Passatella
Italian tavern game: two players decide who drinks and who goes dry.
Hard
Players
4-8
Length
30-60 min
Intensity
Solid
You need
Cards
How to play
Origin: Passatella was played in Roman and southern Italian taverns well into the 20th century. Carlo Levi describes it in Christ Stopped at Eboli. The point was never the drinking but the public refusal: anyone left out became the olmo, the elm tree, who only watches. The game was banned at times because of the fights it caused.
Setup: Everyone pays into a common pot which buys a bottle for the table. A deck of cards is used for drawing lots.
How to play:
- Everyone draws a card, highest becomes padrone, second highest becomes sotto
- The padrone releases how much is poured, the sotto hands it out
- The sotto may skip anyone and must justify it if asked
- New draw after each round
Drinking:
- Only those served drink
- Anyone skipped stays olmo and draws first next round
- Pour for yourself and you are out
Warning from the record: The game runs on mockery. Keep it friendly, that is exactly where it historically went wrong.