Barbu (card game)

Barbu, also called Tafferan, is a compendium card game for four players in which the same group plays seven different contracts in turn, each with its own way of scoring, over a full session of 28 deals. It belongs to the trick-taking family and plays much like Hearts, with players trying to avoid or exploit particular cards and tricks depending on the contract being led. It arose in France in the early twentieth century, spread among university students, and became a favourite of French bridge players in the 1960s. The original game used a stripped 32-card deck ranked seven to ace; modern play uses a full 52-card deck. The name means the bearded man and refers to the king of hearts, the only bearded king, which carries special weight in one of the seven contracts. Earlier student compendium games such as Lorum and Quodlibet may be ancestors.