Bura rules take a few minutes to learn, and the game stays fresh for years. Bura is a fast trick-taking card game with a trump suit: one player leads one or more cards of a single suit, the other either beats every one of them or gives up the same number of cards, and the hand goes to whoever first collects enough points and says so in time. The rules below are the ones played at Georgian tables and the ones bura on tamashebi.cc uses: first three-card bura, then what changes with five cards.
Bura is live on tamashebi.cc: open /bura and play three-card, five-card or five-card bura in pairs, against live opponents or against bots for practice.
What bura is: a fast, aggressive card game
A hand of bura lasts a few minutes, with no bidding round as in Joker. Two things make it aggressive. You may lead several cards at once and demand that your opponent beat all of them. And mid-hand you may raise the stake by saying "davi", forcing your opponent to accept or give up the hand.
Three cards vs five cards: a quick comparison
- Three-card bura: a 20-card deck (ace, ten, king, queen and jack of each suit), 3 cards in hand, 31 points win the hand.
- Five-card bura: a 36-card deck (six to ace), 5 cards in hand, 61 points win, and 60:60 is a draw.
- Five-card bura in pairs: the same 36 cards and 61 points, but four players in two teams of two.
How many players
Classic bura is a game for two. Four players sit down only for five-card bura in pairs, with partners opposite each other.
The deck and the deal
20 or 36 cards, 120 points either way
Only five ranks carry points: ace, ten, king, queen and jack. That is why the 20-card deck of three-card bura and the 36-card deck of five-card bura both hold exactly 120 points: the zero cards add length, not points. From strongest to weakest the ranks run: ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine, eight, seven, six. Note that the ten outranks the king.
Three cards each
- The deck is shuffled and each player gets 3 cards (5 in five-card bura).
- The next card is turned face up. Its suit is trump for this hand. Georgians call the trump koziri.
- The turned card goes to the bottom of the stock (dasta) and is the very last card drawn, so whoever draws it gets one more trump.
- The rest of the deck is the stock, from which hands are refilled after every trick.
In three-card bura the stock holds 14 cards after the deal, the turned trump included. Once it runs out, nobody refills: both players play out their cards, and the last tricks often decide the hand.
Trump and declarations
A trump beats any card of another suit, even an ace, and can only be beaten by a higher trump. That makes trumps the most valuable thing you hold.
Bura has two kinds of declaration. The first is "var" (roughly, "I'm there"): the player who has just won a trick announces that he already has the points he needs. The points are counted; if he really has them, he wins the hand, and if not, he loses it. The second is raising the stake: davi (2), se (3), chari (4), panji (5) and shashi (6). The player whose turn it is to lead may raise before leading. The opponent accepts, declines (and loses the hand at the stake before the raise) or raises back. Raises alternate between the sides: the same side can never raise twice in a row.
An example: it is your lead, you hold two trumps and an ace, and you say "davi". If your opponent declines, you score 1 point, the stake before the raise. If he accepts, the hand is played for 2. If he answers "se", the stake goes to 3 and you must answer: accept, decline and lose 2, or go on to "chari".
Taking tricks: the basic rules
- The leader plays one or more cards, all of one suit: one spade, two hearts, or all three diamonds.
- The responder plays exactly as many cards as were led.
- Beating: each led card must be covered by a card of your own, either a higher card of the same suit or a trump. It is all or nothing: beating one card out of two does not count.
- If you cannot beat, or choose not to, you give the same number of cards, any cards. In three-card bura given cards go face down and the trick winner never sees them.
- The trick goes to whoever played the cards that stand at the end. That player leads next.
- After the trick, hands are refilled from the stock one card at a time, the trick winner first, until hands are full or the stock is empty.
When you can take a trick and when you cannot
Hearts are trump and your opponent leads the ace and ten of spades. You hold the king of spades and the queen of hearts. The queen of hearts, a trump, beats the ace of spades, but the king of spades cannot beat the ten, because the ten ranks higher. Beating one card is not enough, so you must give both, and your opponent collects 21 points. Had you held two trumps instead of the king, you would beat both and take the 21 yourself. This all-or-nothing rule is the heart of bura.
Example: a hand played move by move
Three-card bura. The turned card is the jack of hearts, so hearts are trump. You hold the ace of spades, the ten of diamonds and the queen of hearts. Your opponent holds the king of spades, the jack of spades and the ace of diamonds. You lead first.
- Lead the ace of spades. Your opponent cannot beat it: nothing in spades is higher, and he has no trump. He gives the jack of spades face down. You take 13 points (11 + 2). You cannot see the jack, but you know that in three-card bura a face-down card is worth at least 2.
- Refill: you draw first and get the ace of clubs, he gets the ten of hearts. You hold the ten of diamonds, the queen of hearts and the ace of clubs. He holds the king of spades, the ace of diamonds and the ten of hearts.
- Lead the ten of diamonds. He beats it with the ace of diamonds and collects 21. Now he leads and refills first: he draws the ten of clubs, you draw the king of diamonds.
- He leads the ten of clubs. You beat it with the ace of clubs and take 21. You now have 34, and you know it for certain: you saw the 11 and the 21, and the face-down card is worth at least 2. You are past 31.
- You have just won a trick, so you may declare: "var". The points are counted, 34, and the hand is yours.
31 points: how a hand is won
In three-card bura the hand goes to the player who reaches 31 or more and declares it. "Var" can only be said straight after winning a trick, before the next lead. Your own points are not shown on screen unless the table turns that on: counting is part of the game. A false "var" loses the hand. If every card is played and nobody declared, the player with more points wins, and 60:60 is a draw. Five-card bura works the same way with 61.
Card points
- Ace: 11 points (four aces = 44)
- Ten: 10 points (four tens = 40)
- King: 4 points (four kings = 16)
- Queen: 3 points (four queens = 12)
- Jack: 2 points (four jacks = 8)
- Nine, eight, seven, six: 0 points
- Total: 120 points. Aces and tens together are 84 of them, 70 percent of everything.
A won hand scores as many match points as the stake: usually 1, 2 after davi, 6 after shashi. A match is played to 1, 3, 7 or 11 points. When one side is a single point from winning the match, the first such hand is played without raises.
Instant wins: bura and maliutka
Bura, the hand the game is named after, means every card you hold is a trump: three in three-card bura, five in five-card. If it is your lead and you play the whole hand at once, you win the hand on the spot, with no counting. Maliutka is a full hand of one non-trump suit, for example three diamonds. It does not win by itself, but you lead three or five cards of one suit together and your opponent has to beat every one. Some tables allow a maliutka to be led out of turn. The details are in a separate article.
Common mistakes
- Ranking the king above the ten. The ten beats the king and is worth 10; the king is worth 4.
- Trying to beat only part of a lead. Of two led cards you cannot beat just one: beat both or give.
- Leading mixed suits. One lead, one suit.
- Saying "var" too late. Once you have won a trick and led again, the right to declare waits for your next trick.
- Forgetting that the turned trump is drawn last: whoever draws last gets it.
Frequently asked questions
- How many cards is bura played with?
- Three-card bura uses 20 cards, ace down to jack in all four suits. Five-card bura uses 36, six up to ace. Both decks hold 120 points.
- How many points do you need to win?
- 31 in three-card bura, 61 in five-card. You must reach it and say "var" straight after winning a trick. If the cards run out and nobody declared, the higher score wins.
- Can I trump a card when I hold its suit?
- Yes. Bura has no duty to follow suit: you may beat any card with a trump, or not beat at all and simply give cards.
- What happens if I say "var" without the points?
- The points are counted, and if you are short you lose the hand at the stake it was being played for. That is why players keep the count in their heads.
- Play bura online
- Five-card bura: rules and differences
- Bura and maliutka: the special hands
- Bura strategy: practical tips
- A glossary of bura terms
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