Maghreb · Trick-taking · Partners
Touti: rules and how to play
توتي
Touti is a Moroccan partnership game played with the 40-card Spanish deck. Teams bid for the points they will take, from 70 up to 230, and the winner of the auction names trump. Card points decide the hand, and a Rey and Caballo held together, the ghna, can swing it. The first team to 600 wins.
At a glance
- Players
- 4, in two teams of two
- Deck
- 40 Spanish cards: no 8s or 9s
- Goal
- First team to 600 points
- A game
- Hands of 10 tricks, to 600
01
How to play in one minute
- Deal ten cards each from the Spanish 40-card deck, to the right.
- Bid from 70 to 230 in steps of ten, each bid higher than the last, or pass. A pass is final.
- The highest bidder names trump and leads. Follow suit; if you can't, you must trump, and beat a trump already played if you can.
- Hold the Rey and Caballo of one suit? Announce your ghna just before playing one of them: 40 in trump, 20 in another suit.
- Card points plus ghna must reach the bid: make it and score all your points, miss it and lose the bid. First to 600 wins.
02
The rules
Bidding
Starting at the dealer's right, bid 70 to 230 in steps of ten, always higher than the last bid, or pass. Once you pass, you can only pass after that. Three passes after a bid end the auction; if all four pass from the start, the next dealer deals again. The highest bidder names trump and leads the first trick.
Playing
Follow suit if you can; if you can't, you must trump. Whenever you play a trump, by trumping or by following a trump lead, you must beat a trump already played when you can. The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led, and the winner leads the next.
Card order, high to low: As, 3, Rey, Caballo, Sota, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2.
Card points and ghna
- As 11, 3 10, Rey 4, Caballo 3, Sota 2. The last trick is worth 10 more, so a hand holds 130 card points.
- Ghna: holding the Rey and Caballo of one suit, announce it on your turn just before playing one of them. It is worth 40 in trump and 20 in another suit, counted for your team at once, even if you lose that trick.
- Play one of the pair without announcing and that ghna is lost.
Scoring
If the bidders' points, ghna included, reach the bid, they score all the points they took. If they fall short, they lose the amount of the bid. The other team always scores the points it took, ghna included. The first team to 600 wins; if both reach it, the higher score wins, and a tie plays another hand.
You bid 90 and your team takes 76 card points plus a 20 ghna: 96, so the bid is made and you score 96. With only 85 you would lose 90.
03
Tips from the table
- The As and the 3 carry 21 of the 30 points in every suit. Bid on them, not on the Rey and Caballo alone.
- A ghna in trump is worth 40, more than most tricks. Count it into your bid, and never play the Rey or Caballo without announcing it.
- You must overtrump when you can, so lead trumps early to pull the opponents' high trumps before they cut your winners.
- Don't forget the last trick: its 10 points often decide a close bid.
Qahwa · قهوة
Play it in Qahwa
Switch the house rules before you deal:
- Play to 300, 600 or 1000
- Scoring: score your points, or score your bid
- Must trump when you can't follow
- Must overtrump
- Bid again after passing
Online, every computer player is labelled and the deal can be checked. How we keep it fair
04
Questions
What is a ghna in Touti?
Holding the Rey (king) and Caballo (horse) of one suit. Announce it just before you play one of them and it is worth 40 in trump or 20 in another suit, even if you lose that trick.
How high can you bid in Touti?
From 70 to 230, in steps of ten. The cards and the last trick hold 130 points, and ghna can add up to 100 more: 40 for the trump pair and 20 for each of the other suits.
Can I play Touti online?
Yes. Play Touti in Qahwa at a private table with friends, or offline with the computer as your partner and opponents.
Play it free: Touti
Qahwa is in testing and not on Google Play yet. Join the early players list and be first at the table.