Bourré
Louisiana’s pot game. Play or pass, swap for better cards, and win the most tricks. Take none and you match the pot. 2–7 players.
Also known as Booray.
How to play Bourré
- 1Play chips only. Everyone starts with 100 chips and puts 5 into the pot before each hand. Each player gets 5 cards; the dealer's last card is turned face up, and its suit is trump for the hand.
- 2Starting left of the dealer, each player looks at their cards and decides to play or pass. Passing costs nothing more, but you can't win the pot. If the dealer plays, they take the face-up card into their hand. If only one player stays in, they take the pot at once.
- 3Everyone still in may then throw away any number of cards, face down, and draw the same number from the stock, while it lasts.
- 4Play five tricks, starting left of the dealer. Aces are high. You must follow suit, and you must beat the best card of that suit so far if you can (unless the trick has been trumped). If you can't follow, you must play a trump, beating any trump already played if you can. Only with neither may you play anything. The highest trump wins, or else the highest card of the suit led, and the winner leads next.
- 5Whoever takes the most tricks wins the pot. If two or more tie for most, the pot carries over to the next hand. Anyone who stayed in and took no tricks is bourréd: they must put in as many chips as the pot held, to build the next one.
- 6The game ends after 12 hands, or when only one player has chips left. A tie on the last hand splits the pot. Most chips wins; run out and you're out of the game.
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