Tute Cabrero is a very popular card game in Argentina and Uruguay.

Number of Players

From 3 to 5 players.

Deck

It uses the 40-card Spanish deck.

Goal

The goal is to score either the highest or the lowest amount of points.

Card Values

The rank of the cards, from highest to lowest, is as follows:

• Ace: 11 points
• 3: 10 points
• King: 4 points
• Knight: 3 points
• Jack: 2 points
• 7, 6, 5, 4, and 2: 0 points

Gameplay

The game is played in tricks. There is always a trump suit.
Cards of the trump suit beat cards of other suits.
The highest card of the led suit wins the trick, unless a trump card is played.

During each hand, players must follow suit and must head the trick (play a higher-ranking card to beat the current highest card, whenever possible).

It can be played to 1 (Quick), 3, or 5 rounds.

The players in the middle lose—meaning those who took tricks, except for the player who scored the most points (won by high) and the player who scored the fewest points (won by low).
The losers accumulate loss points.

A player who takes tricks—even if those tricks have no point value—loses compared to a player who took no tricks at all.

Card Dealing

• Three players: 13 cards each.
• Four players: 10 cards each.
• Five players: 8 cards each.

Players who reach the predetermined number of loss points lose and are eliminated from the game.

Announcements

• Announce 40: Holding the Knight and King of the trump suit (worth 40 points).
• Announce 20: Holding the Knight and King of any other suit (worth 20 points).

To make an announcement, the button for the suit with the Knight and King must be pressed (the option highlights when available).
The 40 must always be announced before any 20.

• Announce Tute: Holding four Kings or four Knights. A button appears when available.
  It can be announced if, upon winning a trick, a player holds only the four Kings or the four Knights in hand.
  In this case, all other players lose a point.
  It can only be announced if neither 20 nor 40 have been announced.
  Announcing is optional.

Going Capote

A player achieves Capote when they win all the tricks.
All other players lose that round and add a loss point.
If a player wins all the tricks but had previously announced 20 or 40, they lose and gain a loss point instead.

Scoring

Scores depend on:

• Tricks won
• Announcements made
• Whether Capote was achieved

Additionally, the winner of the last trick gains 10 extra points.
The players in the middle lose.