The deck
Use 40 cards: remove the 8s, 9s, and 10s. Every player receives ten cards, so the whole deck is in play.
Portuguese classic · 4 players
Sueca
Read the table, trust your partner, and make every trump count.
N
NorthYour partner
W
WestOpponent
E
EastOpponent
Y
YouSouth
Deal complete
Your team wins!
0—0
01 How to play
Small deck.
Sharp game.
Sueca is a Portuguese trick-taking game for four players in fixed partnerships. You sit opposite your partner.
Follow suit
The first card sets the led suit. If you hold that suit, you must follow it. Otherwise, you may play any card — including a trump.
Win the trick
The highest trump wins. With no trumps, the highest card of the led suit wins. The winner leads the next trick.
Card strength
- A11 pts
- 710 pts
- K4 pts
- J3 pts
- Q2 pts
- 6 5 4 3 20 pts
Score the deal
There are 120 card points. A team needs at least 61 to win: 61–90 earns 1 match point, 91–119 earns 2, and all 120 earns 4.
Win the match
The first partnership to reach 4 match points wins. A 60–60 deal is a draw and awards no match points.
02 History & variants
A Portuguese partnership classic.
Built for four players
Sueca is deeply established in Portuguese social life and is also played in Brazil, Angola and Portuguese communities elsewhere. It belongs to the Ace–Ten point-trick family, but its defining Seven–Ace–King ranking gives familiar cards unfamiliar strength. Silent cooperation between fixed partners is central to the traditional game.
Regional matches and related games
Scoring customs vary: some groups count a sweep as four game points, while others use rubber-style matches or different penalties for a revoke. Sueca Italiana is a related bidding form rather than ordinary Sueca, and two- or three-player adaptations exist. The classic game, however, requires exactly four players in two partnerships.