Tarocchini (plural for tarocchino) are point trick-taking tarot card games popular in Bologna, capital city of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and has been confined mostly to this area. They are the diminutive form of tarocchi (plural for tarocco), referring to the reduction of the Bolognese pack from 78 to 62 cards, which probably occurred in the early 16th century.
The games of Tarocchini are very complex, yet the rules have changed little over the years.
Deck description
{|class=wikitable
!No.!!Label!!Translation!!Value
|-
|(20)||Angelo||Angel||5
|-
|(19)||Mondo||World||5
|-
|(18)||Sole||Sun||1
|-
|(17)||Luna||Moon||1
|-
|5–16||Numeri di scavezzo||Numbered trumps||1
|-
|(1=4)||Moretti||Moors||1
|-
|(0)||Begato||Magician||5
|-
|Suit||Re||Kings||5
|-
|Suit||Regine||Queens||4
|-
|Suit||Cavalli||Knights||3
|-
|Suit||Fanti||Jacks||2
|-
|Suit||Carte numerate||Pip cards||1
|-
|•||Matto||Fool||5
|}
Tarocchini can be played with a 78-card Tarot deck (where the 2–5 pip cards in each suit have been removed), though normally, a special Tarot deck, the Tarocco Bolognese is used. The trump cards have a unique ordering where the second to fifth trumps are known collectively as the Moretti (Moors) and are of equal rank (the last one played is the highest, in regards to taking a trick). In the Tarocco Bolognese, these cards are depicted with four Moors, two of which are identical.
The Fool is not a trump, it can't beat any cards and is played as an excuse from following suit. The Magician is the lowest trump. However, both the Fool and the Magician may be used as contatori (counters or wild cards) to assist in making sequences. The contatori are very valuable, because they can be used as wild cards in multiple locations. The four highest trumps, which are unnumbered, are Angel, World, Sun, and Moon and they are collectively known as grande (big). Angel, World, Magician, and the Fool are collectively known as tarocchi.
The grande, Moretti, and contatori are not numbered in the Tarocco Bolognese.
In the modern game, the cards won by each side are counted in pairs, with 1 being subtracted from the total for each pair. There are also six points for winning the final trick, giving a total of 93 points.