Prefa rules

Prefa as it is played in Greece and on PlayElephant: three players, a 32-card deck, the common pot and kapíkia.

1. Deck, seats, direction

• A 32-card deck: four suits from 7 to ace. Rank within a suit: 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, ace. Cards carry no points.
• Suits: spades ♠︎, clubs ♣︎, diamonds ♦︎, hearts ♥︎. In the bidding they are also called "firsts", "seconds", "thirds" and "fourths". Above hearts come no trumps.
• Three play, and all three take part in every deal.
• Play goes to the right, counter-clockwise. This holds for everything: dealing, bidding, declarations and cards.

2. The deal

• Each player gets 10 cards. Two cards stay face down: the widow (tzógos).
• The dealer changes every deal, always to the right. This also applies when a deal is void.
• The player to the dealer's right is first hand and opens the bidding.
• There is no redeal for a weak hand. A hand of only 7s, 8s and 9s is played as usual.

3. Bidding

The bidding ladder has 25 steps. At each level the suits go from spades up to no trumps:

6♠︎ < 6♣︎ < 6♦︎ < 6♥︎ < 6 NT < 7♠︎ < … < 10♥︎ < 10 NT

Basic rules

• The first bid is always 6 spades.
• No jumps. Each new bid is exactly the next step. You never choose a level or a suit while bidding.
• A pass is final. A player who passes does not speak again in this deal.
• There is no misère, no blind bid and no play without the widow.

"I have"

The first three bids only go up. From then on raising and holding must alternate:

• after a raise, the next player may only say "I have" (écho) on the same step, or pass;
• after "I have", the next player may only raise one step, or pass.

Two "I have" in a row are impossible. Anyone may say "I have": seat gives no priority.

"If they stay"

First hand, or second hand if first hand passed, may say "if they stay" (áma mínun, also "I'll write them", "I'll take them"). It means: "I take the contract at 6 spades if nobody else bids".

• The player who said it does not speak again.
• If the others pass, the contract is theirs, with 6 spades as the minimum.
• If someone bids 6 spades, "if they stay" becomes a pass. The bidding ends as soon as one pass is heard.

Who wins the bidding

The declarer (tzogadóros) is whoever made the last bid, even if it was "I have" or "if they stay". A player who named a step first and then can neither raise nor hold loses the contract to the one who said "I have" to them.

All three pass: the deal is void. Nobody pays, the widow is shown and the next player deals.

4. Widow, discard, contract

• The declarer picks up the two widow cards and holds 12. The others do not see the widow until the deal ends.
• They discard any two cards face down and name the contract: a level from 6 to 10 and a suit or no trumps.
• The contract may not be below the declarer's own last bid. After "if they stay" the minimum is 6♠︎. For example, after 7♦︎ the declarer may name 7♦︎, 7♥︎, 7 NT, 8♠︎ and higher, but not 7♣︎.
• The declarer may name less than the hand can make. Bluffing is allowed.
• Trumps are the suit of the contract. No trumps means no trump suit.
• Once confirmed, the contract cannot change. The widow cannot be thrown in or shown.

"And the aces"

If the declarer holds all four aces among their 12 cards, they may announce "and the aces" together with the contract. This is optional. Payment is described under Four aces.

Solo

Instead of playing, the declarer may concede a solo. The contract stays at the minimum step and the deal is paid at once, with no discard and no aces, as if the players had taken these tricks. The first defender is the player to the declarer's right.

So the declarer is always two tricks down and pays double (see Settlement).

5. Defence declarations

After the contract the two defenders speak, starting with the one to the declarer's right. There are four declarations:

• Play (pézo): I play and answer for my own tricks.
• Pass: I do not play. My cards stay closed, and I neither pay nor receive anything except for the aces.
• Together (mazí): I bring in my partner who passed. They play their own cards as usual, but all their wins and losses are mine.
• Alone (mónos): I play on my own against the declarer, one against one.

All possible sequences (B is the first defender, C the second):

Whoever wants to bring in their partner must say "together" straight away. After "B pass, C play, B pass", C can no longer say "together". There are no half-defences, doubles or open-hand play.

How many tricks the defence must take

Against 10 the defenders play "for free": they risk nothing. As long as the defence takes its total, it does not matter how the tricks are split between the two defenders.

6. Trick play

• The declarer and every defender who did not pass take part. When two play, a trick has two cards. There are always ten tricks.
• The first lead belongs to the first active player counting from first hand, that is, from the dealer's right. It is not necessarily the declarer.
• Follow suit. If you hold a card of the suit led, you must play one.
• Trump if you cannot follow. If you are void in the suit led but hold a trump, you must trump. Otherwise play anything.
• You do not have to beat. You may play low on purpose, and if the trick is already trumped you may play a lower trump.
• The highest trump wins the trick. Without trumps, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner leads to the next trick.
• The last trick is always visible. The declarer can also see their own discard.
• The defenders play as a team. Prearranged "mechanical" signals and deliberately harming your partner are forbidden.

7. Claim

• Only the declarer may claim all remaining tricks, when it is their lead and at least two tricks remain.
• Their cards are shown to the defenders who are playing, and each answers "yes" or "no".
• If everyone says "yes", the declarer takes all remaining tricks and the deal is settled.
• At the first "no", play continues from where it stopped.

8. Settlement

Pot and kapíkia

• Everything is counted in kapíkia. One pot unit (kása) is 10 kapíkia.
• At the start each player puts 50 units into the common pot. The pot starts at 150 units, that is 1500 kapíkia, and belongs to all three equally.
• A declarer who makes the contract takes from the pot. A declarer who goes down pays into it. All other payments are kapíkia between the players.

Value of a trick

Below, v is the value of one trick in kapíkia. The contract is worth 10·v, the price of all ten tricks.

Both defenders pass

The declarer is credited with all 10 tricks and takes 10·v from the pot.

Contract made

If the declarer took exactly the number bid, they take 10·v from the pot and pay each defender that defender's tricks times v. In effect everyone takes their own tricks from the pot.

Declarer goes down

• One down (mésa): pays 10·v into the pot and pays each playing defender their tricks times v.
• Two or more down (sólo mésa): everything is doubled, 20·v into the pot and the defenders' tricks times 2·v. There is no triple.

The defence goes down

If the declarer takes more than bid, the defence took fewer than required. The pot does not change. A defender who fell short of their own quota, after counting any extra tricks taken by the partner:

• pays the declarer all of the declarer's tricks times v, doubled if two or more short;
• also pays the partner the partner's tricks times v, if the partner made their own quota.

One defender

When only one defender plays, "alone" or because the other passed, only that defender's quota from the table counts (against 7 they "play for two"):

• if both the declarer and the defender make their numbers, the declarer takes 10·v and gives the defender their tricks times v;
• if the defender falls short, they pay the declarer the declarer's tricks times v, doubled if two or more short;
• if the declarer goes down, they pay as above, only to the defender who played.

Together

Tricks and quotas are counted for each defender in their own seat, as if both were playing. Whatever the partner would pay or receive is paid or received by the player who said "together".

Four aces

If the declarer announced "and the aces", each defender pays them 25 kapíkia in a contract of 6 and 50 in a contract of 7 or higher. The defender who passed pays too. If the declarer goes down, they pay the same amounts to each defender, single and not doubled. With a solo the aces are not paid.

The last contract

If the pot does not hold enough for 10·v, the trick value drops to one tenth of what is left. The reduced value also applies to penalty payments when someone goes down.

9. End of the game

• The game ends when the pot is empty.
• It may end earlier if all three agree. Whatever is left in the pot is then split into three equal parts.
• Each player's result: what they took from the pot, minus what they paid into it and their starting stake, plus one third of what is left in the pot, plus the kapíkia won or lost against the others. The three results always add up to zero.

10. Glossary

Play Prefa