Pishti — the Turkish card game, online
Pishti (Turkish: pişti) is one of Turkey's best-loved card games: play a card of the same rank as the top card to take the pile, and capture a single card to score a pishti. On LuckyZar you play it with a 52-card deck, 1 vs 1 or 4 players in pairs, against real people, straight in your browser.
How to play Pishti
The goal is to finish the hand with more points than your opponent (or the opposing pair). Points come from valuable cards you capture, from pishtis and from taking the most cards.
- The deal: The 52-card deck is shuffled. 4 cards go to the middle: the bottom 3 face down, the top one face up (it can't be a Jack). Everyone gets 4 cards; when hands run out, 4 more each come from the deck.
- Playing: On your turn, play one of the 4 cards in your hand to the middle.
- Capturing: Players take turns playing one card to the middle. If your card matches the rank of the top card, or is a Jack, you take the whole pile. If the middle is empty, your card starts a new pile.
- Pishti: Taking a single card with the same rank is a PISHTI: 10 points. Jack on Jack is worth 20 points. Taking a single card with a Jack is not a pishti.
- End of hand: When the deck and hands are empty, the cards left in the middle go to the last player who captured. Points are added up; most points takes the pot.
Pishti scoring and card points
When the hand ends, each side counts the cards it captured. The Pishti scoring table:
| Card / event | Points |
|---|---|
| Each Ace | 1 |
| Each Jack | 1 |
| Two of clubs (♣2) | 2 |
| Ten of diamonds (♦10) | 3 |
| Side with the most cards | 3 (nobody on a tie) |
| Pishti | 10 |
| Jack-on-Jack pishti | 20 |
The deck holds 13 card points in total (4 Aces, 4 Jacks, ♣2 and ♦10), so with the most-cards bonus a hand without pishtis is worth 16 points. That's why a single pishti (10 points) often decides the hand on its own.
Example: you captured 2 Aces, 1 Jack and the ♦10, took the most cards with 28, and made one pishti: 2 + 1 + 3 + 3 + 10 = 19 points.
Pishti in pairs (4 players)
Partners sit opposite each other. Their captured cards and pishtis count together. Play goes to the right: you, the opponent on your right, your partner opposite, then the opponent on your left.
In pairs, points are counted per team, and the most-cards bonus goes by the combined cards of both partners. The skill of the pairs game is thinking about the card you leave for your partner and never handing the opponents an easy pishti. On LuckyZar a pairs game is a single hand: when it ends, the pair with more points shares the pot, and on a tie everyone gets their buy-in back.
Two-player Pishti and the last-card rule
In a 1 vs 1 game, 4 cards each are dealt 6 times until the deck runs out (3 times in pairs). Play the last deal carefully: under the last-card rule, when the deck and hands are empty every card left in the middle goes to the last player who captured. Making the final capture on a big pile can also bring the most-cards bonus and any Aces or Jacks in it.
Pishti strategy tips
- Count cards: Track how many of each rank have been played. If three of a rank are gone, playing the fourth can't give your opponent a pishti.
- Save your Jacks: A Jack takes any pile. Use it when many cards or valuable ones (♦10, ♣2, Aces) have built up.
- Careful on an empty table: The card you play to an empty middle is the only card your opponent can pishti. Pick a rank that's already mostly played.
- Jack pishti: If a single Jack is in the middle and you hold a Jack, that's 20 points — don't miss it.
- Plan the last deal: Order your cards so you make the final capture; the leftover cards come to you.
Table and pot
Pishti is played 1 vs 1 or 4 players in pairs. Everyone who sits puts the buy-in into the pot; at the end of the hand the winner takes the whole pot (in pairs, the winning pair shares it). If it's a draw, everyone gets their buy-in back.
You get 15 seconds per move; when time runs out a card is played for you. Leaving mid-hand forfeits the hand and your stake stays in the pot.
Provably fair shuffle
The deck is shuffled with a secret server seed whose hash is shown before the hand, plus the players' own seeds. When the hand ends the seed is revealed: use Verify in History to check the deck yourself. Details: provably fair play.
Try Pishti for free
After signing in, choose Test mode → Pishti in the lobby, pick 1 vs 1 or pairs, and play free against bots with 1,000 demo chips. Demo chips are play money. When you're ready, open a Pishti table in the lobby or join an open one. For the dice game: dice rules.