Spanish Monte Card Game

Spanish Monte Playing Card Game from the 1800s

NPS/D. Ocheltree

Background:

Spanish Monte is a card game originating from Spain. This popular game traveled north from Spanish colonies in South America to Mexico and eventually to the American Southwest. It was a popular pastime enjoyed by Native Americans, American soldiers, Mexicans, and international traders during the American fur trade era of the 1830's and into the Gold Rush.

The playing deck for Spanish Monte differs from a standard deck. Instead of hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades, the Monte deck is made up of coins, cups, swords, and clubs. The original Spanish Monte deck did not have 8's, 9's, or 10's. To play, it isn't essential that you have a Spanish Monte deck. You can made the necessary adjustments and substitutions.

Game Lingo:

• Monte - deck of Monte cards
• Gate - card at the top of the Monte which the dealer reveals after bets are placed
• Punters - players who aren't the dealer and place their bets
• Banker - the dealer
• Coup - one round (or hand) of the game

Players needed:

• A dealer (also called a banker)
• Approximately 3-8 players (also called punters)

Cards needed:

• Spanish Monte deck or a standard card deck. Remove any Jokers, 8's, 9's, and 10's as they were not part of the original Spanish Monte deck. You will not need them for this game.

Objects needed:

• Markers for bets such as pennies, counters, stones, buttons, etc.

Set-up:

• Dealer sets out his entire bank (markers) within full view on the table

• Punters begin with their given set of markers (suggested 12-20)

• Play starts with the punter to the dealer's right and continues counter-clockwise

Goal:

• To place a winning bet, punters correctly predict the suit of the card laying face-down at the top of the Monte. (This is also referred to as the "gate" card.)

How to Play:
1. The banker holds the entire deck.
2. The banker puts the content of their bank out on the table for punters to see.
3. The banker shuffles the cards making sure the bottom card never shows.
4. The punter to the banker's left cuts the Monte deck.
5. The dealer draws 2 cards from the bottom of the deck and places them face-up on the table at arm's length in front of them. (This is called the bottom lay-out.)
6. The dealer draws 2 cards from the top of the deck and places them face-up on the table directly above the bottom layout cards so that all four cards are showing. (This is called the top layout.)
7. The remaining stack of cards, called the "monte," is placed face-down in front of the dealer.
8. Punters place their bets (markers) on the layout of their choice, either the top or bottom layout. They are betting that the gate card revealed by the banker will match one of the suits showing within their chosen layout. Punters may put as many markers as they like on either top or bottom layout. *Note: there are one - two possible suit outcomes with each layout since there are two cards in both layouts.
9. After all punters have placed their bets, the banker turns the "monte" face-up. The card displayed is the "gate." If the suit on the gate card matches the suit of either card from the layout chosen by the punter, the punter wins. If it doesn't match, the punter loses to the banker.
10. The banker pays out one-for-one for any punters' bets which match the suit of the gate card. For example, if a punter placed 3 counters on the bottom layout which contained a sword card, and the gate card was a sword card, the punter will receive 6 counters in return paid out by the banker: the punter's original 3 and another 3 from the banker.
11. For all punters who did not match the suit of the gate card, the banker wins and pockets those bets.
12. The banker puts the gate card in the discard pile and reshuffles the layout cards back into the Monte.
13. Play continues for 6 rounds, also called "coups."
14. During play, both the banker and the punters have additional options:

• Banker (Increasing Odds) - At any given point after a new round has begun, but before bets are placed, the banker can offer odds. Instead of paying out the original 1:1 for a correct match, they may offer 2:1 or 3:1. This will likely increase punters' bets and offers the banker greater potential for gain.

• Punters (Increasing Odds) - At any given point after a new round has begun, punters may place odds among themselves that are independent of the banker. For example, the top and bottom layouts will always show one or more of the four suits. However, in addition to suits, the cards also have numbers or faces. Punters could bet against each other that the gate card will or will not be a face card or the next gate card will be a value greater or less than six. If playing with a standard deck, punters could also bet that the next gate card will be red or black.

• Punters (Sitting Out) - Punters are not obliged to bet. They may sit out of any round if they choose.

15. After 6 rounds, the punter to the dealer's left becomes the next banker. New game play begins as before.

 

How to layout Spanish Monte cards for game play

NPS/D. Ocheltree