Trente et Quarante

Trente et Quarante, (“Red and Black”), French card game played at Monte- Carlo and French and Italian gambling casinos. It is not popular in North America. The name Trente et Quarante is derived from the fact that the winning point always lies between thirty and forty. Its other title, Rouge et Noir, comes from the colours marked on the layout, or tapis, such as the one illustrated. The table usually carries two identical layouts. All betting is done against the house, or bank, at even money. Before the deal begins, a player may place his bet on rouge, noir, couleur, or inverse. Six 52-card packs are shuffled together by the dealer and cut by any player against the house. The dealer then deals out the first card face upward, the suit being noted. He then continues to deal alternately to either side of the card already placed, announcing the cumulative total with each card dealt. Aces count 1 each, face (court) cards count 10 each, and every other card counts its numerical, or pip, value. Dealing stops with the card that causes the total to reach or exceed 31. This first row is called noir; the second row, rouge, is dealt below the first and in the same manner. The row with the total nearer to 31 is the winning row. For example, a bet on noir wins if the count of the first, or noir, row is 34 while the rouge row totals 36. A bet on couleur wins if the very first card dealt is the same colour as that designating the winning row. If this card is of the opposite colour, a bet on inverse wins.

As bets are settled, the cards dealt for that coup are brushed into the bowl. When there are insufficient cards for the next coup, all the cards are reshuffled.