While various types of tarot games were played in France since the 16th century, the dominant form now popular is the 19th-century rule set from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

[1] Historically, tarot games in France were played with the Italian-suited Tarot of Marseilles which had Renaissance allegorical images on the atouts[2] while lacking reversible court cards and trumps and corner indices.

Cards appeared in Europe towards the end of the 14th century and may have been introduced first through Italy or Catalonia.

This describes a three-player, 78-card game played with an Italian-suited pack with the Fool acting as an Excuse and the suits ranking in their 'original' order i.e. with numeral cards in the suits of Cups and Coins ranking from Ace (high) to Ten (low).

This ranking is retained in all Tarot games today except in France and Sicily.

[7] Part of the reason why French Tarot persisted is the fact that the rules have been very consistent wherever the game is played.

[10] In the late 18th century in France, Tarot cards first became associated with fortune telling, a practice that eventually spread to much of the Western world.

This deck is composed of: Three cards known as oudlers (honours) are of particular importance in the game: the 1 of trumps (le petit or "Little one"), the 21 of trumps (le monde or "The World", a holdover from the name of this card in the Tarot of Marseilles), and the Excuse (the Fool).

These cards, when captured by the high bidder, lower the point threshold needed to fulfil the contract.

The ranking of the hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades from the top is: King, Queen, Knight, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (Ace).

All trumps rank higher than any suited card; anyone who draws the Fool must redraw.

Players inspect, sort and evaluate their hands, and then move on to the bidding round.

If it is discovered later in the game that a player had a "Petit sec", then it is also annulled and redealt by the following dealer.

The level of bid is based on the strength of a player's hand, usually estimated by counting the points within it.

In earlier rules, still played outside of competitions, in place of the prise and simple garde, there were two bids, in increasing importance: the petite (small) and the pousse (push).

There are also some players who play without the prise contract, with garde as the minimum allowable bid.

The official FFT tournament rules do not cover the public or private nature of the contents of scoring piles during play.

Generally in trick-taking games, the contents of players' scoring piles are not public information during play of the hand, except in cases where a revoke is suspected (a player not following suit, trumping or overtrumping when it was possible for them to do so).

A player is neither required to divulge the contents of the score pile nor permitted to look through it except as necessary to find a half-point card to replace the Fool.

If a card cannot be paired, because there are an odd number in the scoring pile (common with three or five players) or more counters than ordinary cards: The number of points the taker needs depends on how many of the oudlers (Excuse, Petit, 21 of trumps) are among the tricks won by the taker.

To calculate the basic "hand score" that is to be added or deducted, the scorer starts with a basic score of 25 points, then adds the absolute (non-negative) difference between the points earned by the taker and the threshold, and, if any, the Petit au bout bonus.

By not shuffling, groups of desirable cards are kept together such that one person generally has a favorable enough hand to open the bidding.

This bonus is a common house rule and is not considered "official" by the Fédération Française de Tarot for tournament purposes.

When the last trick contains the Petit (1 of trump), 10 points is added to or deducted from the hand score before multiplying.

Whether it is added or subtracted depends on which would most benefit the side taking the trick with the Petit au bout (One at the End).

In the Austrian tarot game of Königrufen, this king-calling mechanism is used so that four-player play two against two.

Each range of point totals suggests a different bid: It is essential to try to get the Petit if one can.

In a 5-player game, if the taker has the 21 of trump, it should always be played so the partner can secure the Petit if held.

The following table shows the maximum number of suits and trumps for a Defender for 4 players.

The Fédération Française de Tarot has developed a system of conventional leads that lets partners communicate the value and number of the cards in hand.