La Escoba

How to play

• Each turn you hold 3 cards. Play one trying to add up to 15 with cards from the table (king=10, knight=9, jack=8, the rest their face value): if you get it right, you take them. Capturing is optional, you can choose to leave the card on the table.
• If your play takes ALL the cards on the table, that is an escoba: 1 extra point.
• When your 3 cards run out, 3 new ones are dealt to everyone, without touching the table, until the deck is finished. After the last card, whoever made the last capture takes whatever is left on the table.
• Points at the end of each hand: 1 for each escoba, 1 for holding more cards than anyone, 2 for holding all the golds (or 1 for holding more than anyone without holding them all), 1 for the seven of golds, 3 for the four sevens (or 1 for holding more than anyone without holding all four).
• The game is played over several hands in a row: the winner is the first to reach or pass 21 points in total.
• In 2-player games only: if you finish a hand without having captured even once, you lose the whole game instantly, whatever the score.

By number of players

• 2 players: one against one. It is the only mode with the rule that you lose the whole game if you finish a hand without capturing even once.
• 3 players: everyone for themselves, no pairs. The deal is the same and each hand's points are counted separately for all three.
• 4 players in pairs: your partner sits opposite you. Both your captures go to the same pile and the hand's points count for the pair, not for each player.

Modes and prizes

• Against the computer: you play bots, offline and as often as you like. It pays no coins and no experience, so it is there to practise and try out settings without risking anything.
• Against friends: you open a room and invite them by username. Here only the winner is paid, and at half rate, because you pick who you sit with.
• Online: we sit you with people from all over the world. Every place is paid, most to least, and it is the only mode that counts towards the weekly League. If the room is slow to fill, simulated players complete it; in that case the League counts half.
• Buy-in tables: online you can sit at a 100, 250, 500 or 1000 coin table. Every player puts in that amount on sitting down and the whole pot goes to the winners, with no commission. These tables only fill with real people: if they do not fill in time the table is cancelled and your buy-in is returned. Neither the gold booster nor the VIP pass multiplies the pot.