Scopa

Scopa is an Italian card game of the fishing type, in which players capture cards from the table by matching them with cards from their hands. It is counted among the three major national card games of Italy, alongside Briscola and Tresette. The game uses a standard Italian 40-card deck and is usually played by two people, or by four in two partnerships, though three or six players can also take part. The name is the Italian word for broom, because taking a scopa means sweeping every card off the table. Italian emigrants carried the game to Argentina and Brazil, where the Scopa a Quindici variation is popular, and it is also played in former Italian colonies such as Libya and Somalia and in Tunisia and Morocco, often with differently styled cards. Play is known for lively, strong-worded banter, and its outcome depends on both skill and chance.