ARBA’A TURUB

ARBA’A TURUB

OBJECTIVE OF ARBA’A TURUB: The objective of Arba’a Turub is to win two consecutive hands to win the game.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:  4 Players

MATERIALS: 4 modified 52-card decks, and a flat surface.

TYPE OF GAME: Trick-Taking Card Game 

AUDIENCE: Adult

OVERVIEW OF ARBA’A TURUB

Arba’a Turub is a game played by 4 players in two partnerships. It’s a trick-taking game where the goal to win a hand is to win the most tricks. To win the whole game you win two hands in a row. 

SETUP

To set up for Arba’a Turub you will need four 52-card decks. These will all need to be modified taking out the cards ranked 5 and below leaving a 36-card deck consisting of Aces through 6s. The 4 decks will be shuffled, and a dealer can be determined randomly. The deck should be cut by the player left of the dealer. 

The dealer will then begin dealing every player a 36-card hand, this should be done three cards at a time. 

The dealing starts with the dealer’s left and when they have received their first three cards, they may view them and will call a trump suit. Then dealing may proceed as described above. 

Players should confirm the dealer dealt the cards correctly. If it is found there was an error, cards should be redealt. 

To keep their hands straight many players, sort their cards by rank and suit, switching between black and red suits. 

The dealing and playing are all done clockwise. 

If the dealer’s partnership wins the next dealer will be a player from the losing partnership. If the dealer’s team loses or draws their team remains the dealer. In the case of a loss, they take turns alternating dealer. In the case of a draw, the dealer remains the same.  

Card Rankings

The ranking for this game is standard. The cards are ranked Ace(high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, and 6.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay is simple for Arba’a Turub. It follows standard rules for trick-taking games. The first player to start the game is the player to the dealer’s left and after this, the player who won the previous trick will lead the next one. 

Once a card is led the following players should follow suit. If they are not able, they may play any card including trump cards. Once all players have played the highest trump card wins if applicable, otherwise, it’s the highest-ranking card of the led suit that wins. In this game, however, it is possible to have the same card played twice or more. In this circumstance, the card played first ranks higher. 

This game also allows partners to signal to their partner certain things about their hands. Only the player who leads the trick can give signals. 

End of Hand 

Once a full hand has been played each team tallies their won tricks. The partnership with the highest tally wins the hand. 

END OF GAME

The game is won by the partnerships that win two matches in a row, but they must meet certain criteria to win. The games must be won consecutively, and the second hand won must be won with a higher number of tricks than the first. For example, to win Partnership A won two hands in a row the first they won by getting 17 tricks in total. The second hand they won they won with 20 tricks. This means they have successfully won the game. 

If the second hand won does not exceed the number of tricks of the first hand won, it’s considered a draw and the game continues.

Nakoa Davis
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