Who among us has never played a good match at Scala 40 ? For those who do not know, we are talking about a simple and fun game that today can be played anywhere: in company at home or at the bar, but also alone thanks to the Scala 40 online .
Even if we are talking about a great classic among card games , before deepening the discussion on the Scala 40 online it is worth making a historical excursus: we are sure that you will discover many things that you took for granted …
The origins of the Scala 40
The “Scala 40” is also known by the name “Scala a 40” or “Scala closing”. It is enough to know a few rules to understand the reason for the name. However, be aware that the game spread after World War I, apparently with Hungarian origins .
In practice, the Scala 40 after the war has supplanted Rummy , a very similar game from which it has inherited most of the rules. However, the two games are now considered to be two distinct entities. Let’s try to understand why, reviewing the rules of the Scala 40.
Scala 40 online: the rules
To play Scala 40 two decks of French cards of 54 each are used, for a total of 108 cards. The number of players can vary from 2 to 6. Each usually plays individually; only when there are 4 players at the table then you can play in two pairs of 2.
To start the game the dealer (chosen by lot) deals clockwise, one at a time, 13 cards face down to each participant. A card is then revealed, which represents the beginning of the well . The card cannot be a joker; in this case, the joker is returned to the deck and another card is chosen to start the game.
The remaining cards must remain face down, are placed next to the well and represent the so-called “heel”. Cards dealt in hand, on the other hand, can be looked at by their owners after the dealer has placed the starting card of the pool.
Scala 40 online: how to play
Playing Scala 40 online is no different from the paper version: the rules are identical. The game begins with the player to the left of the dealer and then the game is played clockwise . The player whose turn it is draws a card from the stock and places it among the cards he already has in his hand. If he has already opened he can also draw the top card from the well, but he must immediately attach it to a game on the table. Then the player on duty has several actions to choose from:
- If he can and wants to, drop some online 40s games he has in his hand. If this is his first time , he must drop games for a total value of at least 40 points . This rule gives the game its name and highlights you can reach 40 points with a single straight.
- If he has already opened, he can add cards he is holding to games already on the table, either his own or those of other players.
- If he has already opened, he can replace a joker on the table with the corresponding missing card; will take the joker in hand and can use it to form and play a game.
Scala 40 online operations on a PC can be performed in any order; the player then ends his turn when he discards a card, placing it face up on top of the well.
If it comes to the point where a player draws the last card of the stock by drawing, the stock is shuffled and turned over to form a new stock (before the player discards) and the discard will start a new stock. Cards that “attack” cannot be discarded.
When a player runs out of cards in hand after discarding the last one in the pool, he is said to have “gone out”. You can close by lowering all the cards at once, that is, without ever having opened. In this case it is said that it is “closed in hand”. To close in hand it is not mandatory to reach 40 points.
Closing in online Scala 40 determines the hand win. The players who did not go out count the points of the cards they still have in their hand and pay them, adding them to their previous score. The Joker is worth 25 points, the Aces 11, the face cards 10. The other cards have their face value. The player who still has all the cards in hand at the time of closing the cards are not counted but 100 points are always awarded.
If the game is not over, a new hand is started, in which the player to the left of the previous dealer is the dealer.
Warning: it is not valid to close on the first hand . To close the first round must have been completed at least once, to allow each player to attempt to open at least once. The object of the game is to eliminate opponents, through a series of hands. Once the exit score has been agreed (usually 101 or 201 points), any player who exceeds this threshold is eliminated. The last player standing wins.
As you can see, playing Scala 40 online is as easy and fun as and more than the paper counterpart.
Online Ladder 40 tournaments
On Gioco Digitale, it is also possible to participate in online 40-scale tournaments . Doing so is very simple, because just go to the online ladder 40 lobby and click on the “Tournaments” tab: here you will find all the online ladder 40 tournaments scheduled.
There are online ladder 40 tournaments for real money and ladder 40 tournaments online for free, the so-called freerolls, which have no entry fee but still offer real money up for grabs.
How to win at Scala 40 online
Also in the online Scala 40 are the recommendations that any good paper Scala 40 player could give you. Therefore:
- Beware of discards, both those of your opponents and yours. In the first case, this allows us to understand, especially in the first few hands, which are the combinations that the opponent is trying to close and which, instead, are the useless cards. In the second case, but linked to the first, be careful not to discard cards that, although they may be incompatible with our hand, can help that of others a lot.
- High cards aren’t always the best. High cards are those that allow you to close higher points, and therefore open faster. But for this very reason they are the cards that everyone holds in their hand. Reversing the reasoning, why not bet more on cards 5 to 10, which everyone will probably discard more frequently?
- It cannot always be closed in the hand. Closing in hand, even in the online Scala 40, is the most rewarding experience. But it is not always possible: do not be stubborn about wanting to do it, especially if you risk paying a lot of points when the opponent has already put several combinations on the table and has only a few cards left in hand.
