Trente et Quarante

Trente et Quarante is one of the most popular games in French and Italian casinos, although it is rarely found elsewhere. It originated in 17th-century Europe, and is also known as Rouge et Noir.

a) A regulation table with Trente at Quarante double layout (Figure 1);
b) Six standard 52-card decks, shuffled together to form a single deck of 312 cards;
c) An indicator card for cutting the deck.

Figure 1    Trente et Quarante table

Any number of people can play, up to the limit that the table will accommodate.

Five croupiers operate the game: four control the bank, and one acts as dealer (tailleur). A supervisor sits on a stand, overlooking the table.

Face cards count 10. All other cards count according to their face value, with Aces counting as one.

The objective is to bet which of two rows of cards will give a total points count nearer 31.

At the start of a round of play the dealing croupier spreads all six decks on the table. (If it is not the first round of play, the cards must first be taken from the discard receiver, and sorted until they are all facedown.) All croupiers and players each take a group of cards, and shuffle them.

The croupier then gathers all the cards, and gives them a further shuffle. He offers one player the whole deck to cut. The player inserts the indicator card at the point at which he wants the cards to be cut. The dealer cuts the deck at this point, and the indicator card and all cards above it go to the bottom of the deck.

The players place their bets (see the section on betting).

The dealing croupier then takes about 50 cards from the top of the deck, and deals one card face up onto the table. He then deals further cards face up, placing them alternately to the right and left of this first card. After each card, he announces the total number of points now contained in the row. When the total equals or passes 31 points, he stops dealing. This first row is called the black row, whatever the suit color of the cards it contains. The dealing croupier, in exactly the same way, then deals a second row below the first. This is the red row. Again he stops dealing, when the total equals or passes 31 points.

The row with the points total nearer to 31 is the winning row. (In Figure 2, the black row totals 33 and the red row 37. Black therefore wins.) The winning total will always be in the range 31 to 39 inclusive, i.e., between 30 and 40. It is for this reason that the game takes its name.

Figure 2                                                      A typical deal

All bets are placed against the bank. Before the play, players bet in one or both of the following ways, placing their bets on the layout:
a) Players bet which row will win, either black (N for noir on the layout) or red (R for rouge).
b) Players bet whether the suit colour of the very first card dealt will or will not match the color of the winning row. If they want to bet that it will match, they bet on C for couleur on the layout. If they want to bet that it will not match, they bet on I for inverse. (In Figure 2, bets on C win, since the first card was the black 3 of Spades, and the total for the black row was nearer 31.)

Figure 3                            Trente et Quarante layout

After the deal, the dealing croupier announces the result. Traditionally he calls the results for red and colour only, e.g., "Rouge gagne" (red wins), or"Rouge perd" (red loses, and "Couleur gagne" (colour wins) or "Couleur perd" (colour loses).

The croupiers collect all losing bets. All winning bets are paid off at even money (1 to 1). If both rows tie at more than 31 (a "refait"), all bets are returned.

If both rows ti at 31 ("refait de trente et un"), the bank takes half of all bets, and returns the remainder. Alternatively, rather than lose half of his bet, a player may decide to leave his bet in prison (P on the layout in Figure 3) for the next deal. If his original bet is successful in this next deal, his bet is returned, but earns no money. If it is unsuccessful, he now loses all his bet. (Sometimes, with a bet in prison, the player may choose whether to maintain his original bet, or transfer it to its opposite.)

Before a hand is dealt, a player can indicate that he wishes to insure against a tie at 31. The charge for this is 5% of his wager.

From 'The Official World Encyclopedia of Sports and Games'
© Diagram Visual Information Ltd 1979