Primero Board Game | BoardGames.com | Your source for everything to do with Board Games

Description

Primero (Primiera) is an Italian, renaissance-era card game that spread across Europe in the 16th century, becoming favored in the Elizabethan court. It is hand-based wagering game, not too dissimilar to Poker. Like poker, the goal is to have the highest-ranked hand after several rounds of wagering, although the exact rules differed among numerous regional variants (this too, is much like poker). The game is played with a standard deck, with the 8's, 9's, and 10's removed.

From lowest to highest, the four-card Primero hands are as follows:
- Numerus: Two or three cards of any suit. Only the cards from the strongest suit are scored.
- Primero: One card from each suit.
- Supremus: Ace, 6, 7, of one suit (this is the highest-scoring Numerus, but counts as a superior hand).
- Fluxus: Four cards all of the same suit.
- Chorus: Four of a kind.

Some variations exclude the Supremus or Chorus. Ties are resolved by the total value of the scored cards in the hand.