Bura Strategy: Practical Tips

Bura strategy rests on three things: trumps, counting and timing. Luck plays a big part, since nobody chooses their cards, but over many hands the player who counts precisely and never wastes a trump wins more often. The tips below are for three-card bura, with a separate section on five-card bura at the end. If you are not yet sure of the rules, read the rules article first.

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Trumps: when to spend them and when to keep them

Nobody picks the trump in bura; the turned card decides it. Your choice is a different one: which trump you spend on what. A trump should catch aces and tens, not jacks and zero cards. If your opponent leads a queen and you hold both a low trump and the king of that suit, beat with the king and keep the trump. At the end of a hand, when the stock is gone and every card comes out, one saved trump is often worth ten or eleven points.

• Keep a high trump (ace, ten) quietly: it is close to a guaranteed trick at the end.
• Spend a low trump on your opponent's ace: taking 11 points with a 2-point jack is the best trade in the game.
• Remember the turned trump: if it falls to you at the end, you will have one more trump for the last tricks.

When to say davi and when to fold

Davi, doubling the stake, is the moment bura stops being about cards and starts being about nerve. Say it when it is your lead and your hand is strong: two trumps and an ace, say, or more than 20 points already taken. If your opponent declines, you win the hand at the old stake; if he accepts, the hand is worth 2. When the davi comes at you, weigh what you stand to lose: by declining, only the current stake; by accepting, double. With a weak hand and an opponent who has already taken a lot, declining is often the cheap way out.

Raises alternate between the sides: if you said davi, the next raise, se, can only come from your opponent. The stake in one hand can climb as far as shashi, 6. Near the end of a match, one hand, when either side is a point from winning, is played without raises; keep that in mind as you follow the score.

Keeping count: the 31 line

You cannot see your own points on screen unless the table turns that on, so count in your head after every trick. A tip: count the big cards first. An ace is 11, a ten is 10, and two such cards already make 21. Add the kings, queens and jacks and you almost always know how far you are from 31.

1. You take the ace and queen of spades: 14.
2. You lead the ten of hearts; your opponent cannot beat it and gives a card face down. In three-card bura the cheapest card is the jack, 2 points, so this trick is worth at least 12: you are on 26 at least.
3. You take the king and jack of diamonds: 6, so 32 at least.
4. Say "var" straight away: you are past 31 even if the face-down card was a plain jack.

You cannot see face-down cards, but that does not mean they carry no points: in three-card bura each is worth at least 2. If what you saw plus that minimum already reaches 31, "var" is safe. In five-card bura given cards go face up, so there you can count exactly.

When to lead one card and when to lead several

Leading several cards together is bura's strongest weapon, but it cuts both ways. Say clubs are trump and you hold the ace and king of hearts. Lead both and your opponent must beat both. If he has one trump and the ten of hearts, he trumps the ace, beats the king with the ten, and walks off with your 15 points plus his own cards. Lead the king alone and he will probably beat it with the ten and take 14, but your ace stays with you and his trump stays in his hand, and he leads next. The rule of thumb: lead together when you think your opponent cannot beat them all, or when you want to draw out his trumps.

• Leading together is good when the high cards of that suit are in your hand or already played.
• Leading together is risky when your opponent may hold several trumps.
• Leading a single low card is a good probe: how he answers tells you a lot about his hand.

Weighing risk at the end of a hand

When the stock runs out, bura becomes a different game. No new cards arrive, hands shrink, and every card is almost face up, if you have counted what has gone. Now ask yourself: who has more, you or your opponent? If you know your trump is the last one, save it for the final, richest trick. If the cards run out and nobody has said "var", the higher score wins, so sometimes careful play and quiet collecting is safer than an early declaration.

Counting your opponent's cards

• Three-card bura has only 20 cards. Keep track of the four aces and four tens: which have been played.
• Count trumps: five in three-card bura, nine in five-card. The turned trump is already known.
• If your opponent did not trump an ace, he either has no trump or is saving it. The next few tricks will tell.
• If he leads two cards of a suit, he has fewer of that suit left; answer in a different suit next time.

What changes in five-card bura

With five cards everything happens more slowly. Nine trumps and sixteen zero cards mean many tricks are empty and the hand goes all the way towards 61. The main strategic weapon here is the multi-card lead: three scoring cards of one suit force your opponent to spend three trumps or hand you points. Keep the zero cards for giving. In pairs, the biggest mistake is trumping your partner's cards when they already stand. Five-card bura has its own article.

Frequently asked questions

When is the right moment to say "var"?

When you know you already have 31 (61 in five-card bura). In three-card bura count each face-down card as 2 points, since it cannot be less; assuming more is a risk, because a false claim loses the hand.

Is accepting a davi always risky?

Accepting makes the hand worth twice as much, in both directions. With a strong hand or plenty of points already taken, accepting is often right; with a weak hand, declining limits the damage.

Should I beat with a trump or with a higher card of the same suit?

If a card of the same suit does the job, usually spend that and keep the trump. A trump is worth far more at the end of the hand.

• Play bura online
• Bura rules, step by step
• Five-card bura: rules and differences
• Bura or seka: how they differ

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