Rouba-monte rules: how to play

How do you play rouba-monte?

In rouba-monte, each player gets four cards and four more lie face up on the table. On your turn, you play one card. If it has the same rank as a card on the table, both go to your pile. If it matches the top card of another player's pile, you steal the whole pile. The biggest pile wins.

Goal of the game

The goal is to end the game with the biggest pile of cards.

You win cards in two ways: by capturing cards from the table or by stealing another player's pile. All you need is a card of the same rank in your hand. Suits do not matter: a 7 takes any 7, and a king takes any king.

Setup and deal

• Use a 52-card deck and remove the jokers. The game is for 2 to 4 players. With more people, mix two decks.
• Choose a dealer. The dealer shuffles and gives four cards to each player, one at a time, face down.
• Then the dealer lays four cards face up in the middle of the table, side by side.
• The rest of the deck stays face down, to one side. It is used for the next deals.
• Each player looks at their own cards without showing them to the others.
• This page teaches rouba-monte with four cards in hand and four on the table. Other versions are listed under Variations.

How to play

1. The player to the dealer's left goes first. Turns always pass to the left.
2. On your turn, you play just one card from your hand. First check whether it has the same rank as any face-up card on the table.
3. If it does, take the card from the table and place both in front of you, face up, with the card you played on top. This starts your pile.
4. From then on, the cards you win always go on top of your pile. Only the top card can be seen.
5. If your card has the same rank as the top card of another player's pile, you steal the whole pile. Put the stolen pile on yours and your card on top of everything.
6. If your card matches the top card of your own pile, you may place it there. Your pile grows by one card.
7. If the card works for the table and also for a pile, you choose what to do. Each card played takes one table card or one pile, never both.
8. If your card does not match any card on the table or the top card of any pile, leave it face up on the table with the others.
9. Each player plays one card per turn, whether or not they captured something. Then the next player goes.
10. When all players have no cards in hand, the dealer gives four more cards to each. The table cards and the piles stay as they are.
11. The game goes on like this until the deck runs out and everyone has played the last card in hand.

Card values and scoring

• Cards have no points during play. What counts is the rank printed on them: ace, 2 to 10, jack, queen and king.
• A matching card is a card of the same rank. Suit and color do not matter.
• At the end, each player counts the cards in their pile. Each card is worth one point.
• For several games in a row, write each player's points on paper and add them up at the end.

End of the game

The game ends when the deck runs out and nobody has cards in hand. The cards left face up on the table go to nobody.

Each player counts their pile. The player with the most cards wins. If two players have the same number, the game ends in a tie between them.

Common variations

• Drawing from the deck: nobody holds cards. On your turn, you flip the top card of the deck and play with it.
• Eight cards on the table: some families lay out eight cards at the start instead of four.
• Take them all: at some tables, one card captures every matching card that is face up on the table, not just one.
• Table leftovers: some groups give the cards left on the table to the last player who captured a card.
• With jokers: a joker can stand for any card. Agree on this before you start.

Tips to play better

• Look at the top card of every pile before you play. The biggest pile is the best one to steal.
• With no good move, leave on the table a card of a rank you hold twice. On your next turn, you can capture that card yourself.
• Count the cards that have gone by. Each rank appears only four times in the deck. If the other three kings are already inside the piles, a pile with a king on top is safe.
• Holding the card that steals someone's pile? Do not wait too long. Another player may steal it first, or the top card may change.
• When your pile is big, cover its top card as soon as you can with a rank that has already shown up a lot.

Frequently asked questions