Reversis is a historic European card game for four players and an ancestor of the Hearts family. It is a trick-avoiding game, so the aim is the opposite of most trick games: players try not to take tricks that contain penalty cards, with each ace counting four against the taker, each king three, each queen two and each jack one. It is played with a forty-eight card pack that lacks the tens, play passes to the right, and there are no trumps. A distinctive feature is the elaborate system of fish and counters, a shared pool and payments made when aces and the jack called Quinola are played. A player may also aim to win every trick, which is called making the reversis, or to lose every trick, called the espagnolette. David Parlett records the game as first mentioned in France under the name Reversin in 1601, and thinks it more probably originated in Italy than in Spain, and it remained one of the great games of continental Europe from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century.
Facts
Sport
Game Type (category) Game Type (category) Classification
Player CountSmall Group (3-6 Players) 1 In the Other Atlases
Found In
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Source Reversis (source article)IntroductionQuote, Introduction
It more probably originated in Italy
Sources
1. Reversis (source article)
History
first mentioned in France under the name Reversin in 1601
The play of Reversis, Players
Reversis is played by four.
Cards
Forty-eight, ranking AKQJ98765432 in each suit.
Play
The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led, and the winner of each trick leads to the next.
Introduction
It more probably originated in Italy
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