Overview
Buraco (and specifically its popular Brazilian variant, Buraco Aberto) is one of the most celebrated partnership card games in South America and Southern Europe. Played by four players in two fixed partnerships (North/South vs. East/West) using two complete standard decks plus Jokers, Buraco combines long-term hand building, reserve pack ("morto") management, and high-value 7-card canastra sequences.
Objective
Work with your partner to meld suited card sequences, take your team's reserve morto pack, form at least one clean canastra (7+ suited cards without wild cards), and be the first partnership to reach 3,000 points.
Setup
Cardems uses two standard 52-card decks plus 4 Jokers (108 cards total):
- Each player is dealt 11 cards.
- Two separate 11-card reserve packs, called the morto (pot), are set aside face down.
- One card is flipped face up to establish the discard pile (lixeira).
- The remaining cards form the face-down draw stock.
How to Play
Partners sit opposite each other and share table melds. On each turn, a player follows three phases:
- Draw: Draw either the top card from the stock, or pick up the entire discard pile.
- Meld (Optional): Place new suited sequences on your team's table area, or add cards to your team's existing sequences.
- Discard: Place one card face up onto the discard pile to end your turn.
Wild Cards (Coringas)
- Jokers: 4 jokers exist in the deck and act as universal wild cards.
- Twos (2s): All eight 2s also function as wild cards (coringas), or can be used as their natural rank between Ace and 3.
- Only one wild card is permitted per sequence.
The Morto and Canastras
Taking the Morto
Each team has one dedicated 11-card morto pack:
- When either partner plays all cards in their hand, that player immediately picks up their team's morto and continues play.
- If a team fails to take their morto before the round ends, they suffer a -100 point penalty.
Canastras (7+ Card Melds)
A sequence of 7 or more cards forms a Canastra:
| Canastra Type | Definition | Bonus Points |
|---|---|---|
| Clean Canastra (Canastra Limpa) | 7+ suited consecutive cards with no wild card | +200 points |
| Dirty Canastra (Canastra Suja) | 7+ suited consecutive cards containing one wild card | +100 points |
| Half-Real / Semi-Limpa | 500-point special long sequence | +500 points |
| Real (Canastra Real) | Complete natural run from Ace to King | +1,000 points |
Scoring and Winning
At the end of each round, points are calculated for each partnership:
| Scoring Item | Point Value |
|---|---|
| Card values (3 through 7) | 5 points each |
| Card values (8 through King, and natural 2) | 10 points each |
| Aces | 15 points each |
| Jokers | 20 points each |
| Clean Canastra | +200 points |
| Dirty Canastra | +100 points |
| Closing Bonus (Bate) | +100 points |
| Unused Morto Penalty | -100 points |
| Cards remaining in hand | Subtracted from score (- face value) |
Vulnerability Threshold: When a team's total match score reaches 1,500 points, their initial meld on each subsequent round must total at least 75 points in card values.
The first partnership to reach 3,000 points wins the match.
Strategy
- Control the discard pile: Because drawing from the discard pile gives you all accumulated cards, do not discard cards that give your opponents an easy sequence or a whole new hand.
- Coordinate with your partner: Watch which suits your partner is extending and feed into those sequences.
- Compare Buraco with Rummy 500 and Gin Rummy.
Variations
Cardems features authentic 4-player partnership Buraco Aberto with 108 cards, 11-card morto packs, pure suit sequences, clean/dirty canastra scoring, 1,500-point vulnerability, and a 3,000-point victory target.
FAQ
Can I pick up only the top discard in Buraco?
No. In Buraco, taking the discard pile means taking all cards in the discard pile.
Are same-rank sets (like three Kings) allowed?
Not in Buraco Aberto. Only suited sequence runs are legal melds.
Can a dirty canastra be turned into a clean canastra?
If you have a 2 in a sequence and add all natural cards such that the 2 naturally fits in the 2 position of that suit, it can become clean. Otherwise, a wild card makes it dirty.
