Tarneeb is a trick taking card game which is currently very popular in the Middle East as well as various areas of Africa. The game's name translates to Trump in Arabic, which describes one of the primary features of the game, use of a trump suit. The game is sometimes also called Tarnib, Tarnibe and Hakam.
Tarneeb is designed to be played by four players playing in two partnerships consisting of two players each. The game is played using one standard 52 card deck with the cards ranking as follows (from high to low); Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. If partnerships have not been predetermined the participants in the game may use various methods to determine the partnerships for the game. One common method is to have all players draw from the shuffled deck, and the players drawing the two highest ranked cards play as partners against the players drawing the two lowest ranked. The partners should seat themselves in such a way that they sit directly opposite each at the table. The player drawing the highest card of all is usually set as the first dealer.
After the partnerships and first dealer is determined, the dealer shuffles the cards with the player to the dealer's immediate left cutting the deck. The dealer then distributes the entire deck, such that each player will receive a hand consisting of 13 face down cards. The play, deal and rotation of the dealer role all rotate in a counter-clockwise direction.
Once the players receive and examine their cards, the bidding portion of the game begins. The player to the immediate right of the current dealer has the first opportunity to bid. A bid is a player's estimate of the number of tricks he believes he can win with the aid of his partner. The minimum bid a player may make is seven. A player may also pass rather than bid, however each player only has one opportunity to bid on each hand. Each bid must be higher than any previous bid during the hand to be considered a legal bid. The player who makes the highest bid during the bidding round is called the Declarer for the hand. The one exception to this rule is that the last player to bid, the dealer, has the option to make a bid equal (rather than higher) to the current high bid and become the Declarer for the hand. After the Declarer is determined, this player then states the trump suit to be used during the hand. If all four players pass, the cards are thrown in, shuffled and redealt by the same dealer.
After the bidding the play of the hand begins. The Declarer (also sometimes known as the Contractor) for the hand begins play, playing any card from his hand to start the first trick. On each trick, a player must play a card of the suit led to the trick if they have one. If they do not have such a card, they may play any card from their hand, including a card of the trump suit (if they have one). After all players have played one card to the trick, it is determined who wins the trick. The highest trump card played to the trick wins the trick. However, if the trick contains no card of the trump suit, the highest card of the suit originally led to that trick wins it. One player from each partnership should collect and gather all tricks won by his team in a face down pile. On each trick after the first, the winner of the previous trick leads the first card.
After all 13 tricks have been played, the Declarer's team then checks the number of tricks won to determine if they were able to win at least as many tricks as bid. If so, they earn a score equal to the number of tricks won during the hand. However, if they were unable to win at least as many tricks as bid, they must subtract from their current score an amount equal to their bid on the hand. In this case, the opposing team also earn a score equal to the number of tricks they have managed to win during the hand. Teams may have negative scores during this game, which is common.
Instant Win Criteria: There are several changes that are sometimes made regarding the instant win rules in Tarneeb:
- In some games, a team winning all 13 tricks during a hand can only earn an instant win if they actually bid 13.
- Another variant sometimes encountered is the addition of a rule that a team does not score an instant win if they win every trick if they currently have a negative score. In that case they simply win the 13 points for the tricks won during this hand.
- In some games, when managing to win every trick, a team does not necessarily instantly win the game. Instead they earn bonus points on the hand. If they actually bid 13 on the hand they would earn 26 points. If they bid less than 13, but still win every trick during the hand they would score 3 bonus points in addition to the partnerships normal score for that hand. When this rule is adopted, there is usually also a penalty applied for a team who bids 13 but does not win every trick. In this case they must subtract 16 total points for the hand and the opposing team scores double the number of tricks they managed to win during that hand.
Multiple Rounds of Bidding: Another common variant encountered when playing this game is in regards to the bidding. In many games, there is more than one round of bidding. The bidding continues in a counter-clockwise
rotation around the table until three consecutive players pass. Once a player passes during the bidding, he must continue to pass during this bidding round.
Declaring the Trump Suit: In some games, the declarer does not immediately name the trump suit after being designated the winner of the bidding. Instead, the first card he leads to the first trick must be of the trump suit.
No Trump: Another rule change that is sometimes used is the allowance of playing a hand in No Trump. Thus, the high bidder may indicate the hand will be played at No Trump vice using a specific suit. In this case, each trick is won solely by the highest card of the suit originally led to that trick.
Egyptian Tarneeb:
A variant of Tarneeb which is very popular in Egypt is called Egyptian Tarneeb. This variant is played similarly to the standard game.
The determination of partners, shuffle and deal are all identical to the standard game as is the deck used for the game.
However, there is some differences surrounding the bidding. In this variant, the suits have a relative ranking as follows (from high to low); No Trump, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs. Thus, when making a bid, a player's bid would be considered higher if it was either for a higher number of tricks or in the same number of tricks but in a higher ranked suit than the current high bid. The minimum bid in this version would be Seven - Clubs.
In addition, a player may also, on their bidding turn make a bid of Double. This may be done if the current high bid is owned by a member of the opposing team. Making a bid of double indicates that all scores made, if the current high bid becomes the contract for the hand, will be doubled.
Bidding continues around the table until there are four consecutive passes (or double). If a player passes previously in the bidding round, they may still make a legal bid later in the bidding. Once this occurs, the high bidder becomes the declarer for his hand using the trump suit declared in the bid. He and his partner will then attempt to win at least as many tricks as bid during the hand.
The play of the hand is identical to the standard game, with the high bidder playing the first card to the first trick.
As in the standard game, if the Declarer's team manages to win at least as many points (and the contract was not doubled by the opposing team), they score one point for each trick won during the hand. If they fail to win at least as many tricks as bid, they must subtract from their current score an amount equal to their bid on the hand. The opponents then score for each trick they won during the hand.
However, if the high bid was doubled, the scoring is also doubled for the Declarer's side (but not for any points scored by the opposing team). Thus, if the Declarers manage to make a doubled contract they earn the number of tricks won doubled, and if they do not manage to win as many tricks as bid they lose twice the number of tricks bid. The opponents still earn the regular amount for the number of tricks they managed to win if the declarers fail to make their bid on a doubled contract.
The first team to score 41 points is declared the winner.
400: 400 is a fast moving game which is thought to be related to Tarneeb. It is commonly played in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and many other location in the same area. Similar to Tarneeb, 400 uses one standard 52 card deck and is designed to be played by four players, playing in partnerships of two players each.
The game is played identically to Tarneeb with the following key differences:
- There is one round of bidding and each player must make a valid bid during his one opportunity to bid. Each player makes a bid naming the number of tricks he individually expects to win. The minimum bid a player may make during his bid is two. A player's bid does not need to be higher than any previous bid to be a valid bid, since each player is only bidding the number of tricks he himself believes he can win during the hand. He does not name a trump suit in his bid.
- Although players play as partners, each player retains an individual score during the game. One player (usually the first dealer) should be designated the official scorekeeper for the hand and he should also record each player's bid on each hand during the game.
- The minimum score a player must bid is directly dependent on that player's current score. The following chart shows these bid requirements:
| Player's Current Score | Minimum Player Bid |
|---|
| 29 or Less | 2 |
| 30 - 39 | 3 |
| 40 - 49 | 4 |
| 50 or Higher | 5 |
- Similar to individual bidding requirements for the hand, there is also a
total sum requirement of all four bids during each hand. The required sum
of all four hands must exceed a certain number. This number is directly
dependent on the score of the player with the current highest score. If that highest score is less then 30, the total sum of all four bids must be 11 or higher. If the highest score is 30 or higher, but less than 40, the total required sum of all four bids is 12. If the highest score on the current hand is 40 or more and lower than 50, the total bid sum requirement for the hand is 13. If the
highest score is 50 or higher, the total bid requirement is 14. In the event that the bid sum requirement is not at least as high as required, the cards are thrown in, reshuffled by the next dealer and no scoring occurs for the hand.
- Hearts (♥) is always set as the trump suit for every hand.
- The partnership scores based on each player's ability to win the number of tricks he independently bid. If a player in a partnership manages to win at least as many tricks as bid, he wins the number of points shown on the following chart, as per the tricks he bid:
|
|
|
| Tricks Bid by Player | Points Won by Player for Partnership |
|---|
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 |
| 5 | 10 |
| 6 | 12 |
| 7 | 14 |
| 8 | 16 |
| 9 | 27 |
| 10 | 30 |
| 11 | 33 |
| 12 | 36 |
| 13 | Instant Win |
|
|
|
If a player bids and that same player manages to win all 13 tricks during the hand, his partnership automatically wins the game. However, if he bids 13 and does not win all 13, the opposing partnership wins the game..
If a player does not manage to win at least as many tricks as he bid for the hand, he must subtract a number of points from his score as per the same chart. Negative scores are possible.
- The game continues until one player reaches or exceeds a total of 41 total points, at which time his partnership is declared the winner of the game. However, if his partner has a negative score he cannot win the game until his partner's score is above 0. Thus, that player's score may continue to accumulate beyond 41. If two members of opposing teams reach or exceed the winning total of 41 on the same hand (and no other player has a negative score), the game should then be played until a player reaches or exceeds 51 points (or one of the two players drops below 41 at the end of a hand).
- Although not always enforced, some players prefer to require that each trick be played in 10 seconds or less. This is done to ensure the game remains very fast moving. When this rule is used, players who repeatedly take longer than 10 seconds to play to a trick automatically renege, scoring no points on the hand.
Forty-One: Forty-One is a game played very similarly to 400 and is often given that same name. This version is very popular in Syria and Lebanon.
The rules for Forty-One are the same as for 400 with just a few differences:
- As in 400, there is only one round of bidding and a player may not pass. However, in this variant, a bid of one is allowable.
- The total sum of all four bids must total 11 or more. If, after all four players have bid on the hand, the total sum of the bids is 10 or less the cards are thrown with no play or score on the hand. The next dealer shuffles the pack and deals the next hand.
- The number of points each individual player adds or subtracts from his current score is dependent on his bid, as per the following chart:
| Tricks Bid and Won by Player | Points Earned |
|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 |
| 5 | 5 |
| 6 | 6 |
| 7 | 14 |
| 8 | 16 |
| 9 | 18 |
| 10 | 20 |
| 11 | 22 |
| 12 | 24 |
| 13 | 26 |
- If players from two opposing teams score 41 or more points at the end of a hand (and no player currently has a negative score), the partnership with the current higher sum total is declared the winner of the game.
In all other respects Forty-One is played the same as 400.
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