Tablić rules
Tablić is a quick, simple card game in which a card from your hand captures cards from the table. Two, three or four can play, and almost everyone who grew up in Bosnia with a deck of cards on the table knows it.
The rules fit on one page, and the game trains quick sums and a memory for played cards. This guide gives the most common two-player version, with the differences for more players.
Cards and the deal
Tablić uses a standard 52-card deck without jokers. To start, the dealer gives each player six cards and lays four face up on the table. When the players have played all six, the dealer deals six more, but no new cards go to the table, until the deck runs out.
With four players the game is usually played in pairs, with the same number of cards in hand and on the table.
Card values
Cards from two to ten count their number. The jack counts 12, the queen 13 and the king 14. The ace counts 1 or 11, whichever suits you.
These values are only for capturing. Points at the end of a hand are counted differently, as shown below.
How capturing works
On your turn you play one card. If the table holds a card of the same value, or several cards whose sum equals its value, you take them together with your card. A ten, for example, takes a ten from the table, but also a six and a four.
One card may capture several groups at once, as long as each group adds up to its value. If you can capture nothing, your card stays on the table.
The tabla
Clearing every card off the table in one move is a tabla. A tabla scores one point and is written down at once.
That is where the game gets its name. Good players choose carefully what they leave on the table so they never hand the opponent an easy tabla.
Scoring
At the end of a hand each ten, jack, queen, king and ace scores one point. The ten of diamonds, the big ten, scores two points, and the two of clubs, the little two, scores one. Whoever captured more cards gets three more points.
Cards left on the table at the end of the hand go to the last player who captured. Without tablas, a hand shares 25 points in total. Games usually go to 101.
Tablić tips
Track the played cards: if three kings are out and you hold the fourth, a king on the table can only be taken by your king. Never leave a single card the opponent can sweep for a tabla.
Keep the big ten and the little two for a moment when you are sure to capture them, since together they are worth three points.
Tablić over coffee
Tablić is perfect for a short break: a hand takes a few minutes, and a game to 101 fits into one afternoon.
Online igre does not have tablić yet. Two-player card games you can play right now against the computer include gin rummy and Spite and Malice, and the rummy rules are in the rummy guide.