Basra

Egypt’s fishing game. Match ranks and make sums to take from the middle, sweep it with a Jack, and clear it yourself for a basra. 2–4 players, in partnerships.

Also known as Bastra.

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How to play Basra

  1. 1Basra is a fishing game from Egypt and the Middle East, played with one 52-card deck. Four players play as partners sitting across from each other.
  2. 2Everyone gets four cards and four go face up in the middle. A Jack or the 7♦ never starts in the middle; it goes back into the deck and another card comes out.
  3. 3On your turn play one card. A number card (Ace counts 1) takes every card of its own rank in the middle, plus as many groups of number cards as it can that add up to its value. A Queen or King takes only Queens or Kings. Whatever your card takes, you must take.
  4. 4A Jack takes everything in the middle. So does the 7♦, the wild card. A card that takes nothing stays face up in the middle.
  5. 5Clearing the middle with a number card, Queen or King is a basra, worth 10 points. A Jack never makes a basra. The 7♦ makes one only when the middle held just number cards adding up to 10 or less. The very last card of a deal never scores a basra.
  6. 6When hands are empty, everyone gets four more until the deck runs out. Whoever made the last capture then takes whatever is left in the middle.
  7. 7After each deal: 30 points for the most cards (nobody on a tie), 1 for each Jack and Ace, 2 for the 2♣, 3 for the 10♦, and 10 for each basra.
  8. 8The first side to 101 or more, ahead of everyone, wins.

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