How to Play Buraco
Complete your canastas — then grab the pot.
Also known as Burraco · Biriba
Learn Buraco for 2 or 4 players: runs and sets with one wild at most, the pot of eleven cards, the buraco you need to go out and the scoring. Work through a clean and a dirty buraco, then play in your browser.
A clean buraco and a dirty one
Seven hearts in sequence with no wild card are a clean buraco: 200 bonus plus the cards, 5 each for the 4 to 7 and 10 each for the 8 to 10, so 250 in all. Swap the 7♥ for a wild 2♠ and it is a dirty buraco: 100 bonus plus 15 + 20 + 30 for the cards, 165.
| Situation | Result |
|---|---|
| 4♥ 5♥ 6♥ 7♥ 8♥ 9♥ 10♥ | Clean buraco: 200 + 50 card points |
| 4♥ 5♥ 6♥ 2♠ 8♥ 9♥ 10♥ | Dirty buraco: 100 + 65 card points |
| Going out | 100, with your pot taken and a buraco on the table |
| A team that never took its pot | −100 |
| Joker / 2 / Ace / 8 to King / 3 to 7 | 30 / 20 / 15 / 10 / 5 — for you when melded, against you in hand |
A meld holds one wild at most; a 2 of the run's own suit may sit in its natural place instead. The match ends when a team reaches the target, 2,005 by default; if both teams pass it in the same hand, the higher total wins and a level total plays another hand.
Practise this game in your browser🎯 Objective
Partners lay runs and sets on the table, take their pot, and go out to end the hand. The match ends when a team reaches the target score — 2,005 unless you change it at setup (505 to 3,005); if both teams pass it in the same hand, the higher total wins, and a level total plays another hand.
🃏 Buraco Setup & Rules
- 2 or 4 players in two teams; partners sit opposite. Two 52-card decks and their four jokers — 108 cards.
- Everyone gets 11 cards. Two pots of 11 are set aside face down, one for each team; the rest is the stock, and the discard pile starts empty. The seat after the dealer plays first.
- Jokers and 2s are wild. A meld holds one wild at most; a 2 of the run's own suit may sit in its natural place instead.
▶ How to Play Buraco
- DRAW: take one card from the stock, or take the whole discard pile.
- MELD: lay three or more cards in sequence of one suit (Ace low in A-2-3 or high in Q-K-A, no wrapping round) or three or more of one rank, as a new meld — or add cards to one of your team's melds. Meld as often as you like.
- DISCARD: end your turn by discarding one card. A wild card cannot be your final discard while you have any meld to play.
- THE POT: when your hand empties for the first time, your team takes a pot of 11 cards and you play on. Emptied by a meld, you play the pot at once; emptied by a discard, it waits for your next turn.
- GOING OUT: once your team has its pot and a buraco — a meld of seven or more — emptying your hand again ends the hand. The hand also ends the moment the last stock card is drawn.
🎬 Watch: How to Play Buraco
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📖 Detailed Guide
Setting up your table
- From the game menu choose Buraco, then pick 2 or 4 seats and fill the empty ones with AI players. Four play in two teams, partners sitting opposite.
- Set the target score: 2,005 by default, from 505 to 3,005. The match ends when a team's total reaches it.
- Two 52-card decks and their four jokers are shuffled together — 108 cards. Everyone gets 11, two pots of 11 go face down, and the rest is the stock.
- The discard pile starts empty. The seat after the dealer plays first, and the deal moves round the table each hand.
Melds and wild cards
- A meld is three or more cards in sequence of one suit, or three or more of one rank. Runs are the heart of Buraco; the Ace is low in A-2-3 and high in Q-K-A, and a run never wraps round.
- Jokers and 2s are wild, and a meld holds one wild at most. A 2 of the run's own suit sits in its natural place when the run works that way, and then is not the meld's wild.
- When you add cards to a meld, its wild is re-seated wherever it now fits — bridging the gap that remains or lengthening an end.
- Melds belong to the team, so either partner can extend one the other started.
Your turn: draw, meld, discard
- Draw one card from the stock, or take the whole discard pile into your hand.
- Lay new melds or add to your team's, as many times as you like. The app offers the runs it can see; you may also raise any valid subset of your cards and tap Meld.
- End your turn by discarding one card. A wild card cannot be your final discard while you still have a meld to play.
- The hand ends the moment the last stock card is drawn — there is no play with it.
The pot
- When your hand empties for the first time, your team takes its pot of 11 cards and you play on with them.
- Emptied by a meld, you pick up the pot and play it at once in the same turn; emptied by a discard, the pot waits for your next turn.
- Each team gets one pot. A team that never takes its pot loses 100 at the end of the hand.
- Until your team has its pot, melding down to your last card is not going out — it is the gateway to the second half of the hand. Once your team has its pot but no buraco, the app refuses a meld that would leave you with one card or none, and a discard that would leave you with none.
Going out and scoring
- A buraco is a meld of seven or more cards. Once your team has its pot and a buraco, emptying your hand again goes out and ends the hand.
- A clean buraco, with no wild card, is worth 200; a dirty one, with a wild, 100. Going out earns 100.
- Joker 30, 2 is 20, Ace 15, 8 to King 10, 3 to 7 five. Melded cards count for your team; cards left in both partners' hands count against it.
- The match ends when a team's total reaches the target, 2,005 by default. If both teams pass it in the same hand, the higher total wins; a level total plays another hand.
📊 Buraco Scoring
Joker 30, 2 is 20, Ace 15, 8 to King 10, 3 to 7 five. Melded cards count for your team; cards left in hand count against it. A clean buraco (no wild) is 200, a dirty one 100. Going out is 100, and a team that never took a pot loses 100. The match ends when a team reaches the target, 2,005 unless you change it at setup; if both teams pass it in the same hand, the higher total wins, and a level total plays another hand.
❓ Buraco — Frequently Asked Questions
How many players do you need for Buraco?
Buraco is played with 2 or 4 players. On Vanikar, empty seats can be filled with AI opponents so you can always start a game.
What is a buraco?
A meld of seven or more cards — a run of one suit or a set of one rank. A clean buraco has no wild card and is worth 200; a dirty one holds a wild and is worth 100. Your team needs one before it can go out.
How does the pot work in Buraco?
Each team has a pot of 11 face-down cards. The first time your hand empties, your team takes its pot and you play on: at once if you emptied your hand by melding, on your next turn if you emptied it by discarding. A team that never takes its pot loses 100.
How many wild cards can a Buraco meld hold?
One at most — a joker or a 2. A 2 of the run's own suit may sit in its natural place instead, and then does not count as the meld's wild.
When does a Buraco hand end?
When a team with its pot and a buraco empties a hand a second time, or the moment the last card of the stock is drawn.
