Indigenous games of Argentina 1.

Truco Truco is played with a standard Spanish 40 card deck of four suits:

coins (oros)

cups (copas)

swords (espadas)

batons (bastos)

Each suit consists of numeral cards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and and picture cards 10, 11 and 12. The 10 is called Sota (Valet), the 11 Caballo (Horse) and the 12 Rey (King). The 1 is called As or Ancho. There are four special cards, called cartas bravas, which are the highest in the pack. From high to low, these are the ace of swords, the ace of batons, the seven of swords and the seven of coins.

The Players and the Deal

Truco is usually played by four players in fixed partnerships, partners sitting opposite. The partnerships may be arranged by mutual agreement, or determined by "drawing kings" - the players take turns to draw a card from the pack, and the first two who draw kings are partners. The player who drew the first king will be the first dealer. Thereafter the turn to deal passes to the right after each hand. The dealer gives three cards to each player, dealing them one at a time anticlockwise. The player to the right of the dealer is the mano (hand). This player will begin the play of the cards. The last player of each partnership to play (that is the dealer and the player to dealer's left) is called the pie (foot). Usually the pie will act as the captain of the partnership, deciding whether to bet and what to play on the basis of signals from partner.

There are three ways of scoring points:

Points can be scored for Flor (flower), which is a hand of three cards of the same suit; If no one has a Flor, points may be scored for Envido - a combination of two cards in a suit, or failing that, a single card; In addition to Flor or Envido, points are scored for the Truco, which involves taking the majority of the three tricks, or the first trick if one trick is tied.

A game is won by the first team whose score reaches 30 points or more.

2.

Tute Cabrero

This game for 3 to 6 players, playing as individuals, is popular in Argentina and Uruguay. The objective is either to avoid winning any tricks, or if you do take tricks, to have either the highest

or the lowest total of card points. In each deal there will be one or more losers, and a player who has lost four times is eliminated from the game. The game continues until there are fewer than three players, and the remaining one or two players are the winners.
In the first hand of the game, coins are trumps and the player who has the two of coins is the mano this player will lead to the first trick. For the second hand, the player who was mano for the first hand becomes the dealer. From now on the mano is the player to the right of the dealer, and the turn to deal passes to the right after each hand.

At the end of the play, players who have taken tricks count their points, not forgetting the 10 for the last trick, and the points for singing if any. Then assuming that there are no ties, the result is determined as follows:

If five players have taken tricks, then there are three losers: the players with the second, third and fourth highest point totals. If four players have taken tricks, then there are two losers: the players with the second and third highest point totals. If three players have taken tricks, then there is just one loser: the player with the second highest point total. If two players have taken tricks, then again then there is just one loser: the player with the lower point total. If one player took all the tricks, but did not sing, then all the other players lose, except for the dealer in a six-player game. If a player sings and takes all the tricks, then that player is the sole loser.

3. Name of the game: Stop there! Number of participants: All who want to play (no less than 3). Rules: Initially, one player takes the ball. In that moment the rest start running away from the one who has the ball. When the one who has the ball says: "Stop there, John" (he has to name one of the participants). The one named has to look for the ball, and once he has the ball he says " stop there " and everybody has to stop. The one who has the ball can give three steps to get nearer, to his closest partner, and throw him/ her the ball. It could happen two things: 1. If he touches the person with the ball, that person has a spot, and he is now the one who has to say " stop there" and name one person. 2. If he doesn't touch the person with the ball, that person is "clean" (has not a "spot"), and the one who threw the ball is called "spot". He has to throw the ball again and say "Stop there" naming someone. 3. That who gets 3 spots has to do something required by the group which called "prenda" (kind of punishment), it consists of doing something funny or embarrassing, it's not a physical punishment! 4. If he doesn't want to do it, he is punished with 2 more "prendas", if he still doesn't, the game starts again and all players are "clean".

5. If he does what the group requires, the game goes on. 6. The game does not have a time limit, it finishes when most of the players decide it.

4.

Stealing Bundles
This children's game is also commonly known as Steal the Old Man's Bundle, Steal the Old Man's Pack or Steal Pile. Stealing Bundles is a fairly simple fishing game, for 2, 3 or 4 players, normally using a standard 52-card pack. To start the game, everyone draws a card and the player drawing the highest card deals first (in case of a tie the tied players draw again). The dealer shuffles, and then deals the cards out clockwise one at a time: four cards face down to each player and four face up to the centre of the table. The centre cards are laid out separately so that all are visible. The remainder of the pack is kept face down by the dealer and will be used later. The players then pick up their hands of four cards and look at them (but of course are not allowed to look at other players' cards). The player to the dealer's left starts, the turn to play passes clockwise around the table. At your turn you must play one card from your hand face up to the table. If the card you play matches the rank of any of the face up centre cards, you must take the card you played and any matched cards and place them in a face up pile in front of you, to start your 'bundle'. (Suits are ignored in this game: a King matches a King, an Eight matches an Eight, and so on.) No matter whether you matched a card or not, it is then the next player's turn to play. Any matched cards that you acquire during the game are always stacked on top of your bundle, with the card you played on top, so that only this top card is visible. After everyone has played their four cards, the same dealer takes the remaining undealt cards and deals another four cards face down to each player, one at a time (but no further cards to the layout). Again the players look at their hands, and play continues as before. After all these cards have been played another four cards each are dealt by the same dealer, and this process of dealing and playing continues until all the cards have been dealt and everyone has played their last four cards. At this point, any cards remaining face up in the centre are added to the bundle of the last player who matched a card. Now the cards in each are counted and whoever has the largest bundle wins.

5.

Loba de Menos
Players and Cards

Loba de Menos can be played by from 2 to 5 players, using two ordinary 52 card decks plus 4 jokers, making 108 cards in all. If playing for money, each player contributes an equal stake to a pot, which will be taken by the winner.
The Deal

Players draw cards to decide who deals first: highest deals. The turn to deal passes to the left after each hand. The deal and play are clockwise. Each player is dealt nine cards, one at a time. The next card is placed face up to start the discard pile and the remainder of the deck is stacked face down beside it to form the stock.
The players' aim is to get rid of cards from their hands, by forming them into combinations which can be put face up on the table. Scoring

The play ends when one player gets rid of all their cards. This player normally scores nothing, and each of the other players scores penalty points for the cards remaining in their hands.
When the score of an individual player reaches 101 points or more, that player is out of the game. The game ends when all players except one have been eliminated from the game.