Editing Écarté (section)

==Variations==

===Pool and French===
One of the best known descriptions of Écarté - a treatise by Cavendish written in 1886 that describes the then-current state-of-play in certain London clubs - discusses at least two different variants: Pool Écarté and French Écarté.{{sfn|Cavendish|1886|p=35-37}}

Pool Écarté is designed for three players, with only two players playing each hand and one observing. The losing player for the hand then swaps places with the observing player, until one of the players wins two games consecutively.{{sfn|Cavendish|1886|p=35}}

In French Écarté, observing bystanders are allowed to place certain wagers on the game, similar to some versions of [[Baccarat]], and are also allowed to provide certain input to the players during the course of the game.{{sfn|Cavendish|1886|p=36-37}} (In English Écarté, bystanders were permitted to place bets on a game, but were not permitted to comment or provide input.{{sfn|Cavendish|1886|p=15}})

===Rubbers===
As in other tricking taking games such as Whist, it is common for play to consist of "rubbers" or "sets," where the player who wins the best of three, five, seven, or even eleven games wins the rubber. {{sfn|Cavendish|1886|p=33-34}}

===Ranks===
For a more modern variation of the game, the cards may be re-ranked with the Ace as the highest card and the King as the second highest card, as in most modern card games.{{sfn|Cady|1896|p=11}}

===Betting===
As an old casino game, betting was originally a central feature of Écarté.{{sfn|Cavendish|1886|p=15, 35-37}} While this aspect of the game can be simulated with chips similar to [[Poker]] or [[Napoleon (card game)|Napoleon]], another mechanic that is occasionally used is to permit players to propose to "double" the point value of the hand then in play. This is functionally similar to raising the bet for the hand, though without the necessity of chips or money.

The proposal can be made by either player at any time before the commencement of the third trick (i.e., the mid-point of the hand), and if the other player accepts, the total point value of the hand is doubled for whoever wins (including any points scored due to the ''vulnerability'' of one of the players). If the other player declines, however, the hand is immediately concluded (similar to ''folding'' in Poker) and the proposing player awarded points as if they had taken a majority of the tricks, but had not taken the ''vole'' (i.e., one point in a standard hand, or two points if the player declining to double the value of the hand was ''vulnerable'').

This mechanic permits for some additional complex strategies, such as [[Bluffing (cards)|bluffing]].

A similar variation allows either player to "offer[] the point to the opponent," similar to ''folding'' in Poker.{{sfn|Cady|1896|p=11}} If the opponent accepts the offer, the hand is immediately concluded and scored as if the opponent had won "the point" (i.e., three or four out of the five available tricks).{{sfn|Cady|1896|p=11}} If the opponent declines the offer, however, they are "bound to win the ''vole''."{{sfn|Cady|1896|p=11}} If they do so, scoring proceeds as normal, but if the player declining the offer fails to win the ''vole'' (i.e., if the player who initially offered to ''fold'' takes at least one trick), then the player who made the initial offer scores two points.{{sfn|Cady|1896|p=11}} It is unclear from the sources for this variation whether there is any kind of rule on how late in the hand a player is permitted to make an offer, or whether the offer can be made at any time during the course of a hand. Logic would seem to dictate that the offer must come at least prior to the midpoint of the hand (i.e., the third trick), or the offering player would not be offering anything of value to their opponent. If the offering player had already won one of the first three tricks, for instance, then the opposing player would not be able to win the ''vole''; and if the opposing player had already won three tricks, they would already be entitled to score the point being offered. For these reasons, it may be that "offering the point to the opponent"{{sfn|Cady|1896|p=11}} is only permitted in the phase before play begins.

===Bourré===
[[Bourré]] is sometimes considered a variant of Écarté for more than two players.