Tutti Card Game Rules
Tutti, also written Touti, is the Moroccan card game cousin of Spanish Tute. Detailed rules are here. For the story of both spellings, see Tutti (also spelled Touti).
Prefer learning by playing?
Ba Driss explains the rules, Tronfo, and Chra in the app.
Goal of the game
Tutti is played by 4 players (2 teams). A match runs for as many hands as needed until one team reaches the maximum score of 600 points.
Card values
Highest to lowest
Ace (1)
11 pts
Triss (3)
10 pts
Rey (12)
4 pts
Cabal (11)
3 pts
Sota (10)
2 pts
7, 6, 5, 4, 2
0 pts
The 4 suits
Tutti, also called Bastando, Mzaida (bidding), or Biâa Wa Chra (buy and sell), uses a Spanish-style deck of 40 cards (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12) in four suits of ten:
Lekhel
Clubs (batons)
Koubbas
Cups
Dheb
Gold coins
Chbada
Swords
Games with trump, or "Tronfo"
Tutti is a trump game (Tronfo). A suit is chosen as trump after the bid phase (often called Chra or Mzaida, depending on the region).
During tricks, if you cannot follow the led suit, you may play a trump (Tronfo) to try to win the trick. The highest trump wins.
How to play Tutti
At the start, each player is dealt 10 cards. The player who has the lead is chosen automatically and plays first. On later hands, the player to the right of the previous hand’s opener starts.
Before play, each team makes a bid based on its cards. The team with the highest bid chooses the trump suit. At the end of the hand, that team must make its bid. If it fails, the other team wins. These bids are called Chra (buy).
How a hand unfolds
The leader may play any card. Others must answer based on that lead. Cards played in one round form a trick. The next player must play, in order of priority:
- A card of the led suit higher than those already on the table, if possible
- Otherwise, a card of the led suit that is lower, if possible
- Otherwise, a trump card
- Otherwise, any card
Note: If another player has already played a winning trump, you may play any other card of the led suit.
The trick is won by the highest trump, or if no trump was played, by the highest card of the led suit.
The winner takes the trick and keeps it until the end of the hand. The winner leads the next trick and may announce a Ghna at that moment (see Ghna). Their partner may do the same; otherwise they wait until the next trick they win.
End of the hand
The hand ends when players have no cards left. Winning the last trick scores 10 extra points, called 9a3a.
The hand is won by the team that made its announced bid, or by the team that stopped the other from making theirs.
Points per hand: 120 base points, plus 10 for the last trick (9a3a), equals 130 total per hand before Ghna. Ghna can add up to 100 more points (three 20-point Ghna plus one 40). So the maximum bid is 230 (rare). The minimum bid set by the rules is 70.
End of the game
The first team to reach 600 points wins the match!
Ghna
A Ghna is when a player declares holding the Cabal and the Rey of the same suit. Example if trump is Koubbas:
40 pts - Ghna in the trump suit
20 pts - Ghna in a non-trump suit
Remember:
- Your side must have won the auction (you or your partner).
- For a 20-point Ghna, you must have bought at least 80.
- For a 40-point Ghna, you must have bought at least 90.
- Announce a Ghna right after you (or your partner) win a trick. Miss that window and wait for the next trick you win. Multiple Ghna can be announced on later won tricks.