How to play Pişti: rules and scoring
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Pişti is one of Turkey's best loved card games: the rules take a few minutes to learn, but playing it well takes memory and patience. This guide explains the rules, the scoring and the winning tactics of Pişti on Boombala.
How many players?
Two head to head, or four as partners. With four, the players sitting across from each other share their cards and pişti points.
The deck and the deal
- A 52 card deck without jokers.
- Four cards go to the middle: three face down, the top one face up.
- Everyone gets four cards. When the hands are empty, four more each until the deck runs out.
- That makes six deals with two players and three with four.
Playing and taking
On your turn, play one card onto the pile. If it is:
- the same rank as the top card (a seven on a seven, a queen on a queen), you take the whole pile;
- a jack, you take the whole pile whatever is on it;
- anything else, it stays on top of the pile and play moves on.
When the hand ends, whatever is left in the middle goes to whoever took last.
Pişti and jack pişti
Taking a lone card with a card of the same rank is a pişti: 10 points. Taking a lone jack with a jack is a jack pişti: 20 points. Taking a lone card that isn't a jack with a jack is not a pişti; you just take the cards.
Scoring
| What | Points |
|---|---|
| Pişti | 10 |
| Jack pişti | 20 |
| Each ace | 1 |
| Each jack | 1 |
| Two of clubs | 2 |
| Ten of diamonds | 3 |
| Most cards | 3 (nobody on a tie) |
The card points of a hand add up to 13 (four aces, four jacks, the two of clubs, the ten of diamonds and most cards); pişti points come on top. The host picks 51, 101 or 151. Once a side reaches it the highest side wins; on a tie, another hand is dealt.
Example
Only the nine of diamonds lies on the pile. Ayşe plays the nine of clubs and takes it: pişti, 10 points. Ali then plays the two of clubs; Ayşe sweeps it with a jack and scores 1 for the jack and 2 for the two of clubs.
Winning tactics
- Count cards: once three of a rank are out, the fourth is safe to play onto an empty table: nobody can make a pişti on it.
- Save your jacks: a jack takes any pile. Keep it for a big pile holding an ace, the two of clubs or the ten of diamonds.
- Mind the empty table: a card played onto an empty table invites a pişti. Play a rank that is mostly gone, or a card worth nothing.
- Think about the last take: what is left goes to whoever took last; keeping a jack for the last deal often brings the pile home.
- With a partner: if your partner is about to take, leaving a valuable card for them grows your shared score.
Pişti on Boombala
Every table has voice and video chat; invite friends with a link and let bots fill empty seats. Switch between the 3D table and a clean 2D one any time; when you make a pişti, "Pişti!" bursts over the middle of the table.