56 points

Contract Multipliers

• Petite ×1
• Garde ×2
• Garde Sans ×4
• Garde Contre ×6

Bonuses

• Petit au Bout when the last trick is won with Trump 1: +10 points before multiplier
• Poignée for showing 10, 13, or 15 trumps: +20, +30, or +40
• Chelem for taking all tricks: +400

If the taker succeeds, each opponent pays. If the taker fails, the taker pays everyone. The calculation is: (25 base + difference from target) × multiplier.

Ending the Game

Each hand stands alone. You simply add scores from one hand to the next and keep going as long as you feel like it.

Variants

3-Player gives a faster, more tactical match. 5-Player introduces a delightful twist where the taker calls a King to find a secret partner. Tournée is an older style with different rules for revealing cards.

Advanced Strategy

Bidding Psychology

Knowing when to push your luck is part of the charm.

Bid when

• You hold strong trumps, often 8 or more
• You have multiple Oudlers, especially the 21 or the Excuse
• Your partner signals strength

Pass when

• Your trumps are weak
• You cannot find a single Oudler
• Opponents look ready to punish you

Playing the Excuse

Use it wisely. Save it for tricky moments, especially when you are about to lose a trick. It shines in the endgame, and most players treat it almost like a lifeline. In emergencies, you may need to let it go, but you should avoid this whenever possible.

Oudler Management

Trump 21 feels like a shield. Use it to secure a key trick or to draw out remaining trumps. Trump 1 is fragile. Play it neither too early nor too late unless you are plotting a Petit au Bout. The Excuse remains flexible and forgiving, often the safest Oudler to protect.

Point Counting

A little mental math goes a long way. Kings and Oudlers sit at the top of the value chart, so focus on capturing or protecting them. When you suspect an opponent is close to the goal, steer tricks away from your high cards. When possible, force them to spend trumps on worthless tricks.

Declaring Bonuses

Petit au Bout

Winning the last trick with the Petit gives a wonderful boost. Players plan multiple moves ahead to set it up.

Poignée

If you have a handful of trumps, you may show them before play starts. Even if you fail your contract, the bonus stays, so timing matters.

Errors to Avoid

Common pitfalls include playing the Excuse too early, miscounting the running total, and bidding too aggressively on hands that simply cannot win. Coordination also matters in variants with partners. Do not fight your partner for tricks, and always support the taker when it is your role.