Briscola /

Briscola (bixkla in Maltese, brìscula in Sicilian, brìšcula or brišc in Neapolitan, briškula in Croatian, Skembeel in Libya, la brisca in Spanish, bisca in Portuguese, briškola in Slovene, бришкуле in Serbian), one of Italy's most popular games together with Scopa and Tressette, and a little-changed descendant of Brusquembille, the ancestor of Briscan and Bezique, is a Mediterranean trick-taking card game for two to six players played with a standard Italian 40-card deck. Apart from the Northern Mediterranean, the game is also popular in Puerto Rico. It is believed to have originated in the early 1700's in the Northern Eastern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Currently Modiano S.p.a. is a large manufacturing firm of Briscola cards and is currently located in Trieste, the capital of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is also common to find the Triestino coat of arms on Modiano playing cards, which is placed in order to recall the historics of the Briscola game. Alternatively, it can be played with a modern Anglo-French deck, without the eight, nine and ten cards (see Portuguese variations below).