Basra Card Game Rules

Overview

Basra (باصرة) is a classic fishing card game popular in Iraq, Egypt, and across the Gulf region. Unlike trick-taking games, players capture cards from a shared floor by matching values. The goal is to capture the most cards and score the most points through special cards and Basra bonuses.

The Deck

Basra uses a standard 52-card deck with all four suits and ranks from Ace through King.

Dealing

At the start of each round:

• Each player receives 4 cards.
• 4 cards are placed face-up on the floor (the shared playing area). Any Jacks in the initial floor are replaced.
• When both players' hands are empty, 4 more cards are dealt to each player (no more floor cards). This repeats until the deck runs out — a total of 6 deals per round.

Playing Cards

On your turn, play one card from your hand. It either captures floor cards or stays on the floor:

1. Capture by Match: If your card matches the rank of one or more floor cards, you capture your card plus all matching floor cards. For example, play a 7 to capture all 7s on the floor.
2. Capture by Sum: If your card's value equals the sum of multiple floor cards, capture all of them. For example, play a 9 to capture a 5 + 4. Card values: A=1, 2-10=face value.
3. Jack Special: A Jack captures ALL cards on the floor, regardless of values.
4. 7♦ Special: The 7 of Diamonds also captures ALL cards on the floor, just like a Jack.
5. No Capture: If your card doesn't match any floor cards by rank or sum, it stays on the floor.

Basra Bonus

When you capture ALL cards from the floor (leaving it empty), that's a Basra — worth 10 bonus points! However, there are exceptions:

• A Basra cannot happen on the very last card play of the round.
• A Jack capturing only a single Jack, or a 7♦ capturing only a single 7♦, does not count as a Basra.

End of Round

When all cards have been played and the deck is empty, any remaining floor cards go to the player who made the last capture. Then scores are calculated.

Scoring

Points are awarded based on what you captured:

Winning the Game

Scores accumulate across rounds. The first player to reach 101 points wins the game. If both players pass 101 in the same round, the player with the higher score wins.