A Balkan fishing card game, also known as Tablanet
Tablić — also called Tablanet or Tablanette — is a Balkan card game of the fishing family, the same group as Italian Scopa and English Casino. You play one card at a time to capture cards from the table by matching or adding up to their value. Greek players will recognise it as a close relative of Ξερή, with one important difference noted below.
A standard 52-card deck. Each player is dealt 6 cards and 4 cards go face up to the table; the rest form a face-down stock. When both hands are empty, six more are dealt to each player — with no new cards going to the table — until the stock runs out.
On your turn you play one card. It captures any table cards whose values sum to the value of the card you played, and it can take several separate groups at once.
| Card | Capture value |
|---|---|
| Ace | 1 or 11 — your choice |
| 2 to 10 | face value |
| Jack | 12 |
| Queen | 13 |
| King | 14 |
So a King, counting 14, can take A+3 (with the Ace as 11) and 6+8 in a single play. Capturing is never compulsory — you may always simply lay your card on the table instead, which is called trailing.
Clearing the entire table with one capture is a tabla and scores a bonus point. The very last capture of a deal does not count as a tabla. Any cards still lying on the table at the end of a deal go to whoever made the last capture.
| Item | Points |
|---|---|
| Each Ace, King, Queen, Jack | 1 |
| 10 of diamonds | 2 |
| Each other ten | 1 |
| 2 of clubs | 1 |
| Most captured cards | 3 (nobody on a tie) |
| Each tabla | 1 |
The first player to 101 points across deals wins the match.
Greek Ξερή (Xeri) is the same family and plays almost identically — but there is one difference that will catch you out: here the Jack does not sweep the table. It simply counts 12, like any other capture value. Scoring also counts the ten of diamonds and the two of clubs separately.
Tablić is known as Tablanet or Tablanette across the Balkans, and it is closely related to Greek Ξερή, Italian Scopa and English Casino. All are fishing games in which you capture table cards with a card from your hand.
Play a card and take any table cards whose values add up to it. An Ace counts 1 or 11 at your choice, a Jack 12, a Queen 13 and a King 14, so a King can take several groups summing to 14 in one play.
Clearing the whole table with a single capture. It scores one bonus point. The last capture of a deal does not count.
The first player to reach 101 points across successive deals wins the match.