How many people does a private table need?

Two or four, in pairs. If there are three of you and one seat is empty, the computer takes it and the hand is played as usual.

Is there anything to install?

No. The table opens in the browser, on a computer or on a phone. No card is asked for, and there are no adverts at the table.

Does the invite code last for ever?

No. The code belongs to that table while it is still waiting for players. Once the game has started, or the table has closed, you create another table and share the new code.

Does a private table work without a connection?

No. A private table has other people in it, so every play has to travel between you and it needs a connection at both ends. The offline mode is for playing alone against the computer.

Buraco with friends, at a private table

You create a table, share the invite code, and only somebody holding that code can sit down. Buraco is the Brazilian branch of the canasta family, and this is it played with the people you meant to play with, free and in the browser.

A private table exists for one situation. You want a game with your sister, your son or the friend you have played cards with for thirty years, and not with strangers. Nobody arrives by accident, because the table is not in the public list.

Before you invite anyone: the game still opens in Portuguese. The rules are the same and the table reads without much text, but it is worth telling the family before they arrive rather than after. English is written and waiting to be published.

Open a private table

Three steps, and you are playing

1. You create the table: You choose to play in private, and the table waits with your seat already taken. Nobody from outside comes in while it waits.
2. You share the code: The table gives you an invite code. Send it in a message, or read it out over the phone to whoever does not get on with typing. It is short for that reason.
3. They come in with the code: Each person enters the code and takes a seat. When the table is full, eleven cards go to each player, the two mortos of eleven stay face down, and the hand begins.

How many sit down

Two or four, in pairs. Four is the game most people mean by buraco, with you and your partner facing the other two. If there are three of you and a seat is left empty, the computer takes it and the hand is played as usual, so nobody waits for a fourth to appear.

Your first game is played to 1500 points, which is about the length of a visit. You can also set 1000 for something shorter, or 2000 and 3000 for a long afternoon.

This part needs a connection

A private table has other people in it, so every card played has to travel between you. It needs a connection at both ends, and it is the one thing that does not work on a train with no signal.

If that is what you were looking for, the answer is the other way round: buraco offline plays a full hand against the computer with no connection at all, alone.

If somebody has never played

It is worth their playing a hand or two on their own first. Against the computer nobody is waiting, so there is room to get used to the morto, to a clean and a dirty canastra, which is a meld of seven cards or more, and to what it takes to go out. That is on the page about buraco against the computer.

The rest holds no surprises: nothing to install, no card asked for, and no adverts at the table. It opens in the browser, on the computer in the front room or on the phone of whoever is in another city.

Common questions

How many people does a private table need?: Two or four, in pairs. If there are three of you and one seat is empty, the computer takes it and the hand is played as usual.
Is there anything to install?: No. The table opens in the browser, on a computer or on a phone. No card is asked for, and there are no adverts at the table.
Does the invite code last for ever?: No. The code belongs to that table while it is still waiting for players. Once the game has started, or the table has closed, you create another table and share the new code.
Does a private table work without a connection?: No. A private table has other people in it, so every play has to travel between you and it needs a connection at both ends. The offline mode is for playing alone against the computer.