The Festes de Sant Nicolau de Tolentí in Cas Concos des Cavaller last weekend provided the background to hold a Torneig de Truc, a Truc competition. The event was held over two days, last Monday and Tuesday. I don’t know who the winning team was nor how much they took home in prize money, but, at a similar Torneig in Muro last year, the 1. Prize was 1,000 €. Not bad for an old farmer. (P. S. I was later told that the first prize in Cas Concos last year was a suckling pig!)

Truc is a very Mallorcan card game which is usually played by 4 players, even though, 2, 6 or even 8 players can play the game as well, always divided into two teams. If you ever should make it into a real Mallorcan bar as opposed to a touristy one, you will find that quite likely some elderly people sit in a corner and busy themselves playing cards, or Parchís, a board game. If they play cards, it will be Truc, no doubt. For a good twenty years I have been trying to understand the rules for this strategic card game which is played with 36 cards adorned with old-fashioned drawings (l’Amo, Sa Madona, Sa Llengua, Els Cavalls, Els Deus etc.) but, to no avail. I suppose I am just not cut out for playing cards. Oh, well. The 36 cards in the game are the pack of 48, from which the numbers 2, 8 and 9 are eliminated. Don’t ask me why.

Truc or Truco is also played in Valencia, Italy, Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil, where it seems particularly popular.

The photo was taken in Cas Concos des Cavaller (Felanitx), Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: September 13th, 2011. The time was 21:00:59.