Burro – Card Game with a Spanish Deck

"Burro" is the Spanish word for "Donkey" and is the name of two different card games. The version described in this article is similar to the Indonesian game "Cangkul," but it is played with a Spanish deck instead of the standard Western deck. Another Spanish version of a passing card game called "Pig" is called "Burro."

To play Burro, you need to take as many sets of four cards of the same rank from the complete deck as there are players. For example, you can select the four Aces, four Threes, and four Kings if there are three players.

Important Facts to Know Before Playing Burro

• Objective: Win tricks and try to play all your cards first!
• Number of Players: This game is for 3-12 players.
• Number of Cards: Spanish deck of 48 cards.
• Card Ranking: K, Horse, Maid, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (Ace).
• Type of Game: Trick-taking.
• Audience: Adults.

DEALING THE CARDS

The first dealer can be chosen by any method, such as cutting the deck, or it can be completely random. The dealer shuffles the deck. The player to the left of the dealer cuts the deck, and the dealer distributes one card to each player at a time until everyone has a total of four cards. The remaining cards are placed face down in the center of the table as the draw pile.

HOW TO PLAY

Burro is a near trick-taking game, which involves winning tricks. However, if you are unfamiliar with the general structure of trick-taking games, you can refer to an article explaining their rules and terminology.

First, all the cards are shuffled and dealt one by one so that each player has four cards. The goal is to collect four cards of the same rank by exchanging them with other players as follows: each player places one of their cards face down, counts to three, and then passes their card to the player on their right while receiving a card from the player on their left. This process continues until the end.

When a player collects four cards of the same rank, they place their hand in the center of the table and shout "Burro." Immediately after, the other players place their hands on top of the winner’s hand. The loser is the last player to place their hand on the pile. If two or more players complete their sets of four at the same time, it does not matter who says "Burro" first. What matters is who loses.

If the draw pile runs out during the game, players who cannot follow the passing sequence must pass. Players are not required to draw additional cards at this stage.

Players who run out of cards leave the game. The game continues until only one player remains with cards in hand. That player loses and receives a penalty point.

The loser writes a letter of the word "Burro" in order until the entire word is completed. The first player to complete the word loses the game. The game continues until only two players remain. The winner is the player with the fewest letters in the word "Burro." If both have the same number of letters, it is a tie.

Bluffing

Some players believe bluffing is an art and use it to defeat their opponents. Bluffing consists of placing your hand in the center of the table and shouting anything to confuse your opponents, making them place their hands in the center. All players who mistakenly place their hands in the center must add a letter. If no one places their hand in the center, the player who bluffed must add a letter instead.

END OF THE GAME

The game continues until a player reaches the agreed-upon target score. That player is the loser.