Buraco Card Game Rules — Complete Guide

Complete Buraco rules: how to form melds, make a Buraco, and score points. The classic Italian/South American card game explained. Play Buraco free online.

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Buraco is a rummy-type card game enormously popular in Italy and South America (especially Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay). It's played with two decks including jokers.

Setup

2–4 players (usually teams of 2). Two 52-card decks plus 4 jokers are shuffled together (108 cards total). Each player is dealt 11 cards. The remaining cards form two piles: one draw pile and one bonus pile (the 'pote' or 'canastra'). Players take the bonus pile when they empty their hand for the first time.

Melds

Players form melds of 3+ cards: sets (same rank, different suits) or runs (consecutive ranks, same suit). Jokers act as wild cards. When a meld reaches 7+ cards, it becomes a Buraco — worth major bonus points.

Scoring

Each Buraco scores 100–200 points. Individual cards score their face value. Jokers score 30 points each. Winning the round (going out first) earns a bonus. The game is typically played to 3,000 points across multiple rounds.

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