Lesson 1 of 4
The cards
5 min

Truco Card Ranking: Learn the Order of the Cards

Truco's ranking has little to do with the numbers on the cards. A 3 beats a king, two of the four 7s sit near the bottom, and one ace beats everything. In six steps you learn the order and play it.

Step 1 of 6

The Spanish deck
Truco is played with a Spanish deck of 40 cards. It has four suits: espadas (swords), bastos (clubs), copas (cups) and oros (coins). Each suit has the ranks 1 to 7, then 10, 11 and 12. There are no 8s and no 9s. The 10, 11 and 12 are the court cards: sota, caballo and rey (king).

Each round one player is the Mano: they lead the first trick, and the role passes to the other player every round. A match is played to 15 points.

You hold the 12 of espadas, the 5 of bastos and the 7 of copas. Your opponent is Mano this round and has led the 4 of oros.
The four top cards
Strength does not follow the numbers. The strongest card in the deck is the 1 of espadas, the Ancho de Espada, marked with a star. Next come the 1 of bastos, the 7 of espadas and the 7 of oros. You hold the top three.

Below those four, the order runs: all four 3s, all four 2s, the 1 of copas and the 1 of oros, the 12s, the 11s, the 10s, the 7 of bastos and the 7 of copas (the false sevens), and last the 6s, 5s and 4s. Cards on the same step of this ladder are equal.
Play your strongest card
You lead the first trick. Your hand is the 12 of oros, the 2 of bastos and the 7 of copas. Find the strongest of the three.
Your move
Play your strongest card.
Not every ace is high
Only two aces are top cards: the 1 of espadas and the 1 of bastos. The other two sit further down. You hold the 1 of oros, the 2 of copas and the 12 of espadas. Which is the strongest?
Question
Equal cards tie
You lead the 3 of espadas, and your opponent is about to answer with the 3 of oros. Suit matters only for the 1s and the 7s. Who takes the trick?
Question
Beat a false seven
Your opponent leads the 7 of copas. Of the four 7s, only the 7 of espadas and the 7 of oros are strong. The 7 of copas and the 7 of bastos are the false sevens, below every 10. You hold the 7 of bastos, the 10 of oros and the 6 of espadas.
Your move
Take the trick.

What you learned

Truco uses a 40-card Spanish deck: espadas, bastos, copas and oros, ranked 1 to 7 and 10 to 12.
The top four cards are the 1 of espadas, the 1 of bastos, the 7 of espadas and the 7 of oros.
Then come the 3s, the 2s, the 1 of copas and of oros, the 12s, 11s and 10s, the false sevens, and the 6s, 5s and 4s.
Cards on the same step are equal, and a trick between them is a parda.
Each round one player is the Mano and leads the first trick. A match is played to 15 points.