How to play Banakil Baraziliyeh
Two decks, seven-card projects, and a reserve hand waiting to be claimed.
Also known as Brazilian, Buraco, Biriba, Moraco, Morto
Banakil Baraziliyeh — the Brazilian game, from the Buraco and Biriba family — is a Canasta-style game played with two decks. Two players go head to head, or four play 2 vs 2. Each side is dealt eleven cards, and two reserve hands of eleven are set aside.
You build melds, extend them into seven-card projects, and claim a reserve hand before you can close. Unlike Hand, here the highest score wins, and a side that finishes a round without a clean project pays for it.
Be the first side to reach the target score — 1500 or 2000 — by completing projects and closing rounds before the other side does.
How to play Banakil Baraziliyeh
- 1Deal and set the reserves
Both decks are shuffled together and each side is dealt eleven cards. Two reserve hands of eleven cards each are set aside to be claimed during play.
- 2Draw and meld
On your turn you draw, then build melds of matching ranks or runs, extending them toward the seven cards that make a project.
- 3Claim a reserve hand
A side that plays out its dealt hand picks up a reserve hand and keeps going. You cannot close the round until a reserve has been taken.
- 4Close the round
A side closes once it holds at least one clean (200) project and has cleared its hand. ScoresDeck also supports a direct (Mubasher) close.
- 5Score
Projects and melds are added, cards still in hand are subtracted, and the bonuses and penalties are applied. ScoresDeck keeps the running totals.
Scoring
Projects are where the points are
A project is seven or more cards of the same rank. A clean project — no wildcards — is worth 200; a dirty one, built with a wildcard, is worth 100. On top of the projects you add the point value of your melds and subtract whatever is still in your hand when the round ends.
Closing the round is worth a further 100 to the side that does it. In partners that bonus goes to the closing team, not just the player who closed.
Two penalties worth avoiding
Finish the round without having claimed a reserve hand and you lose 100.
The heavier one is 200 points, and it lands on any side that finishes a round without a clean project. A dirty project still scores but does not spare you. Everything else still counts as normal — dirty projects, melds and the cards in hand — and a side without a clean project cannot close the round either. In partners the penalty is taken once per team.
Highest score wins
Set the target at 1500 or 2000 when you create the match. Unlike Hand, points here are what you want: the first side to reach the target wins.
ScoresDeck records each round’s projects, melds, hand points and penalties per side, shows both totals live, and settles the match automatically.
Variants ScoresDeck supports
A head-to-head game for two players.
A 2-vs-2 team game for four players sharing a score.
Play to 1500 or 2000, chosen when the match is created.
Frequently asked questions
It comes from the Buraco and Biriba family and is also called Brazilian, Moraco and Morto across different regions.
A project is seven or more cards of the same rank. Clean means no wildcards and is worth 200; dirty means it uses a wildcard and is worth 100.
You take a 200-point penalty — just you, or your team in partners. Your dirty projects, melds and cards in hand still count, but without a clean project you cannot close the round.
Two players head to head, or four players in a 2-vs-2 partnership.
The highest. The first side to reach the target — 1500 or 2000 — takes the match.
Stop keeping score on paper
ScoresDeck handles every point of Banakil Baraziliyeh for you — running totals, the live leader, and the winner the moment the match ends.
Get ScoresDeck