How to Play Cassino: Capturing, Building, Sweeps & Scoring
Cassino (often spelled Casino) is a classic "fishing" card game in which you play cards from your hand to capture cards from the table by matching, adding, and building. It rewards arithmetic, memory, and a little nerve. This guide walks through the full rules, including the prized Big Casino and Little Casino, and shows you exactly how scoring works so you can win consistently. Then you can put it into practice for free on lovecardgames.com.
What Is Cassino?
Cassino is a capturing card game for two to four players, played with a standard 52-card deck. It belongs to the same "fishing" family as the Italian classics Scopa and Escoba, but it adds a distinctive twist: the ability to combine table cards into a declared build that you capture on a later turn. The goal is to collect the most valuable cards, especially the four aces, the 10 of diamonds, and the 2 of spades, and to reach the target score before your opponents.
Two-handed Cassino is the sharpest version, but it plays well with three players, or with four in two partnerships of two, partners sitting opposite each other and pooling their captured cards.
Card Values
For capturing and building, cards carry these numeric values:
- Ace = 1
- 2 through 10 = face value (a 2 is worth 2, a 10 is worth 10, and so on)
- Face cards (Jack, Queen, King) have no numeric value. They cannot be added or built; they can only be captured by pairing.
The Deal
The dealer gives four cards to each player and places four cards face-up in the center of the table. Cards are usually dealt in twos. No cards are placed on the table on later deals. When everyone has played all four cards, the dealer deals four more to each player from the remaining stock, and so on. The dealer must announce "last" when dealing the final batch of cards. Play proceeds clockwise, starting with the player to the dealer's left.
How a Turn Works
On your turn you play exactly one card from your hand. That card can do one of three things: capture, build, or trail.
Capturing
A played card can take cards from the table in two ways, and you may do both at once with the same card:
- By pairing: A card captures every table card of the same rank. A played 8 takes any 8s on the table; a Queen takes any Queens.
- By combining: A numeral card captures any set of numeral cards that add up to its value. A played 9 can take a 5 and a 4, or a 6, a 2, and an ace, all in one turn. You can also scoop several separate combinations at once if each one totals the value of your played card.
All captured cards, including the card you played, go face-down into your scoring pile. Face cards can only be captured by pairing, never by adding.
Building
Instead of capturing immediately, you can play a card onto one or more table cards to form a build that you intend to capture on a future turn. You must announce the build's value, and you must hold a card in hand that can later make the capture.
- Single build: Play a 3 onto a table 4 and announce "building seven." On a later turn a 7 from your hand captures the whole stack. You may also add to a build to increase it (for example, lay an ace on a build of five and announce "six") as long as you hold the matching capturing card.
- Multiple build: Group several combinations that each equal the same value. If a 5 is built and you add another 5 (or a 2 and a 3), you announce "building fives," and only a 5 can take it. A multiple build's value can no longer be changed.
Important rules of building: you cannot create a build entirely from cards already on the table, and once you have a build on the table that you were the last to add to, you cannot simply trail, you must capture, build again, or add to a build. Opponents may capture your build, or add to a single build to raise its value, so a build is never safe until you take it.
Trailing
If you do not want to capture or build, you simply play a card face-up onto the table. This is called trailing, and it leaves the card available for everyone. The only time trailing is forbidden is when you hold a build that you were the last to add to.
Sweeps
If your play captures every card on the table, leaving it empty, you score a sweep worth 1 point. Track each sweep by turning one captured card face-up in your pile. When all cards have been played in the final deal, the player who made the most recent capture also takes any cards still left on the table, but this final scoop does not count as a sweep.
Scoring
After every card has been played, players count their captured piles and award points as follows:
- Most cards: 3 points (not awarded if tied)
- Most spades: 1 point
- Big Casino (10 of diamonds): 2 points
- Little Casino (2 of spades): 1 point
- Each ace: 1 point (4 points available)
- Each sweep: 1 point
That makes 11 fixed points plus one per sweep available each game. Players keep a running total across deals, and the first to reach the agreed target, usually 21 points (some play to 11), wins. If two players cross the target in the same deal, finish counting in scoring order, or play another deal to break a tie.
Strategy Tips
- Hunt the scoring cards. The four aces, Big Casino, and Little Casino are 7 guaranteed points before sweeps. Prioritize capturing them even over fattening your card count.
- Guard the spade race. "Most cards" (3 points) and "most spades" (1 point) are huge swings. Capturing spade-heavy combinations quietly tilts both.
- Build only when you can defend it. Never build a value your opponent can capture more easily than you can. Multiple builds are safer because their value is locked.
- Watch what your captures leave behind. A clean table denies the next player an easy sweep; an awkward total invites one.
- Remember the last capture. Whoever captures last on the final deal sweeps the leftover table cards, which can decide the "most cards" point.
If you enjoy the capture-and-count rhythm of Cassino, try its cousins Scopa, Escoba, and Seep, or the trick-taking classics Spades, Hearts, and Euchre. For a quick solo session, Solitaire is always there.
Play now
Ready to start capturing? Play Cassino free on lovecardgames.com, right in your browser with smart bots and online multiplayer, no download and no signup required. Deal yourself in and go sweep the table.