Bixkla the Maltese Briscola

Bixkla is the Maltese name for a variant to the game of Briscola a trick-taking game for 2 to 4 players originally hailing from Italy. From a little research it turns out that this game is notably linked with countries bordering with the Mediterranean and it therefore comes as no surprise that countries such as Croatia, Spain, Portugal, and even Malta have their own variations.

My interest in this game was piqued by an acquaintance who mentioned playing this game when he was younger with a family member who was apparently well versed in the associated rules. In this acquaintance’s recollection (whom I shall refer to as Joe) of the game, cards from 4 to 6 where removed from the deck leaving only Ace,2,3, 7,8,9,10,J,Q and King. This effectively gave a 40-card deck though the construction is not exactly what one would find in Briscola. In the latter the 8’s, 9’s and 10’s are the absentees from the deck also resulting in a pack of 40 cards. This is but one of the differences that I can so far discern between the variant offered by Joe and the game of Briscola.

Dealing a hand in Bixkla is identical to Briscola with three cards being dealt to all participants and the topmost card of the remaining stock being turned over to determine the Trump suit during the first deal. However Joe insisted that Bixkla was strictly a four-player game whereas Briscola is known to be played by 2, 3 (with a minor modification to the deck) or 4 players. Another aspect where I found a little agreement between Bixkla and Briscola is in the scoring of the cards. In both instances Aces score 11 points but then in Bixkla Jacks, Queens and Kings score 10 points apiece with all remaining pip cards not worth any points. In Briscola on the other hand 3’s are the next highest scoring cards following aces and are worth 10 points. The King then is worth 4 points, the Queen or Cavallo (depending on the deck employed) is worth 3 points and the Jack 2 points. In agreement with Bixkla even in Briscola the remaining pip cards are not worth any points.

To be quite far, removing the cards from 4 to 6 or 8 to 10 does not truly effect the game play in Bixkla. The significant difference if there is one lays in the fact that 3’s are not worth any points. The fact that the picture cards (J,Q,K) are then scored at 10 points apiece would appear to somehow compensate for the 40 points (4 X treys scoring 10 points apiece) lost by not scoring anything for the 3’s.

Another variation which I think is significant comes into effect during trick taking. In Briscola for instance a player may lead with any card he wishes, it does not have to be in the same suit as the Trump. Likewise if he does not lead a trick, he may also choose to play any card he wishes without being obliged to play a card in the same suit as the leading card if he so wishes. Yet if a player fails to play a card that is not higher ranked and in the same suit as the leading card or if he does not play a card in trump, he will lose the trick. Let us now consider three-tricks played following Briscola rules and illustrated in the example below.

Table 1 - Two-handed game, the exposed Trump card is the J¨.

Trick	PLYR	Hand	Lead	Response	Winner	Stock Card
1	A	3¨ J§ Kª	3¨à		ü	7§
	B	Aª 5ª Q©		ß5ª		6¨
2	A	J§ Kª 7§	Kªà			2¨
	B	Aª Q©6¨		ßAª	ü	4§
3	A	J§ 7§ 2¨		ß7§		...
	B	Q©6¨4§	6¨à		ü	...

In the above table you can see three tricks played by 2 players. In Briscola, players replenish their hand with a card from the stock following a completed Trick, this is also catered for in the above table.

1.       First Trick – Player A decides to play 3¨ which is in the same suit as the J¨(Trump). Player B cannot respond with a higher ranked card in suit so he opts to limit the damage by offering a zero-value card the 5ª. A wins the trick. Player A then takes a card from stock the 7§ and Player B does the same and get the 6¨.

2.       Second Trick – Player A having won the first trick decides to lead with the strongest card in hand the Kª, Player B responds with the Aª opting to keep his 6¨ for a more favourable situation. Player B wins the trick this time. Player B then takes a card from stock the 4§ and Player A does the same and get the 2¨.

3.       Third Trick – Player B now decides to lead with the 6¨, player A does not have a card in the Trump suit that is higher than the 6 played by his opponent, so it’s time for damage control, he opts to play the 7§. Player B wins the trick.

The game obviously continues till all the stock is used up but even by following these three tricks one can get a feel of the way the game proceeds.

In Bixkla, always according to Joe, there is a further variation when it comes to trick taking. When cards are played none of which would be in the same suit as the Trump card, it is the highest ranking card regardless of suit that wins; the leading suit is not even considered. This changes the scenario appreciably in addition to introducing a significant simplification to the game. Let us consider the same example as above but now we will apply some minor modifications as well as this variation to the play of Tricks.

Table 2 - Example 2:  Trump card is the J¨ - Applying the “rank” variation to trick taking

Trick	PLYR	Hand	Lead	Response	Winner	Stock Card
1	A	3¨ J§ 4ª	3¨à		ü	7§
	B	Aª 5ª Q©		ß5ª		6¨
2	A	J§ 4ª 7§	J§ à			2¨
	B	Aª Q©6¨		ß Q©	ü	4§
3	A	4ª 7§2¨		ß7§		...
	B	Aª6¨4§	6¨à		ü	...

In the first trick, Player A leads with a card in Trump the 3¨, Player B can only once again limit damage by playing the 5ª which carries no point score. A, the winner of the first trick, now does not have any cards in Trump so he opts to play the J§, this is when the variation offers B an advantage, since it is rank that wins in the absence of a trump card he plays the Q©, which ranks higher, winning this trick. In the third trick illustrated in the Table 2, B now leads with the 6¨, A has a 2¨ but in this situation it’s both the trump AND ranks that decide the winner, A opts to withhold the 2¨ and offer another zero-scoring card the 7§. It definitely will benefit A to keep the lowly 2¨ for a situation where the trump suit could potentially win him a trick with a point scoring card of higher rank such as a non-trump A, J, K or Q.

One final comment I would like to add relates to the notion of partnerships in Bixkla. Joe would appear to be quite positive about it being a four-player game with partnerships. In Bixkla as in Briscola, partnerships come into effect when four players sit down to play the game. Partners sit on opposite sides of a table and they are allowed signalling one another in order to coordinate their play during a trick. Signals are normally discrete and while there are specific signals prescribed to indicate particular cards, each partnership may opt to use other signals which do not fall within the norm for this game.

While I do not doubt that Joe might have played Bixkla following the rules indicated above, I need to point out that other fairly reputable sources on the internet have different takes on the subject. At pagat.com for instance It is stated that Bixkla is played with the same ranking and scoring as Briscola that is cards are ranked A-3-K-J-Q-7-6-5-4-2, 8-9 and 10’s being removed from a standard deck. Wikipedia just mentions Bixkla in the passing on one of its pages dedicated to Briscola.  I will definitely keep researching this topic and report any additional information I might happen to come by.


ADDENDUM

A recent discussion with a good friend of mine seems to hint towards a stronger similarity between the Maltese Bixkla and the Italian Briscola. While he has not had the opportunity to play this card game as an adult, from his childhood memories he could recall a lot of signalling going on during the games between partners (played among relatives) which ties in with similar notions I have found in relation to Briscola. He also told me that the 3 of any suit was regarded as a strong card second only to the Ace and that the 8's 9's and 10's were removed from a standard pack of 52 cards in order to play the game. This is by far the closest resemblance to Briscola I have obtained so far. It would be interesting to establish whether one or more variations of Bixkla co-existed locally at any given time. This would explain the first variation I mentioned in this posting. Finding this information is proving a bit difficult because card play with few exceptions is not as popular today as it was in the past.