Baloot rules — how to play

Overview

Baloot is played by four players in two opposing teams with a 32-card deck (7 up to Ace in each suit). Five cards are dealt then three, for eight tricks per round.

After the deal, players choose the contract: Hokum (with a trump suit) or Sun (no trump). The contract sets the card ranking and point values.

Card ranking

In Hokum, the trump suit ranks: Jack > 9 > Ace > 10 > King > Queen > 8 > 7. In non-trump suits and in Sun: Ace > 10 > King > Queen > Jack > 9 > 8 > 7.

How to play

1. Deal — Deal 5 cards to each player, then 3 more — eight cards each, eight tricks.
2. Bid & pick the contract — Players decide to play Hokum (choosing the trump suit) or Sun. The buying team commits to making its points. In Saudi Baloot, Sun can be called from the first round.
3. Play the tricks — Follow the led suit if you can. The trick is won by the highest card of the suit led, or the highest trump in Hokum.
4. Declare projects — Declare projects (Sira, Fifty, Hundred, four-of-a-kind) before play to add points for your team.
5. Score the round — Count captured card points plus the last-trick bonus, convert them to game points, then add projects. The first team to the match target wins — 152, or 52 in a short match.

Scoring & winning

• In Hokum: trump Jack 20, trump 9 is 14, Ace 11, Ten 10, King 4, Queen 3, the rest 0.
• In Sun: Ace 11, Ten 10, King 4, Queen 3, Jack 2, the rest 0 — Sun points are doubled.
• Card points (abnat) are not the match score. At the end of each round a team's total is converted: divided by 10 in Hokum (162 → 16), or doubled then divided by 10 in Sun (130 → 26). Only that converted figure counts toward the match target.
• Projects score in GAME points, not abnat. In Hokum: Sira (3 in sequence) 2, Fifty (4 in sequence) 5, Hundred (5+ in sequence) 10, four-of-a-kind 10, and Baloot (King + Queen of trump) 2. In Sun they double — Sira 4, Fifty 10, Hundred 20 — and four Aces score 40. The familiar names 20 / 50 / 100 / 400 are their abnat values.
• The last trick adds 10 abnat — 1 game point after conversion. The match is won at 152 points — 52 in a short match.

Belote classique — the French variant

Belote classique — the French classic — is not a separate game in Koutchina. It is a rules preset you pick on a Baloot table: the same 32-card deck and the same card values, but no Sun, no projects, and a match played to 501 points in the short match (against the bots and in Quick Match) or 1000 at Diwan, invitation and tournament tables. It is the ruleset new players start on in France, Belgium and the Maghreb, and any player can pick it from the table's rules.

Deal and auction: five cards each, then one card is turned face up from the stock. In round 1, starting at the dealer's right, each player either takes the turned card's suit as trump or passes — the first take ends the bidding on the spot. If all four pass, a second round lets a player name one of the three other suits; there is no Sun in either round. The taker receives the turned card plus two more and everyone else three, for eight cards each. If all four pass twice the deal is void: the deal moves one seat to the dealer's right and the cards are reshuffled.

Play: follow the suit led if you can. When trump is led you must beat the highest trump played if you can, unless your own partner is already winning the trick. If you cannot follow suit: while your partner is not winning you must trump if you hold one, and if an opponent has already trumped you must overtrump. Failing that you must still play a lower trump (“pisser”), discarding only when you hold no trump at all. When your partner is winning the trick you may play anything, including a trump lower than theirs.

Belote scoring & winning

Card values are the Hokum values: trump Jack 20, trump 9 is 14, Ace 11, Ten 10, King 4, Queen 3 — 152 points in the cards. The last trick adds 10, the dix de der, so a deal is worth 162. If one side takes all eight tricks — a capot — the last trick is worth 100 instead, making 252.

Belote-rebelote: a player holding both the King and the Queen of trump and playing them both — in either order — scores 20 for their team. Koutchina awards it automatically on the second of the two cards, so there is no declaration to remember and none to forget. The 20 counts toward the contract and is imprenable: it is kept even on a failed contract or a capot. If the King and Queen are played by different players — partners included — nobody scores it.

The contract: each team totals its card points plus the dix de der plus its own belote. The contract is made when the takers' total is strictly greater than the defence's — that is 82 card points with no belote on either side, 72 with the takers' belote, or 92 if the defence holds it. When it is made, each team simply scores its own total. If the takers' total is lower the contract falls — a chute, or dedans: the takers score 0 plus their own belote, and the defence scores 162 (252 on a capot) plus its own.

Litige: if the two totals are exactly equal, the defence scores its points at once, the takers keep only their belote, and the rest of the takers' points are held. The held points go to the winner of the next scored deal — its takers if they make their contract, its defence if they don't. A void deal, where everyone passed, leaves them untouched; and if the next deal is another litige they go to that deal's defence rather than rolling over a second time.

The match: the first team to the target wins — 501 in the short match, 1000 at a Diwan, invitation or tournament table. If both cross the target on the same deal the higher total takes it, and an exact tie is played out with a tiebreak deal until it breaks. Because belote-rebelote is never lost, those 20 points can be exactly what carries a team over the line.

Strategy

FAQ