Tommy's calabresella (c) copyright 1994 by tommy's toys
P. O. Box 11261, denver, co 80211 usa. All rights reserved.
Catalog #tm-149-1a
Instructions:
Calabresella or calabrasella is a trick-taking card game popular among italian
Priests. It's a lot like six-bid solo only more civilized.
Players:
3 players. In tommy's calabresella you play north and the computer plays the
Other hands.
The deck:
The standard 40-card (spanish) deck is used, the 52-card pack with eights
Through tens removed.
Ranks & values:
For trick-taking, the cards rank as follows, from high to low. Below are the
Pip values of the cards when won in tricks:
3 2 a k q j 7 6 5 4
1 1 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
There are thus 8 pips in each suit, for a total of 32 in each hand. Winner
Of last trick gets 3 extra pips, so there are 35 total pips (points) to be won.
Dealer:
The first dealer is chosen randomly by the computer. After that, deal always
Passes to the right (counter-clockwise), as does all play.
Dealing:
Dealer deals cards to each player in batches of 4-4-4, for a total of 12.
Between the first and second batch he deals 4 face down to form a widow.
This uses all 40 cards up.
The object of play:
Players bid to see who gets to be the soloist. 12 tricks are then played and
If the soloist wins 18 or more points, he wins and scores the excess over 18;
But if he wins less than 18 points, both of the opponents score his deficit
Under 18. 18 is the magic number since there are 35 possible points to be won
In any hand.
Bidding:
Elder bids first. He may declare himself soloist or pass. Next player does
The same. If all 3 players pass, there is another round of bidding but this
Time whoever declares himself soloist gets the privilege of calling for a three
Not already in his hand -- whoever has it must give it to him in exchange for
Any card he doesn't want, but if it's in the widow soloist can't call another.
After bidding and the calling of the card if any, soloist must reject from his
Hand 1-4 cards and leave them face down out of play. He then turns up the
Four widow cards and selects from them to restore his hand back to 12 cards.
The remaining widow cards are then turned face down and left.
Play:
All play is at no-trump. (italian priests decided this in a synod held in
Rome in 1870 -- not ha ha!)
Elder (first player to dealer's left) leads to the first trick. Each player
In turn must follow suit if able. Each trick is won by the highest trump if
Any, else by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of each trick leads
To the next.
Note: to enter your card, use the arrow keys on the numeric key pad to point
To it, then hit the <enter> key. Alternatively, just hit the card number,
1-9,a,b,c; or hit the "." key to let the computer pick a card for you.
Scoring:
Each player scores the value of cards taken in tricks. Player who took last
Trick scores 3 points plus the values of the 4 cards left out of play.
Soloist must make at least 18 points. If he does, he wins 1 extra point for
Each point over 18. If he doesn't, each opponent wins 1 extra point for each
Point under 18; if any player scored a perfect 35, his score is doubled to
70 instead.
Game point:
Game point can be set anywhere from 1 to 9999. Game scores are automatically
Saved on the disk by the computer on file calab.scr. To start a match over,
Just erase this file.
***game options****
Open hands option:
For demonstration and learning purposes, all hands can be played face up.
Replay hand option:
At the beginning of each hand, you have the option of replaying the last hand;
The deck is restored to what it was after the shuffle & cut during the last
Hand. Of course you can use this to gain an unfair advantage on the computer,
But this is a toy after all, and you are boss.
Function keys: these are hot keys, meaning they can be pressed at any time.
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f1 * sound effects toggle
f2 * demo mode toggle. In demo mode the computer plays both hands
while you watch.
f3 pop-up the options menu
f4 replay mode toggle. In replay mode you asked if you want to
replay the last deal.
f5 display these instructions
f7 quit the program
f9 (color monitors only) change the screen background color
f10 (color monitors only) change the screen border color
*note: the legend for a toggle switch indicates the mode that will be entered
By pressing the key, which is the opposite of the mode in effect at the time.
Command line parameters:
s start up with sound off
m force mono display mode
c force color display mode
* skip startup show
Example: >calab ms
Terms to know:
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Void suit: a suit in which one has no cards.
Singleton: a suit in which one has only 1 card.
Doubleton: a suit in which one has only 2 cards.
Notes on strategy:
Every suit has 10 cards, and 8 points. The widow has 1/10 the total cards,
Or 3.2 points average. Each player has 12/40 of the cards or an average of
12*32/40=9.6 points.
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Did you like this toy?
Don't forget to try our gobs of other neat low-priced games and toys for the
Ibm pc and compatibles. We are waiting to send you our 5.25 inch (360kb) or
3.5 inch (720kb) demo disk, containing an electronic catalog plus other
Goodies, for only $2 shipping/handling to any u.s. Address, $3 outside u.s.
(u.s. Dollars only).
Have fun!
Tommy's toys, p.o. Box 11261, denver, co 80211 usa.
