How to Play Cuarenta: Rules of Ecuador’s Card Game
In Ecuador, one card game is popular enough to have its own official tournaments. The Cuarenta card game is a fast fishing game: you capture cards from the table by matching or adding them up, steal your opponent’s last card for bonus points, and race to 40. Here are the full rules for two players, with scoring examples, common variations and strategy.
Key takeaways
- Cuarenta uses a 40-card deck: a standard deck with the 8s, 9s and 10s removed, and suits don’t matter.
- You capture a table card of the same rank, or (with Ace to 7) number cards that add up to your card, then take the run of higher cards above it.
- A caída, taking the card your opponent just played by matching it, and a limpia, clearing the table, are worth 2 points each.
- Three of a kind in your hand is a ronda worth 4 points, and four of a kind wins the game outright.
- At the end of each hand, 20 captured cards score 6 points and more cards score more; the first side to 40 wins.
What is Cuarenta?
Cuarenta is Spanish for “forty.” The name points to both the 40 cards in the deck and the 40 points needed to win a game. According to Wikipedia’s Cuarenta article, it is Ecuador’s national card game and is played almost only there, by two players or by four in two teams of partners.
It is a fishing game, like Scopa or Cassino. What sets it apart is the run capture and the reward for snatching the card your opponent just put down.
The deck and the deal
Take a standard 52-card deck and remove all the 8s, 9s and 10s. That leaves 40 cards in this order, low to high:
A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, J, Q, K
Suits play no part in the game. Only ranks matter. The Ace counts as 1 and the numbers count as their face value, while the Jack, Queen and King have no number value.
In the two-player game, the dealer gives each player five cards, and the rest of the deck becomes the stock. No cards go face up on the table at the start. The non-dealer plays first. When both players have played all five cards, the dealer deals five more each. Four deals use up the whole deck, and those four deals make one hand.
Cards left on the table stay there between deals. With four players, there are two deals per hand.
How to play Cuarenta: capturing cards
On your turn, you play one card face up. If it can capture, you take the captured cards and your played card and keep them in a face-down pile. If it can’t capture anything, it stays on the table.
Matching
Your card captures a table card of the same rank. A 5 takes a 5, and a Queen takes a Queen. This is the only way the Jack, Queen and King can capture.
Adding
A number card (Ace to 7) can capture two or more number cards whose values add up to it. A 7 can take a 3 and a 4, or an Ace, a 2 and a 4. Face cards have no value, so they can never be part of a sum, and they can’t capture by adding either.
If more than one capture is possible, you choose one.
Runs
Here is the rule that gives Cuarenta its character. After you capture by matching or adding, you also take the next card above your card’s rank, if it’s on the table, then the next one, and so on until there’s a gap. The order is A-2-3-4-5-6-7-J-Q-K, so the Jack follows the 7.
- The table holds 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and J. You play a 2 and match the 2, then take the 3, 4 and 5. The run stops there because no 6 is on the table, so the 7 and Jack stay.
- The table holds 3, 4, J, Q and K. You play a 7, add up the 3 and 4, then take the Jack, Queen and King as a run. That clears the table.
A run on its own never captures. Playing a 4 onto a lone 5 does nothing, because the 4 didn’t match or add up to anything first. The run also doesn’t wrap around: the Ace never follows the King.
Cuarenta rules for bonus points
Caída
A caída (Spanish for “fall”) happens when you capture the card your opponent just played by matching its rank. It’s worth 2 points. Taking that card by adding, or as part of a run, doesn’t count. There’s also no caída on the first play after a new deal, so you can’t score one on the last card of the previous deal.
Limpia
A limpia (“clean”) means your capture clears every card from the table. It’s worth 2 points. If one capture is both a caída and a limpia, you score both, for 4 points. This is called caída y limpia.
Ronda
If your new five-card hand holds three cards of the same rank, you announce a ronda. The pagat.com rules give it 4 points and say you don’t reveal which rank it is. If you’re dealt all four cards of one rank, you show them and win the game on the spot.
Scoring the card count
When all 40 cards have been played, the hand ends and each side counts its captured cards. Cards still on the table don’t count for anyone.
| Cards captured | Points |
|---|---|
| 20 | 6 |
| 21 or 22 | 8 |
| 23 or 24 | 10 |
| 25 or 26 | 12 |
Each card over 20 adds 1 point, rounded up to the next even number. Two special cases:
- Neither side has 20: the side with more cards scores 2. If the counts are equal, the non-dealer scores the 2.
- Both sides have 20: the pagat.com rules give the 6 to the non-dealer only. The Wikipedia version gives the non-dealer 2 points in that case.
Winning the game and the late-game limits
The first side to reach 40 points wins. Bonuses count the moment they happen, so a caída in the middle of a hand can end the game before the card count.
The rules also make the last few points harder to get. In the pagat.com version, a side with 30 or more points can no longer score a ronda. A side with 38 or more can’t score a limpia, so it has to finish with a caída or the card count. Wikipedia describes a stricter Quito-style rule: a side stuck on 38 can only win with a caída.
Variations you might meet
House rules vary. Wikipedia notes that under Quito rules a caída and a limpia on the same play only score once, while Cuenca rules score both. The value of a ronda also differs: pagat.com gives 4 points, while Wikipedia lists 2.
The pagat.com rules also give 10 points for a caída on a card from the opponent’s ronda, if you remember its rank and claim it at the end of the hand. Wikipedia adds that a match, or mesa, goes to the first side to win two games.
Strategy tips
Every card you drop is a target. When you can’t capture, the card you put down can be taken for a caída on the very next turn. The safest drop is a rank whose other cards have already been played.
Keep the table busy. If only two or three low cards are on the table, a single card may add up to all of them and score a limpia. Leaving a face card next to them makes a sweep harder.
Look for runs. A low card that matches can drag a whole run off the table.
Play Cuarenta online
You can try all of this right now in our free Cuarenta game. It runs in your browser against a computer opponent and follows the two-player rules above. If you like fishing games, the Italian classic Scopa uses the same 40-card idea with its own scoring.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards are used in Cuarenta?
Cuarenta uses 40 cards. You take a standard 52-card deck and remove the 8s, 9s and 10s, leaving Ace to 7 plus the Jack, Queen and King in four suits.
What is a caída in Cuarenta?
A caída is capturing the card your opponent just played by matching its rank. It scores 2 points. Taking it by adding doesn’t count.
How do you score the cards in Cuarenta?
At the end of the hand, 20 captured cards score 6 points, and each card over 20 adds a point, rounded up to an even number. So 21 or 22 cards score 8. If neither side has 20, the side with more cards scores 2.
Can face cards be captured by adding?
No. The Jack, Queen and King have no number value, so they can only be captured by matching or as part of a run after another capture.
Conclusion
Cuarenta packs a lot into a small deck: match or add, sweep up the run, steal the last card for a caída and clear the table for a limpia, then count your cards on the way to 40. Learn the run rule and the 38 limit and you’re ready for a real game. When you want a quick break between hands, the Chrome Dino game is waiting on our homepage.
