How to Play

Scarto is the simplest Piedmontese tarot game for 3 players. The dealer picks up a 3-card talon, discards three, and all three fight over 25 tricks of the 78-card deck.

Scarto (Italian for 'discard') is the simplest three-player Italian Tarot game, played in Piedmont with the regional 78-card Tarocco Piemontese deck. The game gets its name from the act each player performs at the start: the dealer looks at the 3-card talon, keeps what they want, and discards 3 cards from their own hand. There is no bidding and no partnership; each of the three players plays for themselves across 25 tricks. Card points are counted in threes with a 2-point subtraction per triple, and whichever player ends the hand with the lowest score pays the other two. It is the gentlest introduction to the Piedmontese Tarot tradition and serves as the gateway to more elaborate Italian tarot games like Mitigati and Il Cego.

Players

Exactly 3 players. Each plays for themselves; there is no partnership and no declarer. The first dealer is chosen by cutting the deck (lowest trump deals). The deal rotates counter-clockwise, which is standard for Italian tarot.

Card Deck

Use a 78-card Tarocco Piemontese deck. The pack contains: four suits (Coppe/Cups, Denari/Coins, Bastoni/Batons, Spade/Swords) with 14 cards each (Ace = 1 low, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Fante/Jack, Cavallo/Knight, Regina/Queen, Re/King), plus 21 numbered trumps (Tarocchi, I through XXI) and one unique card called Il Matto (The Fool). If a Tarocco Piemontese deck is unavailable, use a Tarot Nouveau (French Tarot) 78-card deck; the mechanics are the same. Long suits (Bastoni, Spade) rank high to low: Re, Regina, Cavallo, Fante, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. Round suits (Coppe, Denari) rank high to low: Re, Regina, Cavallo, Fante, Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Trumps rank from XXI (highest) down to I (lowest). Il Matto is suitless.

Objective

Capture card points by winning tricks. Each player's final score is their captured card points minus 26 (each player is 'given' a third of the total 78 expected points as baseline). The player with the lowest positive remainder after all three are subtracted pays out to the other two.

Setup and Deal

1. Shuffle the 78-card deck. The dealer offers the cut to the player on their left.
2. Deal 25 cards to each player, distributed in packets of 5 counter-clockwise (5 to right-hand opponent, 5 to left-hand opponent, 5 to self, repeat five times).
3. Set the final 3 cards aside face-down as the talon (scarto).
4. Talon exchange (scarto phase): The dealer picks up the 3-card talon and examines it. They then discard any 3 cards face-down from their own hand (29 cards total before discarding, 25 after). The discarded cards count as captured tricks for the dealer and are added to their trick pile at the end of the hand. Restrictions: the dealer may not discard Kings, Il Matto, Tarocco XX, or Tarocco XXI. Tarocco I (called the Bagatto) may be discarded only if the dealer holds no other trumps.
5. The player to the dealer's right leads the first trick.

Gameplay

1. On your turn, play exactly one card to the trick.
2. Follow suit if able: If you hold any card of the led suit, you must play one. If you do not hold a card of the led suit, you must play a trump if you have one. If you have neither, you may play any card.
3. Overtrumping: If trumps are led or a trump has been played, you must play a higher trump if you hold one. You cannot discard a trump when a lower trump would suffice.
4. Il Matto (The Fool): The Fool is unique. It may be played at any time regardless of the suit led, as a 'lift' card that you do NOT give up to the trick winner. Instead, the Fool is taken back into your own trick pile at the end of the trick (as if you won it), though the actual trick itself goes to the highest trump or led-suit card as normal. The Fool cannot win a trick for you; it just excuses you from following suit and is preserved as one of your captured cards. Exception: if the Fool is played in the very last trick (the 25th), it is captured by the winner of that trick.
5. Winning the trick: The highest trump wins, or if no trump was played, the highest card of the led suit wins. The winner collects the played cards (except the Fool, if played by another player) and leads the next trick.
6. Playing 25 tricks: Play continues until all 25 cards in each hand are played and all 75 tricks' worth of cards have been resolved (recall the dealer's 3 pre-discarded cards count as a bonus captured in their trick pile).

Scoring

• Card point values in Scarto: Kings = 5 points each. Queens and Il Matto = 4 points each. Knights = 3 points each. Jacks = 2 points each. Trumps XXI, XX, I (Bagatto) = 5 points each. Pips (2-10 in all suits) and trumps II-XIX = 0 points each. Il Matto counts 4 points for its holder. Total card points in the deck: 4 Kings x 5 = 20, 4 Queens x 4 = 16, 4 Knights x 3 = 12, 4 Jacks x 2 = 8, Trumps I/XX/XXI x 5 = 15, Il Matto = 4 = 75 card points, plus 1 residual per trick of non-zero cards. In practice the total in the deck is counted as 78 per Italian tradition.K♠Q♠J♠
• Counting in triples: At the end of the hand, each player sorts their captured cards into groups of 3. For each group of 3 cards, add the card values together and SUBTRACT 2 points from the group total. Then sum all group totals. This gives the player's 'triple-counted' trick score.
• Baseline subtraction: Each player subtracts 26 (their 'share' of the 78 total baseline) from their triple-counted score. The resulting positive or negative number is their hand score.
• Settling the hand: The sum of all three hand scores is 0. The two players with positive scores win; the one with the negative score pays each of them the appropriate amount (often in chips or token units equal to 1 chip per net point).
• Match target (optional): Play to a fixed cumulative score (commonly 100 points) or for a fixed number of hands; the player with the highest cumulative score wins.

Winning

A hand is 'won' by every player with a positive final score; the one losing player has the lowest triple-counted minus 26. Over a match, the winner is the player with the highest cumulative positive score across all hands.

Common Variations

• Mitigati: A more complex Piedmontese tarot for 3 players with bidding and a declarer; Scarto is considered its simplified cousin.
• Four-player Scarto: Deal 19 cards to each player plus a 2-card talon; the dealer discards 2 instead of 3. Mechanics are otherwise identical.
• Scarto without the Fool restriction: The Fool may be freely discarded in the scarto phase; rarely played because it disadvantages the dealer's opponents.
• Piccolo Scarto: Deal 12 cards each with a 42-card subset of the deck (trumps plus honours only). A short version for teaching.
• Bagatto bonus: The player who captures Tarocco I (Bagatto) in the last trick wins a 5-point bonus (called 'Ultimo').

Tips and Strategy

• On receiving the talon as dealer, discard low pips from your weakest suit to create a void. A voided suit lets you trump in when that suit is led against you.
• Never discard Kings or the high trumps (XX, XXI, Il Matto). They are worth 5 or 4 points each and are banned by the rules anyway.
• Track trumps played. With 21 numbered trumps plus Il Matto, you can mentally mark them off; by mid-hand you should know whose hand holds the remaining high trumps.
• Defend against the dealer by leading the suit in which you are long. Forcing the dealer to trump expends their reserves.
• Keep one small trump to capture a late honour card. The difference between winning a trick with Tarocco V versus losing it with a pip can swing 5 points.
• The Fool is a defensive gem, not a trump. Play it late in a trick where you cannot follow suit to preserve a valuable card that you would otherwise lose.

Glossary

• Scarto: The act of discarding after picking up the talon; also the name of the game.
• Talon: The 3 face-down cards set aside at the deal, picked up and exchanged by the dealer.
• Tarocco Piemontese: The 78-card Italian tarot deck used in Piedmont, with the specific ranking and artwork for Scarto.
• Il Matto (The Fool): The unique untrumpable card that excuses following suit and returns to its player at trick's end.
• Bagatto (Tarocco I): The lowest numbered trump, worth 5 points, a valuable trick-taker when saved for the end.
• Ultimo: The trick that takes the Bagatto or Il Matto wins a 5-point bonus (in some house rules).
• Long suits: Bastoni and Spade, where number cards rank high to low 10 down to Ace.
• Round suits: Coppe and Denari, where number cards rank high to low Ace at middle, then 2 to 10.
• Tarocchi: Italian for trumps, the 22 numbered trump cards of the deck.