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Bestia is an Italian
card game A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including famil ...
. It is a gambling game and is similar to
Briscola Briscola (; ; ; ) is one of Italy's most popular games, together with Scopa and Tressette. A little-changed descendant of Brusquembille, the ancestor of briscan and bezique, Briscola is a Mediterranean trick-taking ace–ten card game for two t ...
and
Tressette Tressette or Tresette is a 40-card, trick-taking card game. It is one of Italy's major national card games, together with Scopa and Briscola. It is also popular in the regions that were once controlled by the Italian predecessor states, such as ...
. The word ''bestia'' means beast.


History

The game of
Bête Bête, la Bête (), Beste or la Beste (''Jeu de la Beste''), originally known as Homme or l'Homme (''Jeu de l'Homme''), was an old, French, trick-taking card game, usually for three to five players. It was a derivative of Triomphe created by intr ...
was born in France around 1600. It is recorded as early as 1608, and the game is described in ''La maison academique : contenant les jeux du picquet, du hoc, du tric-trac, (…), divers jeux de cartes, qui se joüent en differentes fac̜ons'', Paris, 1659: as ‘Le Jeu de l'Homme, autrement dit la Beste’. ''La maison academique'' was later reprinted (1665, 1668, 1674, 1697, 1702), then was continued by the ''Académie Universelle des Jeux'' (Paris 1718, and later editions). The first description of the Italian game of Bestia comes from Raffaele Bisteghi in his ''Il giuoco pratico'' (Bologna, 1753). The French and Italian game are analyzed and discussed by Girolamo Zorli.Zorli, Girolamo. ''La Bestia di Raffaele Bisteghi''. Zorli was a researcher of the history of Italian card games. Article formerly at ww.tretre.it tretre.itnow archived. Eighteenth-century Bestia was different from today's version described below. It was a catch game with an obligation to
play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...
or fold, from the family of today's
Tressette Tressette or Tresette is a 40-card, trick-taking card game. It is one of Italy's major national card games, together with Scopa and Briscola. It is also popular in the regions that were once controlled by the Italian predecessor states, such as ...
, or rather of
Trionfo Trionfo () is an Italian word meaning "triumph", also "triumphal procession", and a triumphal car or float in such a procession. The classical triumphal procession for victorious generals and Emperors known as the Roman Triumph was revived for ...
/Snipe/Maraffone. The winner of a short
auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...
played for the
pot Pot may refer to: Containers * Flowerpot, a container in which plants are cultivated * Pottery, ceramic containers made from clay * Cooking pot, a type of cookware * Pot, a beer glass Places * Ken Jones Aerodrome, IATA airport code POT * ...
against the other players. Some foundations of the original game remain in today's Bestia: the shortened pack, the limited number of tricks in play (five), the obligation to play or fold, bidding for the number of tricks and not the value of the cards, the stakes or bêtes paid by a losing
declarer Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position. Position Games of Anglo-American origin In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...
that weren't received by the winning
defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: * Defense (military) * Defense (sports) ** Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre Film * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The D ...
but carried forward to the next hand's pot.


Rules

Bestia is played by 3 to 10 players. Deal and play are anticlockwise. The game consists of several
hands A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "han ...
and the aim is to take the most winnings from the pot and to prevent the others taking any tricks.


Cards

Bestia is played with a
pack Pack or packs may refer to: Music * Packs (band), a Canadian indie rock band * ''Packs'' (album), by Your Old Droog * ''Packs'', a Berner album Places * Pack, Styria, defunct Austrian municipality * Pack, Missouri, United States (US) * ...
of 40
Spanish-suited Spanish-suited playing cards or Spanish-suited cards have four suits, and a deck is usually made up of 40 or 48 cards (or even 50 by including two jokers). It is categorized as a Latin-suited deck and has strong similarities with the Portugue ...
Italian playing cards Playing cards (in Italian: ''carte da gioco'') have been in Italy since the late 14th century. Until the mid 19th century, Italy was composed of many smaller independent states which led to the development of various regional patterns of playing ...
, for example of the Piacentine,
Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and High ...
or Sicilian pattern. The cards rank in descending order in each suit as follows:
Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...
, 3, ''Re'' (king), ''Cavallo'' (knight), ''Fante'' or ''Donna'' (jack), 7, 6, 5, 4, 2.


Stakes

At the start of the hand, a
pot Pot may refer to: Containers * Flowerpot, a container in which plants are cultivated * Pottery, ceramic containers made from clay * Cooking pot, a type of cookware * Pot, a beer glass Places * Ken Jones Aerodrome, IATA airport code POT * ...
of an agreed stake is created which will be divided among the trick winners. The pot must always be paid by the
dealer Dealer may refer to: Film and TV * ''Dealers'' (film), a 1989 British film * ''Dealers'' (TV series), a reality television series where five art and antique dealers bid on items * ''The Dealer'' (film), filmed in 2008 and released in 2010 * ...
on his turn and must be divisible into 3 shares. Once the dealer has
anted Anted is the name of the coins issued by Antedios (or Anted), an ancient king of the Iceni, a Brythonic tribe who inhabited the present day county of Norfolk in Britain from approximately the 1st century BCE until the 1st century CE. Only the fi ...
the stake to the pot, each player is dealt 3 cards.


Deal

First
dealer Dealer may refer to: Film and TV * ''Dealers'' (film), a 1989 British film * ''Dealers'' (TV series), a reality television series where five art and antique dealers bid on items * ''The Dealer'' (film), filmed in 2008 and released in 2010 * ...
is usually chosen by lot; the player
drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...
the highest card going first. Thereafter the deal rotates to the right. The dealer
shuffles Shuffling is a technique used to randomization, randomize a deck of playing cards, introducing an element of chance into card games. Various shuffling methods exist, each with its own characteristics and potential for manipulation. One of the ...
the
pack Pack or packs may refer to: Music * Packs (band), a Canadian indie rock band * ''Packs'' (album), by Your Old Droog * ''Packs'', a Berner album Places * Pack, Styria, defunct Austrian municipality * Pack, Missouri, United States (US) * ...
and has it
cut Cut or CUT may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** ...
by the player to the left, before turning the top card for
trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. The dealer then gives 3 cards to each player in a single packet, beginning with first hand on the right.


Auction

The purpose of the
auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...
is to determine how many players will participate in the current
hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the Koala#Characteristics, koala (which has two thumb#O ...
.
Bidding Bidding is an offer (often competitive) to set a price tag by an individual or business for a product or service ''or'' a demand that something be done. Bidding is used to determine the cost or value of something. Bidding can be performed b ...
It follows the deal, is opened by first hand and proceeds anticlockwise. Each player may "pass", laying their cards down, or knock, thus committing to play the hand and take at least one trick. Once the bidding is over, the dealer invites those who passed to discard their hands and receive 3 more cards. If they accept, they must play and commit to making at least one trick. This exchange has various regional names such as: "''andare a cicca''" ("picking up the dregs"), "''andare a dottore''" ("going to the doctor's"), "''fare un dottore''" ("doing a doctor"), "''prendere il buco''" ("taking a lucky dip"), "''prendere il bambino''" ("taking the baby"), "''andare a spizzico''" ("getting a takeaway"). If there are insufficient cards left to replenish all those who passed, the dealer collects the trump
upcard The following is a glossary of terms used in card games. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to bridge, hearts, poker or rummy), ...
together with all the face down cards on the table, except the discards of those receiving new cards. The dealer then shuffles them, has the cut and deals them out. Presumably players who pass and refuse new cards, drop out of the current hand.


Play

First hand leads to the first trick and each player, in turn, plays one card to the trick. A
trick Trick(s) may refer to: People * Trick McSorley (1852–1936), American professional baseball player * Armon Trick (born 1978), retired German international rugby union player * David Trick (born 1955), former Ontario civil servant and univers ...
consists of one card played by each player in turn, and in each deal there are 3 tricks. Players must
follow suit A trick-taking game is a card- or tile-based game in which play of a ''hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of suc ...
as in the game of
Tresette Tressette or Tresette is a 40-card, trick-taking card game. It is one of Italy's major national card games, together with Scopa and Briscola. It is also popular in the regions that were once controlled by the Italian predecessor states, such as A ...
. Lacking a card of the led suit, a player must play a trump if able. The trick is taken by the player who played the highest trump, or the highest card of the led suit if no trumps were played. The trick winner leads to the next trick.


Settlement

At the end of the hand, the pot is divided among the players on the basis of their tricks, therefore one third per trick taken. If a player fails to make at least one trick, he loses ("goes
bête Bête, la Bête (), Beste or la Beste (''Jeu de la Beste''), originally known as Homme or l'Homme (''Jeu de l'Homme''), was an old, French, trick-taking card game, usually for three to five players. It was a derivative of Triomphe created by intr ...
") and doubles the pot. It may be pre-agreed, that if no players are bête, the next hand will be a
force In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an Physical object, object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the Magnitu ...
in which everyone must play.


Tactics

* If player on lead has the highest trump (the Ace) he should play it. The same rule does not apply to the three, even if the ace of the same suit is out. * If player on lead has a trump after the first trick, he must play it. * If a player has to play trumps (e.g. having only trumps in his hand or not having the led suit for the second trick) he will play the highest trump. An exception is when one's highest trump does not exceed the one already played, which has nothing to do with the obligation to trump. The above 3 maxims are excellent tactics and many circles make them rules, punished with the payment of the pot if broken.


References


External links


Modern rules of Bestia
{{Trick-taking card games 18th-century card games Italian card games Rams group