Reversis

Number of players: 4
Type of game: Cards (trick-avoiding)
Period: 1601 to 19th Century

Reversis is a four player card game where the aim is the reverse of most trick-taking games: instead of winning tricks, you try to avoid taking the high cards (Aces, Kings, Queens and Jacks). The most dangerous card of all is the Quinola, the Jack of Hearts. A player who is brave enough can turn the game upside down by winning every trick, which is called making the reversis. It is one of the ancestors of Hearts.

History of Reversis

• Earliest Mention: The game is first recorded in France in 1601, under the name Reversin. In 1611 Randle Cotgrave’s French and English dictionary described it as a kind of trump game “played backward, and full of sport”.

• Name: It is called Reversis because avoiding tricks is the reverse of the usual aim of trick games. The name is also given to the special bid of winning every trick, which “reverses” the game again, much like “shooting the moon” in Hearts.

• Spain or Italy?: The game was long thought to be Spanish, because of its 48 card pack with no tens, its counter-clockwise play, and names such as Quinola and espagnolette. David Parlett points out that these were all later additions, and that the game more likely came from Italy, where rovescio means “reverse” and similar games are still played.

• Changes: The earliest form of the game used the full 52 card pack. The tens were taken out later.

• Popularity: Reversis was one of the great card games of continental Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries. By 1879 it was noted that modern Hoyles still printed its rules, but that nobody seemed to play it.

• Legacy: It is one of two likely ancestors of the Hearts family of games, the other being Coquimbert, also known as Losing Lodam.

• Rules Source: These rules follow David Parlett’s account of the game (parlettgames.uk).

Rules of Reversis

Setup

• Players: Four, each playing for themselves. Players sitting opposite each other pay each other double, so they are especially keen to beat each other.

• Deck: 48 cards, a standard pack with the tens removed.

• Stakes: Counters, called fish. To start the first pool, each player puts in 5 fish, and the dealer adds 5 more for each deal.

• Direction: Deal and play go to the right (counter-clockwise).

Card Ranking

In each suit, from highest to lowest:

A, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2

There are no trumps.

Card Points

Each suit holds 10 points, making 40 points in the pack. These points count against you.

The Deal

1. The dealer deals 11 cards to each player, in batches of 4, 3 and 4, and gives themselves a 12th card.

2. One card is placed face down in front of each of the other three players.

3. The dealer discards one card face down, to bring their hand back to 11.

4. Each other player may discard one card and take the face down card in front of them without looking at it first, or keep their hand and just look at that card.

5. The four spare cards form the talon, which is used for scoring at the end.

Objective

• Take the fewest card points in your tricks, especially avoiding the Aces and the Quinola.

Gameplay

1. The player on the dealer’s right leads to the first trick.

2. Players must follow suit if they can. If they cannot, they may play any card.

3. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick.

4. The winner of each trick leads to the next.

The Aces and the Quinola

The four Aces and the Quinola (Jack of Hearts) carry extra payments whenever they are played. The Ace of Diamonds is worth double the other Aces.

• Dumped: If you play one of these cards when you cannot follow suit, the winner of the trick pays you: 1 fish for an Ace, 2 for the Ace of Diamonds, or 5 for the Quinola.

• Forced: If you have to play one of them to a lead of its own suit, you pay the leader: 1 fish for an Ace, 2 for the Ace of Diamonds, or 10 for the Quinola. For the Quinola, each other player also pays the leader 5 fish.

• Led: If you lead one of them yourself, you pay the same as if it had been forced.

• Doubling: Payments between players sitting opposite each other are doubled, and all payments are doubled in the last two tricks.

The Quinola Pool

• Whenever the Quinola is forced or led, its holder must also pay into the pool, doubling it.

• The holder of the Quinola wins the pool if they manage to dump it on a trick of another suit.

• The pool can build up over several deals until someone wins it. When it is cleared, a new pool is started.

Victory Conditions

• At the end of the deal, the player with the fewest card points wins.

• Ties go to the player who took the fewest tricks, then to the dealer, then to the player nearest the dealer’s right.

• Each other player pays the winner 4 fish plus the card points in the talon. For example, if the talon holds the King of Spades and the Queen of Diamonds, each player pays 4 + 3 + 2 = 9 fish. A player sitting opposite the winner pays double.

The Reversis

• A player who wins every trick makes the reversis. It does not need to be announced beforehand, but a player who wins the first nine tricks is committed to it.

• Once a reversis is under way, all the Ace and Quinola payments made so far are returned, and only the last two tricks count.

• If you succeed, each neighbour pays you 16 fish and the player opposite pays 32. The normal end of deal payment is cancelled.

• If you fail, you pay 64 fish to the player who broke your reversis by winning a trick.

Optional and House Rules

1. The Espagnolette

• A player who holds all four Aces, or the Quinola and three Aces, may announce espagnolette. They may then refuse to follow suit whenever they like during the first nine tricks, but must follow suit in the last two.

• If they take no tricks at all, they win the deal and keep their payments for dumped Aces and the Quinola.

• If they take any trick, they must return all those payments doubled, and pay the winner as a loser.

2. Simple Scoring

• For a lighter game, drop the fish and the pool. Keep a running score of each player’s card points, with the Quinola counting 5 extra, and play to an agreed total. The lowest score wins.

3. Fifty-Two Cards

• Play with the full pack, including the tens, as the earliest form of the game did. Deal 13 cards each and leave out the discards.

Summary Table

• Game
• Period

• Cards