The rules of Sweep.
Sweep, known in Romania as Tabinet, is a capture game for 2–4 players with 52 cards: you play a card and pick up table cards that add up to exactly its value. The only one of the five Romanian card games here that makes you do the math. Clear the table and you score a sweep.
House rules, checked against the engine that applies them · updated
- Players
- 2–4
- Length
- 20–30 min
- Difficulty
- Strategic
- Leaderboard
- Yes
How to play.
Pick up the combination from the table that adds up exactly.
- 01♠
The deal
- A full 52-card deck, no jokers. Four cards are turned up on the table, and each player gets four in hand.
- When all hands are empty, four more are dealt to each player, until the deck runs out.
- 02♥
Values
Card Capture value 2 – 10 As printed. Ace 11 Jack 12 Queen 13 King 14 - These are the values used for capturing. Points at the end are counted differently — see “Scoring.”
- 03♦
Capturing
- You play a card from your hand and pick up the combination on the table that adds up to EXACTLY its value. A king (14) picks up a 10 and a 4; a 9 picks up another 9, or a 4 and a 5.
- You take one combination per move — the table shows you all the options.
- If you can’t or don’t want to capture, you leave a card on the table. Sometimes it’s better not to capture, so you don’t open up the table for your opponent.
- A capture that clears the table is called a SWEEP and scores one extra point.
- Cards left on the table at the end go to the last player who captured something.
- 04♣
Scoring
- Every ace, king, queen, jack and 10 is worth one point.
- The “little cows” are the exception: 10♦ and 2♣ are worth two points each.
- Each sweep scores one point.
- 05♠
Thinking time
- The host picks the pace when opening the table: 10 or 30 seconds per move, or no timer. While no match is running, the host can change it in the table settings. The timer is shown on the table.
- At a table with a clock, if you run out of time you are ELIMINATED from the match: your cards leave the game and the others carry on without you.
- The server doesn’t play for you. A player who has left the table but kept playing cards would hold the others in a match with no opponent.
- When only one player is left, the match ends and that player wins.
Rules differ from one place to another. The tables here play the version written above, so everyone plays by the same rules.
Do you play it differently?
The most common variants of Sweep, and what happens with each one at the tables here.
A sweep is worth two or three pointsnot played here
It’s played many ways. Here a sweep scores exactly one point.
The ace is worth 1, not 11not played here
The version where the ace is the lowest value. Here it’s 11, and the face cards continue 12, 13, 14 — that’s what makes captures with face cards worthwhile.
Played to 101 pointsnot played here
The multi-match version. Here a match is one whole deck played out, and the winner is the player with more points at the end.
Table cards can only be taken one at a timenot played here
Here you take a whole combination, if it adds up to exactly the value of the card you played. Without that, the game would have no math left in it.
The little cows (10♦ and 2♣) count doubleplayed here
Played here too. They are the only exception to “one point card, one point.”
How to play better.
Don’t capture just because you can
A small capture can leave on the table exactly the card your opponent needs. Sometimes the best move is to play a card that doesn’t combine with anything there.
Keep track of the little cows
10♦ and 2♣ are worth two points each, double the rest. Four points out of twenty-something sit in two cards — they’re worth tracking on purpose, not picking up by chance.
A sweep is set up one move ahead
It doesn’t come from luck. When one or two cards are left on the table, check whether you hold the value that adds up to them exactly. If you do, don’t put anything there the turn before.
Face cards are big numbers, not faces
King 14, queen 13, jack 12, ace 11. A king picks up a 10 and a 4, or a 9 and a 5 — it’s the most flexible card in your hand, precisely because the number is big.
The last to capture takes the rest
Cards left on the table at the end go to the last player who captured something. In a tight match, a capture made at the right moment near the end is worth more than it looks.
One combination per move
The table shows you all the options, but you take only one. When you have a choice, take the combination with point cards in it, not the one with more cards.
In depth: How Sweep is scored.
Questions about Sweep.
- How many players can play Sweep?
- Between 2 and 4. The seats are chosen when the table opens, and any left empty can be taken by bots.
- How many cards do you start with in Sweep?
- 4 each. The rest stays on the table as the draw pile.
- How long does a match of Sweep take?
- About 20–30 min. The host sets the pace: 10 or 30 seconds per move, or no timer at all.
- Can I play Sweep against the computer?
- Yes. The host can seat bots in the empty seats, at two skill levels. But the moment the first bot sits down, the table drops off the leaderboard: a bot has no rating to put at stake.
- Do Sweep matches count toward the leaderboard?
- Yes, as long as everyone at the table is human. Each game has its own leaderboard, with an Elo-style rating that starts at 1000.
- Do I need an account to play Sweep?
- To sit at a table, yes. The rules above, the catalog and the leaderboards can be read without one, and you can watch an open table from the sidelines.
- Does it cost anything to play Sweep here?
- No. The site is free: no subscriptions, no in-game payments and no playing for money. The account is free too.
Now you know the rules.
Create a table and play — no account needed.