Quinza rules — how to play

Quinza is a capturing game on the 40-card baraja deck: combine your card with table cards to total exactly fifteen and capture them. The Oros (gold) suit is the key to points.

2–4 players40-card barajaSum to 15

Overview

Each player gets 3 cards and 4 are laid face-up at the opening deal. Summing values: 1–7 at face value, then the courts at their printed pip — Sota 10, Caballo 11, Rey 12. That is the Moroccan Quinza convention, not the Escoba one, so the values skip 8 and 9 entirely.

How to play

  1. CapturePlay a card from your hand so that it plus table cards totals exactly fifteen — capture them all.
  2. No captureIf you can't make 15, leave a card on the table.
  3. ScoreWhen the cards run out, count the points of what you captured.

Scoring & winning

  • Oros (gold) cards score as: Ace 10, 2–7 at face value, Sota 10, Caballo 11, Rey 12 — the gold suit is a 70-point pool. (The courts score exactly what they sum for; only the gold Ace differs, counting 1 toward fifteen but 10 in the score.)
  • Every non-gold card = 1 point (30 points total), so a deal always awards exactly 100 points. The match runs to the target the room picks — 101, 151 (the default) or 301 — over as many deals as that takes, and the deal rotates one seat each time.

Strategy

Watch the Oros cards on the table — capturing them swings the score your way.

FAQ

At their printed pip — Sota 10, Caballo 11, Rey 12. That is the Moroccan Quinza convention; Escoba renumbers the courts to 8, 9 and 10, which Koutchina does not follow.

It's the main source of points — the gold suit alone is worth 70 points.

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