PORRAZZO

OBJECT OF PORRAZZO: The objective of Porrazzo is to be the first player to score sixty-one points.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 5 Players

MATERIALS: 1 Standard 52 Card Deck

TYPE OF GAME: Fishing Card Game

AUDIENCE: Adults

OVERVIEW OF PORRAZZO

Porrazzo is a fun fishing type card game that originated in Mexico. It is played most commonly throughout the Southwest United States. Porazzo is all about the score. The first player to earn sixty-one points wins the game. There are numerous ways to win points by capturing cards and playing certain cards to the table!

SETUP

The first step of the game is to determine the seating arrangement and assign the first dealer. The easiest, and most common, way to make this happen is to draw for the highest card. The player with the highest card will be able to choose their seat first, and the player with the lowest, will choose their seats last.

The player with the highest card will also become the first dealer. The dealer will then shuffle the cards and deal three cards, face down, to each player. The game is ready to begin!

GAMEPLAY

The player on the dealer’s left begins the game and it continues clockwise around the group. During their turn, players play one card fac up to the middle of the table. If cards are already present in the middle, players may be able to capture the cards.

If the player is unable to capture the cards, then they are simply left in the center of the table until they are able to be captured. Players are able to capture cards in two scenarios. If there is another card on the table that matches the rank of the played card, then the player may capture that card and their played card.

If the card played by the player matches the lowest card in a sequence, then the player may capture the sequence along with their played card. If a player can capture all of the cards on the table, then they earn a bonus. If it is for matching, they earn a bonus equaling the rank. If it is for  sequence, then the bonus is equal to the rank of the last card.

Kings are worth four points, Queens are worth three points, Jacks are worth two points, and all other cards are worth one point. If a capture can be made, it must be made.

There are other ways players may score a bonus. If a player plays a card that cannot be captured, is lower than the number five, and matches the number of cards on the table, the player earns a bonus of that amount. If a player plays a card that is the same rank as the card played by the last player, they score a bonus, called Porrazo, which is the same as the rank of the card.

After each player has played three times, with no more cards left in their hand, the dealer will deal three more cards to each player. This continues until there are not enough cards to make a full deal. The hand comes to an end and points are tallied. The cards are then shuffled and the next dealer, in a clockwise manner, will begin the deal.

If after a hand is completed and scored and a player has earned sixty-one points, the game comes to an end. The player who reached the score first, or who has the highest points, wins the game!

END OF GAME

At the end of each hand, the points are totaled. Each player is to keep up with their own score after each hand. When a player scores a total of sixty-one points, the game comes to an end, and they are declared the winner!

Nakoa Davis
Latest posts by Nakoa Davis (see all)
×