How to Play Booray (Bourré): Card Game Rules

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Win big at this quick, Cajun trick-taking game with our complete guide

Co-authored by Hunter Rising Reviewed by Ashton Wu

Last Updated: February 20, 2024 Fact Checked

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• Setup
|
• Gameplay
|
• Paying Out
|
• Ending the Game

|Show more |Show less

If you’re looking for a fun and simple gambling game to try out, Booray (Bourré) is a perfect alternative for your poker night. In Booray, players win the turn if they play the highest-valued card, and whoever wins the most during a round wins the pot of chips. Booray is easy to learn and teach to your friends, so keep reading and we’ll walk you through how to play from start to finish!

Things You Should Know

• Player Count: 2–8 (but best for 5 or more)
• Required materials: Deck of cards, poker chips
• Objective: Play the highest-valued card each turn (trick) to win cards. Win the most cards during a round to collect the pot.

Steps

Section 1 of 4:

Setup

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1. 
   1
   Ante a poker chip to the middle of the table. Give each player a stack of poker chips to play with. Each player who wants to get dealt in for the round places a chip into the center of the table, otherwise known as the “pot.”

   • If you don’t have poker chips, you can play with any tokens. You may also play with real money, but set a limit for how much players can spend during a game.
2. 
   2
   Shuffle and deal 5 cards to each player. Use a standard deck of cards and shuffle them thoroughly. Deal out 1 card at a time to each player until each person has 5 cards in their hand.

   • You can look at the cards in your hand, but keep them secret from everyone else at the table.
   • Variation: You may also play Booray with 4 cards instead of 5 for a more competitive game.
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3. 
   3
   Flip the next card to reveal the round’s trump suit. Take the top card of the remaining deck and put it face-up for all players to see. The suit of the card becomes the “trump,” meaning the suit is the highest value for the round.

   • The cards of each suit are ranked high to low: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2.
   • Variation: Instead of flipping a new card, place the last card in the dealer’s hand face-up to use as the trump card. The dealer can play the revealed card like normal later in the round.
4. 
   4
   Decide to play or pass for the round. All the players look at their hand of cards. Starting with the person next to the dealer, each player can decide if they want to continue the round for an opportunity to win the pot.

   • If a player passes, they set all their cards face-down in front of them. Players who pass don’t play the round and lose their ante, but they don’t risk losing any additional chips.
5. 
   5
   Choose to discard and draw new cards when you stay in the round. Starting with the person to the left of the dealer, any player who’s playing the round can choose any number of cards from their hand to discard. They immediately draw new cards from the deck until they have 5 cards in their hand.

   • Choose lower-valued cards to discard from your hand since they’re less likely to win later in the round.
   • You do not have to discard any cards from your hand if you don’t want to.
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Section 2 of 4:

Gameplay

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1. 
   1
   Play a card face-up to the first trick. A trick is a single turn where players play 1 card from their hand. The player to the left of the dealer plays the first card to the trick. The suit of the card becomes the trick’s “lead suit.”

   • If the first player has the Ace, King, and Queen of the trump suit, they must lead with the Ace on their turn. Otherwise, they may pick any card.
2. 
   2
   Take turns adding cards to the trick. The next player to the left takes their turn playing a card from their hand. Players must “follow suit” by playing a card matching the lead card’s suit. If players don’t have a card in the lead suit, they must play a trump card if they have one. Otherwise, they may choose any card in their hand.

   • If a player can follow suit, they must play a card with a higher value than the ones already played if they’re able to.
   • Example: If the lead card was a Queen of Hearts, and you only have the 4 of Hearts in your hand, you must play it even though it’s a lower value. If you also had the King of Hearts, you must play the King.
   • Example: The lead card was the 5 of Diamonds and the trump card is the 3 of Spades. If you do not have any diamonds but have the 4 and 8 of Spades, you can play either card. If a player ahead of you already played the 6 of Spades, you must play the 8 of Spades because you have to play a higher value.
3. 
   3
   Win the trick for playing the highest-valued card. After each player adds a card to the trick, check the values of each card. The person who played the highest trump card wins the trick. If there are no trump cards, then the person who played the highest card of the lead suit wins.

   • The winner takes all the cards from the trick and places them in a face-down pile in front of them.
   • Example: The trump suit is diamonds. The lead card was the 6 of Spades, and other players played the 8 of Spades, 10 of Spades, and King of Spades. The player who played the King of Spades wins the trick.
   • Example: The trump suit is hearts. The lead card was the 8 of Diamonds. Other players used the 10 of Diamonds, 3 of Hearts, and 5 of Hearts. The player who played the 5 of Hearts wins because it’s the highest trump card.
4. 
   4
   Play tricks until players run out of cards. The winner of the last trick gets to play the lead card of the next one. Play out the remaining tricks until players don’t have any cards left in their hands.

   • When you win tricks, keep the piles of cards separate so you can easily count how many you won.
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Section 3 of 4:

Paying Out

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1. 
   1
   Take the pot for winning the most tricks during a round. Count how many tricks each player won during the round. Whoever won the most tricks takes all the chips from the pot and adds them to their stack.
2. 
   2
   Keep the chips in the pot if players are tied for most tricks. If players win the same number of tricks, it’s considered a “split pot” and no one earns the chips. The chips stay in the pot so there’s a larger payout during the next round.

   • Players who tied for the most tricks do not need to ante a chip at the start of the next round.
3. 
   3
   Pay the current pot’s value for winning no tricks. If a player doesn’t win any trick, they have gone “booray” (or “bourré”). The player takes chips equal to the round’s pot from their personal stack and adds them to the pot for the next round.

   • A player that has gone Booray does not need to ante a chip at the start of the next round.
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Section 4 of 4:

Ending the Game

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1. 
   Keep playing rounds until you want to stop or a player runs out of chips. There isn’t an official way to win a game of Booray, so continue playing as long as you want. You may play until someone doubles their starting chips or until someone has run out of chips, for example.

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