Play Basra online with friends, free

How to play Basra

1. One 52-card deck, no jokers. Four cards are laid face up in the middle: the floor. A jack or the 7♦ never starts on the floor; it goes back into the deck and another card is turned.
2. Each player gets 4 cards. When every hand is empty, 4 more are dealt, until the deck runs out. The floor is only laid at the start of the round.
3. The player after the dealer plays first. On your turn you must play exactly one card; there is no passing.
4. A number card (ace = 1, then 2 to 10) takes every floor card of the same value, plus any groups of number cards that add up to it. A 7 can take a 7, or a 3 and a 4 together.
5. A queen takes only queens and a king only kings. They are never part of a sum.
6. A jack, or the 7♦, sweeps the whole floor, picture cards included. If a card can capture, it always captures; if it takes nothing, it stays on the floor.
7. Clear the floor with a number card, a queen or a king and you score a Basra, worth 10 at the end of the round.
8. When the last card of the round is played, the cards left on the floor go to whoever made the last capture. Then the round is scored.

Basra scoring at a glance

• 27 or more captured cards: 30 points.
• 26 each: nobody gets the 30. It is carried to the next round, which pays 60 to the side that takes 27 or more; every further tie adds another 30.
• Each jack: 1 point. Each ace: 1 point.
• 2♣: 2 points. 10♦: 3 points.
• Each Basra: 10 points. A jack never makes a Basra, even when it takes a single card.
• The 7♦ makes a Basra only when the floor held no picture cards and a plain 7 could have cleared it, or its values add up to 10 or less.
• The final sweep of leftovers to the last taker is never a Basra.

Basra in Rayoosh

• Players: 2, head to head, or 2 vs 2 with your partner sitting opposite and one shared pile.
• Quick: first to 61, about 7 minutes. Full: first to 121, the traditional target, about 14 minutes.
• When a side reaches the target, the higher total wins. Equal totals play another round.
• The capture is worked out for you: play a card and it takes the biggest catch it can.
• Pearls by finishing place: 30 for a Quick win and 55 for a Full win. Never bought, never cashed out.
• Works on phones, tablets, computers and TVs with a remote, in Arabic, English and Hindi.

Tips to win at Basra

• Count the cards: every captured card helps you toward 27 and the 30 points.
• Watch the point cards. Leaving the 10♦ or the 2♣ on the floor invites your rival to take it.
• Before you lay a card, ask what the next player could clear with it. A lone small card is an easy Basra for them.
• Save your jacks for a full floor. Spending one on two cards wastes a sweep.
• Lay a queen or king whose other copies are already gone: only a sweeper can take it.
• In the last packet, plan to make the last capture: it brings every card left on the floor.

Play Basra with friends

Create a private table, share the link on WhatsApp, show the QR code or read out the room code, and your friends join in seconds with no download.

• Computer players fill any empty seat, so you can play one friend or a whole team.
• Text chat with quick phrases, voice chat, emotes and gifts at the table.
• A short lesson and practice games against the computer, any time.
• Once Rayoosh is installed, you can play the computer even without internet.