How to Play

A Balkan fishing card game in the Scopa family where players capture by matching rank or summing values, with the Jack wild and sweeps called tablas.

Tablanet is a Serbian and Balkan fishing card game related to Scopa and Escoba. Two to four players receive six cards each, four cards are dealt face up to the table, and on each turn a player plays one card to capture table cards whose rank or total value matches the played card. The Jack is a special capture card, able to take every face-up card on the table at once. Capturing every card from the table in a single play is a tabla (Serbian), worth a bonus point. After the deck is exhausted, players tally their captured cards for ranked bonuses (most cards, the 10 of diamonds, the 2 of clubs, each ace, and each tabla), and the first player or team to the agreed target (usually 101 points) wins the match.

Players

Two players head to head, or three players for themselves, or four players in two partnerships with partners sitting opposite. Partnership play is the most common Serbian form.

Card Deck

• One standard 52-card deck, no jokers.
• Card capture values: Ace = 1, 2 through 10 = face value, Jack = special (captures the whole table), Queen = 12, King = 13.A♠K♠Q♠J♠
• Some regional tables instead give J = 12, Q = 13, K = 14, and the Jack is not wild; the rules below follow the dominant Serbian Tablić form in which the Jack is a table-clearing wild card.
• The 10 of diamonds and the 2 of clubs are scoring cards with their own dedicated points.10♦2♣

Objective

Score the most points across deals by capturing cards from the table, holding the majority of captured cards, grabbing the bonus cards (10 of diamonds, 2 of clubs, aces), and scoring tablas (sweeps). The first player or partnership to 101 points (or another agreed target such as 151) wins the match.

Setup and Deal

1. Choose a dealer; the deal rotates counter-clockwise after each hand.
2. Shuffle the deck and deal six cards to each player, usually in two batches of three.
3. Deal four cards face up to the centre of the table. If any card dealt to the table is a Jack, move it aside and replace it with the next card from the deck, because a Jack on the opening table would let the first player sweep too easily.
4. The remainder becomes the face-down stock; when all players have played their six cards, the dealer hands out six more cards each (no new cards go to the table) and play continues until the stock is exhausted.
5. The player to the dealer's right leads the first turn.

Gameplay

1. Play one card. Starting with the player to the dealer's right, each player in turn plays one card face up from their hand onto the table.
2. Capture by rank. If the played card is a Queen or a King and a matching face card is on the table, take both into your scoring pile. Similarly, an Ace captures any single Ace.
3. Capture by sum. If the played card is an Ace, 2, through 10, you may capture a single table card of the same rank, or any combination of table cards whose pip values sum to the played card's value (for example, a 7 captures a 3 and a 4, or captures a lone 7).
4. Priority: Some regional houses require rank-match capture if available; the dominant Tablić form lets the player choose between rank and sum captures when both are possible.
5. Play a Jack. A Jack captures every face-up card on the table in one sweep. No partial Jack capture exists. Playing a Jack with no cards on the table is simply wasted (the Jack joins the table as a trail).
6. Trail if unable. If the played card captures nothing (or the player declines all available captures, where allowed), the card stays face up on the table, available for later capture.
7. Tabla (sweep). If a capture empties the table completely, the player scores a tabla and marks the capturing card face up in their pile as a reminder for scoring. Capturing the last card of the final trick does not count as a tabla because no cards remain to sweep.
8. End of hand. When both the stock and every player's hand are empty, the last player to make any capture takes any remaining face-up cards into their scoring pile (this is not a tabla).

Scoring

• Most cards (kaarten): 3 points to the player or partnership with the most captured cards across the deal; if two sides tie, the point is not awarded (some houses award it to the last capturer).
• 10 of diamonds: 3 points (sometimes called the big ten).10♦
• 2 of clubs: 2 points (the little deuce).2♣
• Each ace: 1 point (4 aces in the deck, so up to 4 points on the line).
• Each tabla: 1 point.
• Match target: First to 101 points; on the hand in which a side reaches 101 (or passes it), if both sides pass the target simultaneously the higher score wins.

Winning

A hand ends when all cards have been dealt and played. Scores are added to the running total; the match ends when one player or partnership reaches the agreed target. In partnership play, partners combine their captured cards and tablas for a joint score.

Common Variations

• Tablić (Serbian): The default form described above, with Jack as wild and target 101.
• Tabinet (Romanian): Nearly identical rules, played with a 52-card pack and the same Jack mechanic, but sometimes with a 151-point target.
• Tablanette (1939 rules): An older English-language write-up with Queen = 13, King = 14, and Ace = 1 or 11 at player's choice; target 251 points.
• Four-player partnership: Two teams, partners opposite, with combined captures. Popular in Serbia and Bosnia.
• Building (soft-rule variant): Some houses allow placing a card on a table card to build a higher value for a later capture, similar to Cassino; strict Tablić play forbids building.

Tips and Strategy

• Never play a low card onto an otherwise empty table unless you hold a Jack for your next turn; giving opponents a single card on the table is equivalent to handing them a tabla.
• Save Jacks for point-heavy tables (containing the 10 of diamonds, 2 of clubs, or multiple aces). Sweeping a one- or two-card table with a Jack wastes the wild card.10♦2♣
• Track captured cards mentally: once a target scoring card (10♦, 2♣, an ace) is in someone's pile, focus on the remaining high-value cards and the card-majority point.10♦2♣
• In partnerships, avoid capturing if your partner can make a larger capture on the next turn; temporarily trailing a card can let your partner perform a tabla.
• Watch the table total before the last trick. The player who makes the final capture scoops any leftover cards without scoring a tabla, so plan so your side, not the opponents', takes that last capture.

Glossary

• Tabla (tablić): A sweep of every card from the table in a single play; worth 1 bonus point.
• Wild Jack: The Jack as a table-clearing card; plays legally on any table, capturing all face-up cards at once.
• Trail: Playing a card that captures nothing, leaving it face up on the table.
• Build: Stacking cards on the table to build a higher target value (allowed only in some Tabinet and Tablanette variants).
• 10 of diamonds / 2 of clubs: The two high-value scoring cards unique to the Tablić family.10♦2♣
• Stock: The face-down pile from which fresh 6-card hands are dealt after each round of six plays.