What Is a Declaration? Twenty and Forty Points

A declaration scores points by announcing that you hold the rey and caballo of the same suit, or the rey and sota where the game uses that pairing. The pair earns ‘forty’ (40 points) in the trump suit and ‘twenty’ (20 points) in any other suit. You can usually declare only after winning a trick.

When should you make a declaration?

In Tute and Guiñote, whoever wins a trick can declare a pair they hold in their hand. Each game has its own rules: in Guiñote, for example, the forty-point declaration takes priority if several declarations are possible.

What is the forty-point declaration?

This is the most valuable declaration, and it has given rise to one of the best-known expressions in Spanish. We tell the story in the origins of “cantar las cuarenta”. And yes, that is also where the name Lascuarenta comes from.

How do you declare Tute?

Holding all four rey cards (or all four caballo cards) lets you declare “Tute” and, in many variants, win the game outright.

What happens if there are no declarations?

Brisca has no declarations, which makes it simpler. We explain this in Tute, Guiñote and Brisca.