How to Play Escoba

Escoba is Spain's favorite "fishing" card game. The name means broom, because the best thing you can do is sweep the table clean. It is quick to learn: if you can add up to 15, you can play. Yet there is plenty to think about, and good players win far more often than lucky ones. This page explains the rules step by step, exactly as our free online Escoba game plays them.

What You Need

• A 40-card deck. In Spain that is the Spanish deck, with its own suits. With an ordinary deck, take out the 8s, 9s and 10s (and the jokers).
• Two players. Three or four can play too, each for themselves.
• Paper and a pencil to keep score.

Playing With an Ordinary Deck

The Spanish deck has four suits: oros (gold coins), copas (cups), espadas (swords) and bastos (clubs). Each suit runs 1 to 7 and then three picture cards: the Sota (a page or knave, numbered 10), the Caballo (a knight on horseback, 11) and the Rey (the king, 12). There are no 8s or 9s.

Plenty of families have always played Escoba with the cards they had in the drawer, and that is what our game does: it uses large, easy-to-read standard cards with the 8s, 9s and 10s taken out. Here is how the two decks match up:

So whenever this page says "diamonds", a Spanish player would say "oros", and the famous 7 of diamonds is their siete de oros, also called the siete de velo. In our game the number each card counts is printed under it, so you never need to remember that a Queen is worth 9.

The Object of the Game

Capture cards from the table by making 15. At the end of each hand, points go to the player who swept the table, and to whoever captured the most cards, the most diamonds, the 7 of diamonds and the most sevens. The first player to reach 15 points wins the game.

The Deal

The dealer shuffles and deals three cards to each player, face down, and then four cards face up in the middle of the table. The rest of the deck is set aside, face down.

The deal passes to the other player after each hand.

Taking a Turn

The player on the dealer's left plays first; then players take turns. On your turn you must play exactly one card from your hand. One of two things happens:

• You capture. If your card and one or more table cards add up to exactly 15, you take them: your card and those table cards go face down in front of you, in your capture pile. You can take as many table cards as you like in one go, as long as they add up to 15 with your card.
• You lay it down. If your card can't make 15 with anything, it stays face up on the table, and it can be captured later by either player.

Often there is more than one way to make 15. With a 7 in your hand you need 8 from the table, and the table might offer a Jack on its own, or a 6 and a 2, or a 5, a 2 and an Ace. You choose which set to take. In our game, when you tap your card every possible set is lettered and outlined on the table, and a big button for each one shows the sum, such as 6 + 2 + your 7 = 15.

Note that a card on its own never makes 15 (the highest card is worth 10), so you always need at least one table card to capture. Under the usual rules you are not forced to capture: you may lay a card even when it could take something, which now and then is the wiser play.

The Escoba (Sweep)

If your capture takes every card on the table, you have made an escoba. It is worth 1 point at the end of the hand. Spanish players traditionally turn one card of the capture face up in their pile to keep count; our game keeps the count for you in each player's tally. After a sweep the table is empty, so the next player has no choice but to lay a card on it.

Dealing Again

When both players have played all three of their cards, the dealer gives each player three more cards. No new cards are added to the table. This carries on until the deck is used up: with two players there are six rounds of three cards in a hand.

The Last Capture

When the last card of the hand has been played, any cards still on the table go to the player who made the last capture. Taking these leftovers is not an escoba, even though the table ends up empty.

Scoring

When a hand is over, each player counts their capture pile. Our game shows every line in plain English, so you can see exactly where each point came from.

A tie for most cards, most diamonds or most sevens scores nothing for anyone: 20 cards each or two sevens each is a wash. The 7 of diamonds always goes to whoever captured it.

Hands are played until a player reaches 15 points. If both players pass 15 in the same hand, the higher score wins; if they are level, play another hand. Our game also offers games to 21 or 31 points.

A Worked Example

You are playing the computer, which dealt. The table shows 5♣, Q♥, 2♠ and A♦, which add up to 5 + 9 + 2 + 1 = 17, so the dealer doesn't take them. You hold 7♦, 3♠ and K♣.

1. Your 7♦ needs 8 from the table. 5 + 2 + 1 = 8, so you can take the 5♣, the 2♠ and the A♦. That captures the 7 of diamonds (a point by itself) and another diamond, and leaves only the Q♥ (9) on the table. A 6 would sweep it, a risk worth taking for the 7♦. You take them.
2. The computer holds no 6. It lays the J♠ (8). The table now holds the Q♥ and the J♠: 9 + 8 = 17.
3. Your 3♠ needs 12: there is no way to make it. Your K♣ needs 5: no. Whatever you lay, think about the total you leave. Laying the 3♠ makes 20, and nothing can sweep 20 (a sweep would need a card worth −5). Laying the King makes 27, also safe. You lay the 3♠.
4. The computer plays the 6♥ and takes the Q♥ (6 + 9 = 15). The table is left with the J♠ and the 3♠, 11 in all: a 4 would sweep it.
5. You play your K♣. Can it make 15? It needs 5; no. You lay it, and the table adds up to 21, too much for any single card to sweep.
6. The computer plays its last card, the 4♦, and takes the J♠ and the 3♠ (8 + 3 + 4 = 15), leaving your King behind. A safe total stops a sweep, but any group of cards that makes 15 can still be taken. Now both hands are empty, so three new cards are dealt to each of you.

At the end of the hand, suppose you captured 22 cards including six diamonds, the 7♦ and two sevens, and made one escoba, while the computer captured 18 cards, four diamonds, two sevens and two escobas. You score 1 (your escoba) + 1 (most cards) + 1 (most diamonds) + 1 (the 7♦) = 4 points; the sevens are tied at two each, so nobody scores them. The computer scores 2 points for its two escobas.

Rules People Often Ask About

Do I have to capture if I can?

Not under the usual rules. Some families play that a card that can make 15 must capture; that is a house rule you can switch on in Settings.

Can I take two separate groups that each make 15?

No. Your card and the cards you take must add up to 15 together, all in one sum.

Does the dealer's sweep at the deal count as an escoba?

Yes. Four table cards worth 15 or 30 are a point for the dealer.

Does the leftover at the end count as an escoba?

No. The last player to capture takes the leftovers, but no point is scored for it.

Is a sweep with the very last card of the hand an escoba?

Under the usual rule, yes. Some players say it is not, as in the Italian cousin game; that is another house rule in Settings.

Playing Online

In our game, the cards in your hand that can capture are outlined and marked Can take. The Hint button suggests a play and explains it, and the Why? button beside each computer play shows its reasoning. When you are ready to win more often, read the Escoba strategy guide. If you enjoy adding up to a number, try Pyramid Solitaire, where pairs make 13, or Cribbage, where 15s score two.