Truco

How to play Truco

Truco is the loud, swaggering card game of Brazil — equal parts sharp play and pure bluff. This is the Brazilian (Paulista) style, played here head-to-head against a bot with a 40-card deck (no eights, nines or tens). The trick isn't just winning rounds — it's knowing when to raise the stakes and stare your opponent down. You can play head-to-head against a friend online instead of the bot.

Play Truco online with a friend

Want a real opponent to bluff against? Choose Play online to be matched with another player, or share a private invite link and play a two-player game right in your browser — no account and no app. The server keeps both hands in sync and tracks every raise.

Goal

Be the first to 12 points. You score by winning hands, and a hand is worth more the braver you've been with your betting.

The vira & the manilhas

You each get three cards, then one card — the vira — is turned face-up. The rank one step above the vira becomes the manilha, and the four manilhas instantly become the four strongest cards in the deck. They're ranked by suit: ♦ < ♥ < ♠ < ♣, so the club manilha (the "zap") is the single most powerful card on the table.

Card strength

Below the manilhas, the normal order runs 4 5 6 7 Q J K A 2 3 — note the 3 is the strongest ordinary card and suits don't matter. Two equal cards tie ("empate").

Winning the hand

• A hand is best of three tricks. Win two tricks to take the hand.
• A tied trick is settled by the next one; tie after winning the first trick and the first winner takes the hand; all three tied and the "mão" (the player who led first) wins.

Betting — call Truco

Before you play a card you can call Truco, raising the hand from 1 point to 3. Your opponent can run (you score the smaller stake), accept, or raise again — Truco → Seis → Nove → Doze (3 → 6 → 9 → 12). The bluff is everything: call with a monster, call with nothing, and watch whether they flinch.

Strategy

Lead a middling card and keep a manilha in reserve to steal the second trick. Win the first trick and you hold the whip hand — that's the moment to call Truco. Reading your opponent's raises matters as much as your cards: a calm fold saves points a reckless call would bleed. Tap a card to play it, or use the buttons to bet. N starts a new game.