Ronda stands as one of the most popular card games in Morocco, engaging two players using a deck of 40 cards divided into four suits: "Khal", "Kobus”, "Shibdah”, and "Dihab”. The cards encompass numbers from 1 to 7 and 10 to 12, where 7 is connected to 10, directly following it. Cards 8 and 9 are not used in the Ronda game.
How to Play
1. The dealer distributes 3 cards to the opponent and 3 cards to themselves, then places 4 face-up cards on the game table.
2. The main objective in Ronda is to capture the cards on the game table.
3. The player opposite the dealer always starts the game.
4. Each player places only one card from their set of 3 cards on the playing table, attempting to capture some of the cards.
5. If a player plays a card similar to any card on the table, they acquire that card along with any consecutive cards (example: playing a 6 with existing cards 1, 6, 7, and 10 grants the player cards 6, 6, 7, and 10, excluding 12 due to its lack of connection to 10).
6. If a player plays a card with no match on the table, the card remains, and they have the chance to acquire it in the next turn.
7. After players play their 3 cards, the dealer distributes 3 new cards from the remaining deck.
8. The dealer repeats the previous steps until all 40 cards are used.
Special Cases
· If a player plays a card identical to the one played by their opponent immediately before, they earn an additional point, known as "Bwahad”.
· In the "Bwahad" case, the opponent can play the same card, capturing all 3 cards, referred to as "Bkhamsa”, and the player gains an extra 5 points.
· Conversely, the player who initiated "Bwahad" can declare capturing all the cards again after the opponent declares "Bkhamsa”, provided they possess the fourth similar card. This move is called "Beshara”, earning the player 10 extra points.
· If a player captures all the cards on the table, they receive an extra point, known as "Maysa”.
· When the game concludes with some cards remaining unclaimed, the last player to capture a card in previous rounds obtains these leftover cards.
Scoring
- At the end of the game, each player's score is the number of cards they captured (1 card = 1 point).
- The player with the highest number of cards (points) is declared the winner.
- The dealer earns an additional 5 points if they get the 12 card on the final throw, termed "9a3a Rey”.
- If the dealer gets the 1 card on the last throw, the opponent gains an extra 5 points, known as "9a3a AS”.
- Similar conditions apply if the dealer doesn't get any card on the final throw.
- Scoring remains consistent if the dealer gets cards 2-7, 10, or 11 on the last throw.