Asturian-American Migration Forum

Does anyone know of a Spanish card game named Briska or Brisca? My great uncle Valino (from Baracaldo, Bilbao) taught it to me when I was young, but I have forgotten the rules. You play it with the tarot-like Spanish playing cards. What is the history behind the game and do people still play it?

I'm not a reliable source for the origins of La Brisca, but I can vouch for the obsessive ways in which people play it in Asturias.

Usually, a married man will escape from his wife with the lame excuse of 'echar una partidina' (to play a single game of Brisca). This takes place, preferably, in a noisy cider tavern, or sidreria, surrounded by buddies. It tends to happen in the evening after the cows have been milked and other chores are taken care of. Sunday is big.

In rural areas, local 'world championships' are not uncommon (go to Casa Koti in Quintueles one day or drive down to Merenderu Casa Pachu in La Nora beach). Often, men not renowned for their physical prowess (i.e., wimpy, willowy types) can be redeemed through their card playing. The best players, I suspect, are the old geezers who have little else to do. They're also pretty competitive.

Women, by the way, have their own brisca championships and can be just as obsessive. But their venues are different and not as rowdy and may incorporate other activities.

Gracias Is. Me dio riza leer tu descripcion. Yo me recuerdo de haber jugado con mi tio cuando yo tenia mas o menos 13 o 14 anos. El me daba unos buchitos de Marie Brizard (anissette) cuando mis padres no estaban mirando durante el juego. Tal vez eso es la razon por la cual no me recuerdo de las reglas del juego. Sabes donde puedo conseguir?

Igual hai mas xente preiqui que tenga xugao a la Brisca? You tampouco nun miraba muitu pa los vieyos de la que xugaban a las cartas en Bar de Cundo na Puela. Ya nun yera pul Marie Brizard tampouco! Ya que andabamos fisgando na cai.

Additionally, I've always been cloudy about the difference between 'el tute' and 'la brisca'. I used to ascribe superior meaning to both those games as a kid, thinking 'el tute' was for grown-up amateurs and 'la brisca' for real men. But now, I'm still stumped.

For immersion classes, however, may I suggest the Centro Asturianu de Miami? I'm sure you'll find someone there who can teach you the rules. If not, a barfly is bound to land in this thread at some point. You just have to wait it out a bit. Good luck!

A thousand pardons Is, but I didn't understand your first paragraph. My castellano is bad enough (I had to have my 82 year old mother proof-read what I wrote to you), but my asturianu is non-existent. Would you mind translating what you wrote above?
confundida en Miami

What was I thinking? After my last post I googled "la Brisca" and found this cool site that explains the game and if you scroll down to the bottom there's a link to a JAVA format game. I will include link below:
http://www.ludoteka.com/brisca.html
Going to go refresh my memory now

That site is great! Since my last post, I have been obsessively playing Brisca. I lost my first game against the computer, then, slowly the strategies that my great-uncle taught me started seeping into my brain and I started beating the computer. I feel like a campiona!

Ha! Next you'll be asking us to open a gambling section here so you can beat the pants off the rest of us!

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¡Ja! ¡Y pronto nos preguntarás abrir una sección del juego aquí así que puedes sacar las perras de nuestros bolsillos!

Creo que la obsesion con las Briscas de los asturianos es hereditaria!

Nunca he estado en Asturias, pero mi madre es de alla. Y me enseno de nina a jugar, tambien a mis tres hijos. Todos somos fanaticos de ese juego. Las cartas son preciosas, a comparacion de otras cartas de juego.

No son faciles de conseguir por aca en Orlando, asi que cuidamos mucho las que tenemos.

Creo que la camaraderia que los juegos de mesa ofrecen, sea con la familia o los amigos, es inigualable. Tambien ensena a los ninos a practicar a llevar cuentas y a memorizar cuales cartas se han jugado ya.

Quiza le busco excusas, pero me encantan!

I think Brisca is the first playin cards game that we learned, rules are easy for children, like we were, to learn.
My grandfather played with me and we used to call the aces with names to express their big value: El oron, la copona, el bastón y la espadona (the big gold, the big cup, the big club and the big sword).

Is wrote:Igual hai mas xente preiqui que tenga xugao a la Brisca? You tampouco nun miraba muitu pa los vieyos de la que xugaban a las cartas en Bar de Cundo na Puela. Ya nun yera pul Marie Brizard tampouco! Ya que andabamos fisgando na cai.

This could be translated into (British) English as Is there anyone that had played Brisca? I didn't pay much attention as well to elderly people who played cards in Cundo's at Puela. In my case it wasn't due to Marie Brizard's! We were just hanging out in the streets.

No me hago muy responsable de la traducción, son las 2.24 am acá y tengo un terrible headache que no me deja dormirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr .

I used to ascribe superior meaning to both those games as a kid, thinking 'el tute' was for grown-up amateurs and 'la brisca' for real men.

You've just hit the nail in the head, dude!!! Brisca is for REAL MEN, while tute is left to amateurs, soft men and metrosexuals .


La de partidas de Brisca que tengo echadas de crío en Pravia... qué recuerdos... ah, the memories!!!

PD Daysi, ten cuidado que la brisca engancha!!!

Spanish Deck of Cards

The Spanish Deck, otherwise known as the Baraja Española, can consist of 48 cards divided into 4 palos (suits). The suits are Copas (Cups/Hearts), Oros (Coins/Diamonds), Bastos (Clubs) and Espadas (Swords/Spades).

However this deck is usually cut down to a 40 card deck by removing the eights and the nines (if it is not already sold as a 40 card deck). This is the deck that is most used for games and fortune-telling purposes.

These cards, or naipes, are numbered from As (Ace) to 7, then 10 to 12. Card 10 is also known as the Sota (Jack), Card 11 as the Caballo (Knight) and Card 12 as the Rey (King).


Briscas

Players: Two or three play each by themselves. Four, two against two as partners, facing each other.

The Deal: Dealer gives each player three cards, one at a time in order to his right (counter-clockwise), instead of to the left as in most other games. In the three-player version, a four (of any suit) is removed from the pack, thus playing with only 39 cards.

Stock and Trump Suit: The undealt remainder of the pack is placed face down in the center of the table, forming the stock. Its top card is turned face up and placed partially underneath the stock. This card fixes the trump suit ("la Vida" or "el Palo del Triunfo" ).

The Play: The object is to get the highest score by wining the most point scoring tricks (tricks where there are "Briscas" (1s or 3s) or, 12s, 11s and 10s). Each trick consists of a card led by one player plus a card played by each other player in turn. The player at the dealer's right makes the first lead, and thereafter the winner of each trick leads to the next. Players may lead and play cards of any suit, as they are not required to follow suit ("asistir"). A trick is won by the highest card played of the suit led, or if it contains a trump ("una Vida" or "un Palo del Triunfo" ), by the highest trump it contains.

The Draw: At the end of each trick, and before the start of the next trick, the winner of each trick draws a card from the top of the stock, and the other players follow in order to his right (counter-clockwise). For the last drawing round, the last player to draw will draw the trump suit card.

The Win: When all tricks have been played (20 tricks in 2-player games, 13 in 3-player, and 10 in 4-player) each player or team scores the points in his/their won tricks. Player or team with highest score wins the game, and draws are possible.

Exchanging the trump suit card rule: The use of this rule is optional and is generally agreed between the players before play starts.

When the trump suit card is a 10 or better (11, 12, 1 or 3) , it can be exchanged by the 7 of the same suit by any player holding it, and before the very first hand is played, it can be exchanged by the 2 of the same suit by any player holding it. Before the first hand is played, exchanging the trump suit card with the 2 has precedence over exchanging it with the 7.

When the trump suit card is a 7 or less (4, 5 or 6), it can be exchanged with the 2 of the same suit at any time.