2010 · (Public Domain)
Bourre (pronounced "boo-ray") is a trick-taking card game similar to Spades. It is widely played in Louisiana, particularly within the Cajun culture and on the off-shore oil platforms near the Louisiana Gulf Coast.
Bourre uses a standard 52-card deck. Players ante up and are dealt a five card hand. They may then "fold" or continue, swapping out up to all five cards (in some variants they will re-ante to play a hand). The rules are fairly straightforward:
(from Wikipedia entry):
1. You must play to win. This goes beyond simply "playing a higher card"; if you know that no one else has any trumps, and it is your turn to lead, you must play trumps if you have them.
2. You must play on-suit if possible, even if your highest on-suit card will not beat the highest card in play. Even if a trump has been played on a non-trump lead, if you have a card of the suit led, you must play on that suit.
3. You must play a trump if you have no on-suit cards. You still must play to win; if the only trump played is a 3, you hold the 2 and the Ace of trumps but no cards of the lead suit, you must play the Ace of trumps.