Burraco is a very interesting game that is played in 2 or 4 players and there is also the possibility of being featured in a tournament, which can be under the forms of partners or teams. 2 regular card decks that include the jokers will be used. There are also 2 pots that are dealt. The first player from a team that will lay down all the cards will have to pick up the according pot and continue playing. Read also about burraco scores.
According to Burraco game rules all the jokers and the 2 cards are considered wild-cards. There are also variations that do not include jokers so you will want to see if this is the case where you will play. Wild-cards can replace any card.
The game is played in turns. Every turn is marked by picking up one card from either the discard pile or from the stock. The player that will end his cards by laying them down will be able to take the pot and this becomes important because there is a chance to score extra points. There are two ways in which the pot can be taken. You either do so after discarding the last card or before that if you are left with no cards to discard. In this case we say that the pot was picked up In Flight and you will also need to discard a card to mark the end of your turn.
Burraco, being a variation of canasta, will also include the canasta hand, a hand that contains at least 7 cards of the same numeric value. A canasta can also be a run that includes a minimum of 7 cards. A clean canasta will include no wild cards while the dirty canasta is a clean canasta but features wild cards. Players have the possibility to replace wild-cards with cards that are represented. In this case they can pick up the wild-card and use it in other melds.
Burraco game rules state that the objective is to finish the hand by getting rid of all cards and placing them in valid melds. What is interesting is the fact that you will need to take the entire discarded pile in the event that you want to pick up one card that was discarded. You can avoid this in the event that you just decide to pick up one card and then discard another one. Do you know how to play at Oklahoma rummy? No? Then read first the Oklahoma rummy rules and then try it’ it is truly a great game!