Buraco is a partnership rummy-family game built on long suited sequences and two extra hands called mortos. It rewards patience, memory, and teamwork, which is why it remains a kitchen-table staple in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Italy. This guide walks through the rules, the scoring quirks that confuse newcomers, the difference between clean and dirty canastas, and a handful of strategy habits that make your partnership tougher to beat.
What Is Buraco?
Buraco means “hole” in Portuguese, a nod to the two face-down mini-hands (mortos) that wait on the table until a team has discarded its entire hand. It sits in the same family as Canasta and Tranca, but the morto mechanic, the emphasis on long suited runs, and the bonus for clean canastas give it a flavour of its own.
It is usually played by four people in two partnerships, though two-player and three-player variants exist. If you already enjoy Pinochle or Rummy, the melding rhythm will feel familiar — but Buraco punishes hoarding and rewards long, unbroken suited sequences.
What You Need to Play
Cards
Buraco uses a 108-card pack: two standard 52-card decks plus four jokers. Keep them shuffled together as one combined deck for the whole hand.
Players and Teams
The classic game is four players in two partnerships, sitting across from each other so turn order alternates between teams. Two-player Buraco skips partnerships; each player plays solo.
Card Values
- Jokers: 20 points
- Twos and Aces: wild and natural 2s score 20, Aces score 15
- 8 through King: 10 points each
- 3 through 7: 5 points each
Twos are dual-purpose: they can stand in as wild cards or sit naturally inside a sequence of 2-3-4 of the same suit. That flexibility is one of the small decisions that separates a good Buraco player from a careless one.
The Deal and the Mortos
The dealer gives each player 11 cards, face down. Two more stacks of 11 cards, the mortos, are placed face down to the side. The remaining cards form the draw pile, and the top card is turned over to start the discard pile.
The mortos are the defining feature: they are a second hand that a team inherits only after it has legally emptied the first. A team that fails to claim its morto by the end of the hand is penalised 100 points, which is why teams pace themselves carefully and avoid finishing too early.
How a Turn Works
Drawing
On your turn, you either draw one card from the top of the draw pile or pick up the entire discard pile. There is no halfway option — if you want the attractive card sitting on top of the discard, you commit to taking everything underneath it too.
Melding
After drawing, you may lay down new melds or add cards to existing melds on your team’s side of the table. In standard Buraco, melds are sequences of three or more consecutive cards in the same suit. Some popular variants also allow sets of the same rank, but many home games and most online rooms require pure sequences.
Discarding
End your turn by placing one card face up on the discard pile. You cannot discard if it would leave you with zero cards and your team has not yet earned the right to take a morto.
Clean vs. Dirty Canastas
A seven-card sequence is called a canasta (sometimes canastra in Brazilian Portuguese). This is where a lot of the game’s points live.
Clean Canasta (Canasta Limpa)
Seven or more cards of the same suit in sequence with no wild cards. Scores a 200-point bonus. Your team must have at least one clean canasta to end the hand, which is why protecting a long natural run is a priority.
Dirty Canasta (Canasta Suja)
A seven-card sequence that includes a wild card. Worth 100 bonus points. A dirty canasta can often be upgraded into a clean one later if you draw the missing natural card and can shuffle the wild elsewhere.
Super Canastas
Longer clean sequences are lucrative. A 13-card clean sequence pays a 500-point bonus, and a perfect 14-card clean sequence (Ace through King in one suit, with Ace counted at either end) is worth 1,000 points in most rule sets.
Picking Up the Morto
When a player melds or discards their last card and their team has not yet taken a morto, that player picks up one of the face-down 11-card stacks and continues playing with it as their new hand. You do not get to shuffle it into the remaining cards — you inherit whatever is there.
Only after your team has taken a morto and assembled at least one clean canasta may you attempt to close out the hand.
Ending the Hand and Scoring
A hand ends when a player goes out: melds or discards their final card after their team has taken its morto and has at least one clean canasta on the table. Going out is worth a 100-point bonus.
At that point, each team totals up:
- + The point value of every card in their melds
- + Bonus points for canastas (100 dirty, 200 clean, 500 for 13-card clean, 1,000 for 14-card clean)
- + 100 bonus for going out
- – The point value of every card still in their hand
- – 100 penalty if their morto was never claimed
Hands are played until one team reaches the target score, usually 3,000 points, though 1,500 and 2,000 are also common house thresholds.
Simple Strategy Tips That Actually Help
Protect a Clean Run Early
Your team cannot end the hand without a clean canasta, so once you have four or five natural cards of one suit in a row, guard them. Do not break the run to reach for a short-term meld.
Think Twice Before Grabbing the Discard Pile
Picking up the discard pile gives you a huge boost, but it dumps a dozen or more cards into your hand. If you cannot meld enough of them quickly, you are feeding your opponents information and carrying dead weight that will count against you if the hand ends fast.
Use Wild Cards Where They Can Be Upgraded
A wild card inside a five-card run that is one card short of a natural connection is better placed than a wild card buried in the middle of a run you can never cleanse. Keep flexibility in mind when you decide where a joker goes.
Watch Your Partner’s Discards
In four-player Buraco, discards are information. Your partner pitching a high-value card means they probably do not need that suit or rank. Mirror that signal rather than building a fresh meld that pulls from the same suit.
Pace the Hand
Rushing to empty your hand before taking the morto is a trap. The 100-point morto penalty plus the loss of unused melding opportunities often turns a big-looking round into a flat one.
Common Variants
Italian Burraco
Played widely in Italy with very similar rules, but many Italian clubs require a clean canasta of exactly seven cards for certain bonuses and use slightly different thresholds. Pot bonuses and wild-card restrictions vary by federation.
Buraco Fechado (Closed Buraco)
A stricter Brazilian variant where a team cannot put down any melds until one player opens with a qualifying hand. It slows the early game and rewards strong card retention.
Buraco for Two Players
Each player gets their own morto and plays alone. Card counts and bonuses are the same; the strategic weight just shifts because there is no partner to send signals to.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Buraco the same as Canasta?
They share a family tree, but no. Canasta relies on sets of the same rank; Buraco is built around suited sequences. The morto mechanic and the bonus for clean canastas are Buraco-specific touches that change how the hand plays out.
Can I use a 2 as a natural card instead of a wild?
Yes. A 2 of hearts inside a hearts sequence of Ace-2-3 or 2-3-4 counts as natural, which means the sequence can still qualify as clean. You only have to decide when you play it.
How many cards is a canasta in Buraco?
Seven cards. Any additional same-suit consecutive card you add keeps the canasta going; longer clean canastas earn larger bonuses, up to 1,000 points for a 14-card run.
What happens if no one takes a morto?
The team that leaves its morto unclaimed loses 100 points at scoring. That penalty is why pacing matters — going out fast is only worthwhile if you have already banked the morto and at least one clean canasta.
Can you play Buraco online?
Yes. There are free web-based versions on sites like GameDesire, Mundigames, and Buraco Plus, plus mobile apps for iOS and Android. Rule variants differ between platforms, so check which ruleset (Brazilian, Italian, Fechado) is used before joining a table.
Final Thoughts
Buraco rewards the player who can hold two goals in mind at once: build long, clean runs to bank bonuses, and manage the tempo of the hand so your team claims its morto. Once the scoring quirks click, it stops feeling like a rummy variant and starts to feel like a game of its own — one that is well worth a spot on any card-game shelf.