Bassetta was invented in 1593 from the noble Venetian Pietro Cellini and quickly became the most popular card game.
It is a simple game for 3-4 players and the banker, with two 52 cards' decks: each player would receive 13 cards and would show one or more on which he would put the bet.
If the banker would display a card of the same value (type of suit is not important) the Bank wins, and the opposite is true.
There is no real skill involved, and there is the big risk of raising and raising the bets, thus opening the possibility to high losses.
The game in itself is totally defined by chance, but the way of playing it with the Banker - who has several advantages - makes it a thrill in which the player thinks he is in control.
It was intended for persons of the highest rank because of the great losses or gains that might be accrued by the players.
Here is the opinion of Flavio Alberto Lollio - Ferrarese, in the booklet: "Invettiva contra il Gioco del Tarocco" (1590), in which he is comparing how the two games, Tarocco and Bassetta, are bad and dangerous for men:
"Giuoco maligno, perfido, e bugiardo:
Giuoco, che mette
i tuoi danari à squarzo:
Giuoco da impoverire Attalo, e Mida,
Perch' egli è cugin della Bassetta:
E dove l'huomo spera haver piacere,
Lo fa star sempre in duol,
sãpre in timore."
"Malicious game, deceitful and lying,
Game that squanders your money:
Game that could pauperize
Attalo, and Mida,
Because it's a cousin of the Bassetta:
And where man hopes to find pleasure,
He's always made to stay in pain,
as much as in fear."
