Reversis for three players

1. Number of players, deck of cards, Quinola

Reversis is usually played by four players, individually, with a deck of 48 cards obtained from a deck of 52 cards from which the four tens have been removed.

The hierarchical order of the cards is, from highest to lowest: ace, king, queen, jack, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

Reversis is played without a trump suit.

The jack of hearts holds an essential place in Reversis. It bears the name Quinola.

2. Length of the game, the pool, the stake

Reversis is played over a number of rounds agreed upon at the outset by the players, generally equal to 8. A round comprises 4 hands. A hand is the period of play extending between two deals. The deal is the distribution of the cards to the players.

Before play begins, each player receives 8 chips — long rectangular plaques — and twenty counters. A chip being worth ten counters in this game, each player starts with the equivalent of 100 counters.

Before the first hand, each player puts 4 counters into a basket and the dealer adds 4 more. This total of 20 counters forms the starting pool, called, in Reversis, the basket. On subsequent hands, if the basket is not empty, only the dealer adds 4 counters to it; but if the basket is empty, one starts again as at the very first hand.

The basket must always be placed to the dealer's right.

3. The deal

Dealing is an advantage. To determine the first dealer of the game, a player takes the deck of cards, shuffles it, and makes four roughly equal piles so that each player can take one. Whoever discovers the Quinola among their own cards is the first dealer.

The dealer gathers the 48 cards, shuffles them, and presents them in a pile to the player on their left so that they can perform the cut. The cut consists of splitting the pile of cards fairly evenly into two — in all cases, one must not take or leave fewer than three cards. The dealer reassembles the pile of cards by placing on top the cards from the split that had been underneath. Then the deal proceeds.

The deal is made to the right (counter-clockwise). The dealer first deals 3 cards to each of the other 3 players and keeps 4 for themselves, then continues with two rounds of the table, dealing 4 cards to each of the three other players, and to themselves. As a result, the dealer has received 12 cards and each of the other players only 11. The dealer then places the 3 remaining cards left in hand, face down, in a pile in the middle of the table; they form the widow.

4. The widow, the discards, the pot

Once everyone has looked at their cards, the first to play — this is the name given to the player who will open the hand by playing the first card, and who sits to the right of the dealer — may, if they wish, discard a card from their hand by placing it under the basket, and replace it with the one on top of the widow; if they do not wish to change their hand in this way — a player's hand here being the set of cards they have not yet played — they secretly look at the top card of the widow and, whatever it is, place it under the basket. The second and then the third player, following to the right, proceed in the same way. There is then no widow left, and three cards lie, face down, under the basket. It is now the dealer's turn to discard a card from their hand — which they must do so that the four players hold the same number of cards in hand, that is 11.

The cards under the basket now number 4 and form what is called, in Reversis, the pot.

5. Value of the pot

The value in counters of the pot is calculated by summing that, in counters, of the four cards composing it and adding to the result a flat 4 counters.

The value in counters of each type of card is 4 for an ace, 4 for the quinola, 3 for a king, 2 for a queen and 1 for a jack other than the Quinola. All other cards are worth no counters, and that is the reason why the value of the pot is systematically increased by 4 counters in case it should contain only worthless cards.

The minimum value of the pot is thus 4 counters — no card of value — and the maximum value of 20 counters — the four cards are aces, or three are aces and the last is the Quinola. Without the flat 4 counters, the minimum would be 0 counters and the maximum 16 counters.

Examples:

a) The pot below is worth : 4 + 2 + 4 + 0 + 4 = 14 counters

[Ace of clubs + queen of hearts + jack of hearts + 2 of spades]

b) The following pot is worth only: 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 4 = 4 counters

[7 of diamonds + 7 of spades + 5 of clubs + 2 of diamonds]

6. Play of the cards

The play of the cards is governed by the following three rules:

1° It is compulsory to follow the suit led if one holds it (the suit led is that of the card played by the first player, and may be spades, hearts, diamonds or clubs);

2° If one does not hold the suit led, one plays any card one wishes.

Playing a card that is not of the suit led is called renouncing. In Reversis, renouncing is only allowed if one does not hold the suit led.

The cards laid on the table during a hand form what is called the trick. A trick begins with one card played and ends with four cards; it is then said that the trick is complete — not to be confused with a player's hand (the cards they hold). At the start of a hand, each player has 11 cards in hand, and by the end of a hand 11 tricks will have been played.

Reversis is played in 8 rounds; 1 round comprises 4 hands; 1 hand comprises 11 tricks.

3° When the four players have played their card, whoever played the highest card, in the suit led, takes the trick that is on the table. This player is said to have made the trick. As there are 11 tricks in a hand, there are also 11 tricks taken. Once the trick has been taken, the player stacks it — gathering the cards into a pile — and places it in front of them, face down. In some games such as belote, tricks taken and stacked are called plis. Since the aim of belote is to score as many points as possible, the number of tricks taken is not counted; whereas in Reversis, not only does the number of points contained in the tricks count, but in case of a tie the number of tricks taken makes the difference. In Reversis, one refers only to tricks, even once stacked.

4° The first player to lay their card on the table is, at the start of each hand, the first to play — the player to the right of the dealer and the basket —, then for the following 10 tricks whoever has the lead, that is whoever has just taken the previous trick — commonly said to have made the trick.

7. Object of the game

7.1 Base game, winning the pot

The player who, at the end of a hand, has the fewest points in their tricks wins the pot. If several players have the same lowest number of points, whoever made the fewest tricks wins. If there is still a tie in the number of tricks, whoever is closest to the basket on the left wins — so, where applicable, the dealer has the advantage.

The player who, at the end of a hand, has the most points in their tricks loses the pot. If several players have the same highest number of points, whoever made the most tricks loses. If there is still a tie in the number of tricks, whoever is closest to the basket on the right loses.

Once the winner and the loser have been determined, the 4 cards of the pot are turned over to calculate its value in counters. Only the loser pays the pot to the winner, giving them the corresponding amount of counters.

Important:

When counting the points in the tricks, the Quinola counts as a simple jack, that is 1 point, whereas it is worth 4 counters in the pot.

7.2 Exception: the reversis hand

The reversis hand, simply called reversis, is played the opposite way from what has just been described. The player who wants to succeed at it must take all the tricks of the hand, of which there are 11.

Note: in all games played in France for centuries, taking every trick is called faire la vole ("making the flight"). Two card games, Piquet and Belote, use the word capot. Piquet is the oldest of the popular games still played in France, and Belote the most recent. The equivalent in Bridge is the English loanword grand chelem ("grand slam").

A reversis is not declared, but a player implicitly commits to succeeding at it once they have made the first 9 tricks. When a reversis has thus been committed to, the last two tricks, the tenth and eleventh, are called the final stretch.

Once the reversis has been committed to, the pot is no longer in play; it will not be paid, but the payment for the reversis will be made instead.

If the player who committed to the reversis does not succeed at it, failing to make the slam, they lose the reversis. As a result they are the only loser. The winner is then the player who took the tenth trick instead of them, or failing that whoever took the eleventh trick. In that case the reversis is said to have been broken in the final stretch. If the reversis is broken on the tenth trick, there is no need to play the eleventh.

The player who succeeded at the reversis receives 16 counters from each of the three other players — this amount happens to correspond to the maximum possible amount of the pot without the additional flat 4 counters. They thus win, for the successful reversis, 3 times 16 counters, that is 48 counters.

The player who did not succeed at the reversis — having had it broken in the final stretch — pays 16 counters to the one who broke it, and nothing to the two other players.

8. The Quinola, the basket, the beast

The Quinola is the name given to the jack of hearts. It is the most important card in the game, in the sense that the amount contained in the basket is tied exclusively to it. This amount is, in other card games, generally called the pool; in Reversis it is simply called the basket.

To win the basket, one must play the Quinola while renouncing, in accordance with the rules of the play of the cards. This is called placing the Quinola. As soon as a player has thus placed the Quinola, they immediately receive the contents of the basket.

On the other hand, if a player plays the Quinola in any other way, they owe a beast for the amount of the basket. There are thus two ways of owing a beast: playing the forced Quinola — this is when the suit led is hearts and one holds only the Quinola, which one must then play compulsorily —, and playing the led Quinola — that is when, having the lead, one plays the Quinola.

Owing a beast is a very old expression from card games played in France; it is found notably in the game of ombre. It could be translated in modern terms as incurring a debt. When a player has failed to place the Quinola, they owe a beast, and one writes on a sheet of paper, under their name, the amount in counters contained in the basket. This recorded amount is called a beast — one speaks of a beast of so many counters. Each line under the players' names is numbered, from top to bottom, from 1 to 10, so that if over several successive hands, a beast is owed by each of them, they will each be noted under the name of the player who owed it, and at each hand on the next line.

When there is no beast recorded on the sheet, and on a given hand a player owes one, it is written on the first line of the table and a circle is drawn around it to show that it is in play and that whoever owed it will have to pay its amount to the next winner of the basket — the player who places the Quinola. If the next winner of the basket is the one who had owed the beast in play, they simply see it crossed out.

The amount of the basket, when there is a beast in play, is equal to the number of counters it contains plus the amount of the beast, so that if another beast were owed while the first had not been crossed out, its amount would be that total amount of the basket. This second beast would be recorded on the second line of the table under the name of the player who owed it, but would not be put into play. For a new beast to be put into play, the basket must first have been won. Once the first beast has been crossed out, the next one to be put into play is not necessarily the second, but always the highest, that is the one on the lowest line of the table containing a beast, and so on until all the beasts have been crossed out.

Instead of crossing out the settled beast, one may strike it through, and the beast in play is always circled.

The fact that there is a beast in play does not exempt the dealer from adding 4 counters to the basket alone.

9. Exceptional payments linked to the aces and the Quinola

9.1 Basic case

Depending on how an ace or the Quinola is played, payments are made between players according to the following cases:

— if a player places an ace while renouncing, they immediately receive 1 counter from whoever takes the trick;

— if a player places the ace of diamonds while renouncing, they immediately receive 2 counters from whoever takes the trick;

— if a player places the Quinola while renouncing, they immediately receive 4 counters from whoever takes the trick (and of course they also win the basket);

— if a player plays a forced ace, they immediately pay 2 counters to whoever played the first card of the trick, in other words the player who forced them;

— if a player plays a forced ace of diamonds, they immediately pay 4 counters to whoever forced them;

— if a player plays the forced Quinola, they immediately pay 8 counters to whoever forced them and, as a consolation, the two other players each pay 4 counters to whoever forced the Quinola;

— if a player plays a led ace, they will pay 1 counter to the winner of the pot if they claim it;

— if a player plays a led ace of diamonds, they will pay 2 counters to the winner of the pot if they claim them;

— if a player plays the led Quinola, they will pay 4 counters to the winner of the pot if they claim them.


Summary table:

Event	Payment		Amount in counters
Card played	Beneficiary	Payer(s)	Ace	Ace of	Quinola
while renouncing (placed)	Player of the card	Whoever takes the trick	1	2	4
forced	Whoever played the first card of the trick	Player of the card	2	4	8
		The two other players	0	0	4
led	Winner of the pot (upon request)	Player of the card	1	2	4

Reminder: a card is forced if it is of the suit led; a card is led if it is played by the first player of the trick.

9.2 Case of the final stretches

In addition to the final stretch of the reversis — the last 2 tricks —, there are two other final stretches:

— the first stretch, which is the first trick of a hand;

— the last stretch, which is its last trick.

On the first and last stretch, the payments specified in chapter 9.1 (basic case) are doubled, but not the basket.

9.3 Case of the reversis

When a reversis has been committed to, whether won or broken, all payments concerning the aces and the Quinola are no longer made at the final stretch of the reversis — in other words on the last two tricks. The aces and the Quinola then become ordinary cards. This also applies to the basket, which is counted neither as a gain nor as a beast.

When a reversis has been committed to, whether won or broken, all payments concerning the aces and the Quinola that occurred in the first nine tricks are cancelled, and the players return to one another the counters received. If a player had placed the Quinola, they must return the basket and any beast associated with it. None of the three other players besides the one who undertook the reversis may owe a beast for having played the forced or led Quinola.

If a player succeeds at the reversis while having played the forced or led Quinola on one of the first nine tricks, they win the basket in addition to the reversis — this is the biggest hand in the game.

If a player sees the reversis they had committed to broken at the final stretch while having played the forced or led Quinola on one of the first nine tricks, they owe a beast and pay for the failed reversis to whoever broke it — this is the worst hand in the game.

10. The four aces

If a player, after the discards, holds all four aces in hand, they gain the privilege of being able to renounce at will. They can thus easily place their aces and the Quinola, and collect the benefits including the basket.

This player is not, however, obliged to use their privilege and may, if they wish, play normally.

As soon as the player holding the four aces has renounced while being able to follow the suit led, they have used their privilege. If they take even a single trick, they lose the pot and pay it to the winner, who is determined by the general rule applied only to the three other players.

A player who has used the privilege linked to the four aces, when another player has succeeded at the reversis, is alone in paying for the reversis, that is 3 times 16 counters (48 counters), and must return all their winnings related to the aces and the Quinola.

The four aces are not declared, so as to avoid the three other players quickly favoring one of them in order for him to make the reversis with the aim of forcing whoever used their privilege to pay the reversis for everyone.

11. End of the game

At the end of the last round, if the basket is empty and there is no more beast owed, one tallies the counters won or lost to establish a ranking of the players.

If at the end of the last round the basket is not empty or beasts remain outstanding, one may continue playing until there is no more stake at issue, and during this phase the dealer no longer adds 4 counters to the basket, or else play is stopped and the contents of the basket and any remaining beasts are shared among the players. The choice must be made by the player or players who have lost the most.

12. Reversis for three players

To play with three players instead of four, one simply uses a deck of 36 cards obtained by removing the tens, nines, eights, and sevens, from a deck of 52 cards.

All the rules of the four-player game apply to the three-player game. The number of cards dealt is the same, but the pot will contain only three cards instead of four.

Reversis for three is easier to manage because there is one fewer player and each suit contains only nine cards instead of twelve.

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Reference

Almanach des jeux, chez Fournier, Paris, 1785

Information about this page

Published online on 24 January 2008
Proofread and reformatted on 20 December 2021

Author: Philippe LALANNE

Le Salon des jeux - Académie des jeux oubliés

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