by Margaret Bailey

Created on: April 22, 2008

The exasperating thing about the Greek card game "Biriba" is that there are so many options for making points that your strategy is constantly changing. I was baffled while watching the old Greeks on my island play this game. They'd study the table of each other's cards the way chess masters study the board. Now that I'm an experienced player, I understand why: Biriba is a challenging, maddening game!

Similar in style to "Canasta", the object of Biriba is to make as many biribas as possible, which earn each player points. Biribas contain 7 cards, only 1 of which can be a wild card. Natural biribas, those with no wild cards, earn more points. There are some complex rules to the game, and scoring takes a while to master, but if you love a good mental workout, you'll get hooked on this game.

During the first few turns in the hand, each player builds his strategy. But since cards can be melded in two ways - either in sequence, or by face value - this strategy changes depending on the cards each person discards.

Biriba is played with 2 decks, including jokers. Dealer shuffles and the opponent cuts the deck. The dealer deals 11 cards to each player. The opponent also deals 2 hands of 11 cards each and sets them aside. These are "paketos" (packages"). Once the deal is complete, the dealer turns over the top card in the remaining deck. This card is what bridge players call "trump". Make a biriba of this suit and/or denomination and you earn double points!

The hand begins to get interesting when one player has melded all his cards. Once he's emptied his hand by melding completely, in series consisting of at least 2 natural cards and 1 wild card, he can pick up his "paketo". The opponent now has a choice: He can either meld as much as possible (he need not meld everything, as the first player must), in the hopes of picking up his paketo and continuing the game; or he can hold onto everything until he feels it's worthwhile to meld. Of course this keeps the other player in the dark as to which cards he's holding. It also assures that he loses only 200 points if the other player goes out on him. But it delays the picking up of his paketo.

The hand ends when one player goes out on the other. To go out, you must have picked up your paketo. You also must meld all your cards, make at least 1 biriba, and you must discard. This hopefully leaves the opponent with a wealth of points in his hand that are then deducted from his score. The game ends when one player reaches 3,500 points or when one player shoots the other, whichever comes first.

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