Another popular variation of Buraco is Italian. The game is also popular in the Arab world, specifically in the Persian Gulf where it is known as 'Baraziliya' (Brazilian). Its name derives from the Portuguese word 'buraco' which means “hole”, applied to the minus score of any of the two partnerships. It originated from Uruguay and Argentina in the mid-1940s, with apparent characteristics of simplicity and implications that are often unforeseeable and absolutely involving.
Buraco is a variation of Canasta which allows both standard melds (groups of cards of the same value) as well as sequences (cards in numerical order in the same suit). Buraco is a Rummy-type card game in the Canasta family for four players in fixed partnerships in which the aim is to lay down combinations in groups of cards of equal rank and suit sequences, there being a bonus for combinations of seven cards or more.
