Tuo La Ji
Tuo La Ji Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal
Four players form two teams with partners across from each other and use two decks of 52 cards with red and black jokers. Each team uses a level to track their score throughout the game, a team wins the game when having moved up from 2 to Ace levels (*).
Each round, the defenders team is trying to prevent the challengers team from capturing 80 card points or more in tricks: "Kings" (10pts), "Tens" (10pts) and "Fives" (5pts).
Card points in the talon are captured by the last trick winner and multiplied by twice the number of cards led to the last trick.
| Total of card points captured by the challengers | Round result |
|---|---|
| 0 points | The defenders successfully defend and move up three levels |
| 5 to 35 points | The defenders successfully defend and move up two levels |
| 40 to 75 points | The defenders successfully defend and move up one level |
| 80 to 115 points | The challengers become the new defenders for the next round |
| 120 to 155 points | The challengers become the new defenders and move up one level |
| 160 to 195 points | The challengers become the new defenders and move up two levels |
| 200 points or more | The challengers become the new defenders and move up three levels (above 235 points, move up one extra level per increment of 40 points) |
(* Ace level cannot be skipped and must be successfully defended.)
Round Setup
Each round the deck is shuffled and a player from the defenders team becomes the new leader (*), he must:
- draw first, then in counter-clockwise order, each other player draws a card until everyone have 25 cards in hand (8 cards are left remaining). The trump suit is set during this draw phase.
- take the 8 remaining cards in hand and discard an equal number to form a new talon, without revealing it to other players.
- lead the first trick.
(*As long as the defenders team continues to successfully defend, the two partners will alternatively become leader for the new round. Whenever challengers become the new defenders, the new leader is the person to the right of the previous leader. The player who sets trump of the first round becomes the leader.)
Trump Suit
Defenders team level sets the trump rank of the current round.
The trump suit is, from high to low: red joker, black joker, trump rank card of the trump suit, other trump rank cards, the remaining cards of the trump suit.
Example with six as trump rank and clubs as trump: red joker, black joker, ♣6, [♠6/♦6/♥6 - all equal], ♣A, ♣K, ♣Q, ♣J, ♣10, ♣9, ♣8, ♣7, ♣5, ♣4, ♣3, ♣2.
Within other non-trump suits, the cards descend from Ace to 2, excluding the trump rank.
At any time during the draw, a player may expose (*) a single or a pair of trump rank cards of the same suit to nominate a trump suit. A single card can be overridden by another player exposing a pair of identical trump rank cards.
A player cannot override themselves with a different suit, however they may reinforce their single card by exposing the second identical card later (providing no pair was exposed in the meantime).
A pair can only be overridden by a pair of jokers of the same color (black or red), which sets a short-trump suit, from high to low: red joker, black joker, all trump rank cards.
Example with six as trump rank: red joker, black joker, [♣6/♠6/♦6/♥6 - all equal].
Trump nomination phase with J as trump rank:
| ♣J | ♥J ♥J | Joker, Joker |
|---|---|---|
| East exposes clubs | North decides to nominate hearts by exposing a pair | As J of clubs was overriden, East is allowed to nominate another suit and exposes two black jokers |
(* Exposed card are taken back in hand before the first trick. If no card was exposed at the end of the draw phase, the leader progressively reveals the talon: the first trump rank card flipped sets the trump suit. If there's no trump rank card, use the suit of the highest ranked card, excluding jokers.)
Trick Play
The leader starts by playing one or several cards from their hand. In counter-clockwise order, all players have to follow suit unless they are void of that suit, in which case they may play any card(s). When a challenger wins a trick, card points are captured and set aside face-up (defenders card points are not tracked). The winner leads a new combination.
Different combinations can lead a trick:
- single
- pair (♣3♣3) (pair of equal trump rank must also share the same symbol)
- at least two consecutive pairs (♥Q♥Q, ♥J♥J) (Whether pairs are consecutive depends on the trump rank, ♠6♠6, ♠4♠4 are consecutive if 5 is the current trump rank)
- multiple trick (see § after)
If other players can follow the led suit, they are obligated to match the combination type to the fullest extent possible:
- if able to fully match the combination within the led suit, they must play those cards
- if not able to fully match the combination, they must match a looser variant in the same suit
For example, if a trick is led with two consecutive pairs (♣8♣8, ♣7♣7), the ordering of required following plays is: two consecutive pairs in the same suit (♣4♣4, ♣3♣3) > Any two pairs in the same suit (♣K♣K, ♣6♣6) > One pair in the same suit and two other cards in the same suit (♣8♣8, ♣6, ♣5) > Any four cards in the same suit.
Trick example:
| ♣J ♣J | ♣10 ♣10 | ♣7, ♣5 | ♣A, ♠6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| East leads a pair (and ultimately wins the trick) | North is forced to play their only pair in clubs | West has no pair in clubs | South plays their last clubs and another suit |
There's no match requirement when following a trick in a different suit, but in order to trump, a player must match the combination type (a pair of trumps to defeat a pair, two consecutive pairs of trumps to defeat two consecutive pairs). If the same card is played by two players, the first one played has precedence.
Multiple Trick
Several single cards of the same suit can be led simultaneously if the player is certain (*) that these cards are the highest ones remaining in that suit. Other players must play the same amount of cards as were led, as far as possible they must play cards of the suit led. Having run out of cards of the suit led, a player may play any cards he chooses. A multiple trick can only be defeated by playing an equal amount of trump cards.
♣A was previously played, ♥ is trump:
| ♣A,♣K | ♣10,♣3, | ♣5,♥10 | ♥K,♥3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| North leads cards that are all the highest remaining ones of clubs | West only has two clubs,and is forced to play a 10 | South plays their last clubs and 10 points to partner | East is void in clubs and trumps every cards to win the trick |
Different combinations of the same suit can also be led simultaneously if the player is certain that these combinations are the highest of their type remaining in that suit. A multiple trick can be evident (♣A, ♣K♣K or ♣A♣A, ♣K), or determined from previous plays (♣A, ♣5 ♣5, ♣2 ♣2, if no players matched a pair of clubs in a previous trick). In order to defeat a multiple trick, each of its combination must be individually trumped (**).
♥K was previously played, ♣ is trump:
| ♥A♥A, ♥Q♥Q | ♥10 ♥10, ♥3 ♥3 | ♥7 ♥7, ♥6 ♥6 | ♣5 ♣5, ♣2 ♣2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| East leads two pairs | North has only two pairs of hearts, and is forced to play two 10s | West has only two pairs of hearts, and discards a strong combination | South has no hearts card and wins with two pairs of trumps |
(* A multiple trick can be determined through card counting and observation of players' void suits. Once a multiple trick has been led, each player should in counter-clockwise order confirm that all cards led cannot possibly be defeated within the same suit. For example, ♣A, ♣K is not valid if the second ♣A is still in another player's hand. ♣A ♣A, ♣Q ♣Q is not valid if no ♣K has been played by other players. If a multiple trick is invalid, combination(s) that can possibly be defeated are still led, but other cards are taken back in hand. As a penalty, for each card that has to be withdrawn, 10 card points are transferred from the team that led incorrectly to the other team. If an error is not discovered until later, the offending team automatically lose the round.)
(** If several players trumped a multiple trick, the tie-breaker is the highest play of the largest combination. Trick order precedence applies if still tied.)
Conventions and Signals
The conventions and signals below are explained by DavidSWu in the source document.
Signal for Ace (信号牌)
This convention of specific signal cards is crucial for the defenders team. When the leader leads an Ace, partner playing a 2, 3, 4, J, or Q indicates that they have the other Ace in that suit. For the leader's partner, this takes priority over "smearing" with 5, 10, or K. The reason this takes priority is that, upon hearing a positive signal, leader can continue with:
- the K of the same suit for +10 points, and then a possible "smear" from the partner
- or play a 10 of the same suit and transfer the lead
Defenders or challengers will generally have to use their best judgement whether to signal or "smear".
This convention can also be applied to the trump suit, i.e. playing a 2, 3, 4, J, Q indicates holding at least one red joker. Some plays that when the trump rank is 2/3/4/J/Q, a 6 replaces the trump rank in terms of being a positive signal card.
Drawing Trumps
Some plays that J/Q/A of trumps led to a trick is a separate convention which indicates a weak command to draw trumps as the leader's partner can play high side suit cards first.
If leaders leads a trump rank card or higher, that is a strong command to draw trumps (leader has a strong hand of trumps, and there's probably card points in the talon). Partner must not play on side suits at all and must return trumps.
High-Low Echo (小在上)
(♦AQ should be read as: « Q card being played physically on top of A »)
When following to a pair trick without a pair, putting the smaller card on top indicates a control in the same suit (Ace or a void). For example, when diamonds are not trumps, leader leads ♦KK and leader's partner holds ♦A95 (or ♦95 and no other ♦). Partner should play ♦95 to signal the ♦A (or being void). Change partner's holding to ♦Q95 and partner should play ♦59 to indicate a lack of ♦A (or not being void). This also applies to the trump suit to signal a red joker.
Offsuit Echo (花在上)
When following to a multiple trick when partially or totally out of the led suit, the suit of the card on top indicates where the player has control. For example, when diamonds are not trumps, leader leads ♦AKK, and partner has only two diamonds, ♦76. If partner has the ♣A, partner can follow to the trick with ♦76♣5. The ♣5 being on top indicates partner has control in ♣. However, if partner wants to "smear" the ♣5 but does not have the ♣A, partner should play ♣5♦67, putting the diamonds on top of the clubs to indicate a lack of control. Technically this can also apply to the trump suit to signal a red joker, but in practice it's a waste of a trump so it's not as common, only if the trump rank is a 5/10/K.