How to Play

Bourré is a five-trick Louisiana Cajun gambling game (2-7 players) in which anyone who stays in and wins zero tricks must match the entire pot, producing the famously explosive pot sizes for which the game is loved.

Bourré (pronounced 'BOO-ray', sometimes spelled Booray or Boure) is a Louisiana Cajun trick-taking game for 2 to 7 players, famous for one dramatic rule: if you stay in the hand and fail to win a single trick, you are 'bourréd' and must match the entire current pot for the next deal. Every hand plays only five tricks from five-card hands, with a trump suit set by the dealer's last card turned face-up. Players may decline to play (drop) after seeing their cards and lose only their ante; those who stay in may swap any number of cards for fresh ones from the stock before the first lead. Following suit is compulsory; so is trumping when void, and so is heading the trick when you have a card that can win it. The pot is won by the player with the most tricks at the end of the five-trick hand, and an untied win clears the pot; a tie, or anyone bourréd, carries the whole pot into the next deal, causing stakes to escalate quickly.

Players

2 to 7 players, best with 4 or 5. All players play individually (no partnerships) and the same dealer continues as long as they wish, though most circles rotate the deal clockwise each hand. Everyone plays for themselves; alliances across the table are considered cheating.

Card Deck

One standard 52-card deck, no jokers. Ranking high to low in every suit: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The trump suit beats every other suit and is set anew each deal when the dealer exposes the last card they deal themselves; the suit of that exposed card is trump.

Objective

Win the pot by taking more tricks than any other player still in the hand across the five-trick deal. Equally important, avoid being bourréd (staying in but taking zero tricks), because the penalty is doubling the pot size out of your own pocket.

Setup and Deal

1. Agree the ante (for example 1 chip per deal). Every player puts an ante into the central pot at the start of each hand.
2. Shuffle the deck; any player may cut.
3. The dealer gives five cards to each player, one at a time clockwise.
4. The dealer turns their own last card (the fifth) face-up on top of their own hand. Its suit is the trump suit for this deal.
5. The dealer then picks the exposed card up; it stays in their hand.

Staying In and the Exchange

1. Starting on the dealer's left and going clockwise, each player looks at their five cards and announces 'in' (staying to play) or 'out' (dropping). Dropping costs only the ante paid earlier; a dropped player takes no further part in the deal.
2. Every player who stays in must commit to play all five tricks. There is no fold mid-hand.
3. After all stay/drop declarations, each player still in may simultaneously discard up to all five of their cards onto a face-down waste pile and draw the same number of fresh cards from the top of the stock. A player who discards zero cards is said to stand pat.
4. If the stock is insufficient to satisfy all draws, shuffle the waste (minus the turn-up) into a new stock and continue.

Gameplay

1. The first player still in, starting on the dealer's left, leads the first trick by playing any card face up.
2. Each remaining player in turn, clockwise, plays one card, forming a trick of as many cards as there are players still in.
3. Must follow suit if able. If you hold one or more cards of the led suit, you must play one.
4. Must trump if void of the led suit. If you cannot follow suit, you are required to play a trump if you have one. You may only discard an off-suit card when you have neither a card of the led suit nor any trump.
5. Must head the trick if possible. When playing a trump (either because trumps were led, or because you are ruffing in), you must play a trump higher than any trump already played to the trick if you can. When following suit, most Louisiana house rules also require you to play higher than the current winning card if possible; confirm locally.
6. Trick winner: The highest trump played wins; if no trumps were played, the highest card of the led suit wins. The winner gathers the trick face-down and leads the next trick.
7. Play continues through all five tricks. Each player still in keeps a running count of their own tricks won.

The Bourré Penalty

At the end of the five tricks, any player who stayed in but took zero tricks is 'bourréd' (also spelled 'booray'd'). Each bourréd player must immediately match the entire current pot with their own chips, paid into the pot; the pot then carries in full to the very next deal, on top of the fresh antes. Several bourréd players each pay the match, so a multi-bourré hand can double, triple, or more the pot within a single deal.

Winning the Pot

1. If exactly one player has strictly more tricks than any other player still in, that player wins the entire pot (fresh antes plus any previous carry and bourré matches).
2. If two or more players tie for the most tricks, the pot carries over untouched to the next deal; everyone antes again on top and the stakes grow.
3. If anyone is bourréd, they pay the full current pot even if another player also wins the deal outright; in that case the winner collects the pot as it was before the bourré match and the bourré match itself is pushed forward into the next deal's pot.
4. Play simply continues dealing until the players agree to end the session. Your final position is your net chip balance.

Winning

• Per-hand winner: Player with the most tricks at the end of a clean deal.
• Session winner: Largest chip balance when the group agrees to stop.
• Misdeal: If a card is exposed during dealing (other than the dealer's deliberate trump turn-up), or if the wrong number of cards is dealt, the hand is void and the same dealer redeals.
• Tie-breakers: An in-hand tie never decides the pot; the pot simply carries on to the next deal.

Common Variations

• No must-head: Some Louisiana houses drop the must-head rule on non-trump tricks, requiring only follow-suit-or-trump; this is considered a softer game.
• Seven-card Bourré: Deal seven cards, play seven tricks; scales the stakes and is used at larger tables.
• Reno Bourré: A casino version dealt from a shoe with fixed antes and no exchange; rarer but commercially offered in some Nevada card rooms.
• Three-trick minimum: In some circles a player must take at least three of the five tricks to win the pot; winners taking only two tricks carry the pot over like any tie.
• Escalating ante: Antes double after each carry-over, separately from bourré matches; creates hurricane-sized pots very quickly.
• Capped pot: House sets a maximum pot size; once reached, excess chips are returned proportionally.

Tips and Strategy

• Fold any hand without at least one reliable trick-winner. One high trump plus an Ace in a side suit is the usual minimum to stay.
• Three trumps or two high trumps is a strong stay, especially when the dealer's turn-up gives you information about which trump is missing from the opposition.
• When exchanging, keep trumps and Aces first. Prioritise replacing the 2-3-4 clutter in side suits where you hold no winner.
• Count trumps across the table. Only 13 trumps exist; if you have five, the table is short on trumps and you should lead trumps to clear them and leave your side-suit winners unopposed.
• Avoid being the third or fourth player to stay in marginal hands. The more people who stay, the thinner the tricks spread; one trick from a four-handed hand is fine, but one from a six-handed hand is much harder to guarantee.
• As dealer, remember you see the turn-up before choosing to stay; use that privileged knowledge to make borderline decisions.
• When the pot is already carrying (maybe several deals), the expected value of staying goes up, but the cost of being bourréd goes up with it; only join carrying pots when your hand is distinctly above average.

Glossary

• Bourré / Booray: The name of the game; also the verb form, meaning to stay in and win zero tricks (suffering the matching penalty).
• Trump: The privileged suit, set by the dealer's exposed last card, that beats any card of another suit.
• Ante: Chip contribution each player pays into the pot before the deal.
• Turn-up: The dealer's last card, exposed to establish the trump suit, then taken into the dealer's hand.
• Stay / In: Declare that you will play the hand and risk being bourréd.
• Drop / Out: Fold before the exchange; lose only the ante.
• Exchange: Replace any number of cards with fresh draws from the stock before the first trick is led.
• Must-head: Obligation to play a card that beats the current winner when you can, both when trumping and when following suit.
• Carry / Rollover: Pot amount that remains in the centre when a tie or bourré prevents a clean winner.
• Pot: The central stake paid out to the winner of the deal (or rolled over).