Scopa - Italian Playing Cards
These Italian Playing Cards are authentic Italian decks from Italy. Playing Italian Card games is a popular past time in the Country of Italy and many
people play the games of Scopaand Briscola.
Italian playing cards most commonly consist of 40 cards (4 suits from 1-7 and 3 face cards). The three face cards in each deck are the King, Cavallo (calvary man) and Fante (Infantry Man), except in the
French region (see below) which uses a Queen instead of a Cavallo in the Italian Deck.
Italian playing cards first appeared in the late 14th century when each region within Italy was a separately ruled province. There is no official Italian card pattern for the country of Italy and each region uses its own type of Italian playing cards. In fact, there are 16 accepted patterns of Italian playing cards divided into 4 Italian regional styles: Northern Italian, French, Spanish, and German. Each region has its own interesting and unique styles of Italian playing card presentation. Playing with Italian playing cards gives a player a wonderful historical perspective on this great country. Don't worry if you don't know any Italian Games. We provide you with instructions on Scopa and Briscola.
Our Authentic Italian Playing cards are made by Modiano. Modiano is an iconic business entity in Italy and has been the premier manufacture of Italian Playing Cards in Italy for over a century. Modiano is located in Trieste' and has been in business for over 140 years. The Modiano brand is synonymous with quality and excellence in printing. Modiano manufactures some of the most beautiful playing cards in the world and their designs are considered by many to be the most artfully depicted in the industry. Our Italian Playing Cards make great Italian gifts.
These Italian playing cards are genuine and are the actual Italian decks that are distributed within Italy. Just imagine that you can give an Authentic Italian gift with one of our Modiano Italian decks. A real Italian product from a true Iconic Italian brand!
About the Regions
Of course any Italian deck would make a great gift for anyone, but for those more interested in the stylistic differences of Italian regional decks here is a quick description
Northern Italian Regional Style
Includes Triestine, Trevigiane, Trentine, Bergamasche, and Bresciane.
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King of Cups |
Cavallo of swords |
Fante of batons |
7 of coins |
Triestine |
Bresciane |
Trevigiane |
Bergamasche |
Spanish Regional Style
Includes Napoletane, Sarde, Siciliane, Piacentine, Romagnole.
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King of Cups |
Cavallo of swords |
Fante of batons |
7 of coins |
Siciliane |
Sarde |
Napoletane |
Piacentine |
French Regional Style
Includes Genovisi, Lombarde, Piemontesi, Toscane.
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King of Clubs |
Queen of hearts |
Fante of Spades |
7 of Spades |
Toscane |
Lombarde |
Genovesi |
Piemontesi |
German Regional Style
Include Salisburghesi and Salzburger.
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King of acorns |
Cavallo of leaves |
Fante of bells |
8 of hearts |
Salzburger |
Salzburger |
Salzburger |
Salzburger |
How to Play Scopa
Scopa is a favorite Italian Game of Italians and Italian Americans. Scopa, in Italian, means broom. In the game of Scopa, you are awarded points in a variety of ways, but one of the best methods is to sweep the board. This is known as a Scopa (the broom for the “sweep”), and was how the Scopa game was named.Scopa - Initial Scopa Deal
To play the game of Scopa, a dealer deals three Scopa cards to each player, one card at a time. The dealer will also place four Scopa cards face up on the table. (note: an opening scopa board of 3 or 4 kings is considered illegal and the cards are reshuffled and the dealer deals again)Scopa - Card Values
A Scopa Deck has 4 suits. (Coins, Swords, Batons / Clubs, Cups) within each Italian suit there is the 1-7, Fante (infantry man similar to jack in American deck), Cavallo (calvary man similar to rank of queen in American deck) and King (always donning a crown and similar to king in American deck). For the game of Scopa the fante is worth 8, Cavallo is worth 9 and King is worth 10. These values are important for making Scopa tricks.Scopa - Game Play
The scopa player to the dealer's right begins play. This player has two options: Either place a card on the table, or play a card to take a scopa trick. A trick is taken by matching a card in the player's hand to a card of the same value on the table, or if that is not possible, by matching a card in the player's hand to the sum of the values of two or more cards on the table. In both cases, both the card from the player's hand and the captured card(s) are removed and placed face down in front of the player. These cards are now out of play until scores are calculated at the end of the round.Example: The player's hand contains the 2 of coins, 5 of swords, and 7 of clubs (or batons). On the table are the ace of coins, 5 of cups, and 6 of swords. The player's options are: * Place the 2 of coins on the table
* Take the 5 of cups using the 5 of swords, and placing both cards face down in front of him
* Take the 6 of swords and ace of coins using the 7 of clubs, and placing all three cards face down in front of him.