Belote

Players and equipment

Four players in two fixed partnerships, each sitting across from their partner, and a 32-card pack: the seven, eight, nine, ten, jack, queen, king and ace of each suit. Belote is the French national card game; there are two-handed and three-handed versions, and Coinche puts a bidding auction on top, but the four-hand partnership game is the one people mean.

The deal

Five cards each, in batches of three and then two, and the next card of the pack is turned face up on the table. Its suit is the proposed trump. Going round from the dealer's left, each player may take that card as trumps or pass. If somebody takes it, they add it to their hand and are dealt two more, everybody else is dealt three more, and every hand holds eight. If all four pass, there is a second round: each player in turn may name any other suit as trumps, but not the suit of the turned card. If everybody passes twice, the deal is thrown in. The side that took trumps is the taking side.

Play

The player to the dealer's left leads to the first trick. Follow suit if you can. If you cannot, you must trump when the trick already belongs to the other side, and you must overtrump when you can. If your partner is winning the trick, you may throw any card you like. When a trump is led, each player must play a higher trump than the best already down if they hold one. The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led, and the winner leads to the next.

The trump ranking is not the ordinary one

In trumps the jack is the highest card and the nine second, then ace, ten, king, queen, eight and seven: a jack of trumps beats everything, which is the whole character of the game. Outside trumps the ace is highest, then ten, king, queen, jack, nine, eight and seven, so the ten sits above the king in every suit.

Declarations

As you play your first card, announce any sequence of three or more cards in one suit, or any four of a kind. Sequences run in the ordinary order, seven up to ace, in trumps too. Only the side holding the best declaration scores its declarations. Four of a kind beats any sequence, a longer sequence beats a shorter, and between two of the same length the higher wins, a sequence in trumps beating an equal one outside. Belote itself is the king and queen of trumps in one hand: say belote as you play the first and rebelote as you play the second, and it always scores whatever else happens.

Scoring

Card values, with the trump jack and nine carrying the game:

Jack of trumps

20

Called the jass

Nine of trumps

14

Called the menel

Ace

11

In any suit

Ten

10

Ranks below the ace

King, queen, jack outside trumps

4, 3, 2

Ordinary court cards

Last trick

10

Called dix de der

The king and queen of trumps are worth their ordinary four and three; eights, sevens and the nines outside trumps are worth nothing. That is 152 points in the pack and 162 a deal with the last trick, before declarations. The side that took trumps must score more than the other, or it goes down: every point in the deal, its own included, goes to the opponents. Going down is called being dedans, and the one thing a side never loses is its belote. At 81 all the defenders take their 81 and the takers' 81 hangs over to the next deal, going to whichever side wins it.

Sequence of three

20

Tierce

Sequence of four

50

Quarte

Sequence of five

100

Quinte

Four of a kind

100 to 200

Jacks 200, nines 150, others 100

Belote and rebelote

20

King and queen of trumps

Capot

252

All eight tricks to one side

A sequence of six or more still scores 100; four eights or four sevens count nothing. Capot, all eight tricks to one side, scores 252 for the deal instead of 162, declarations on top.

A worked deal

Alice and Cara are partners against Ben and Dev, leading 210 to 176. Hearts are turned and Alice takes them. Nobody has a sequence, but Alice holds the king and queen of hearts and announces belote and rebelote. Alice and Cara take the last trick.

Trumps taken

52

Jack 20, nine 14, ace 11, king 4, queen 3

Spades taken

25

Ace, ten and king

Clubs taken

21

Ace and ten

Last trick

10

Dix de der

Alice and Cara

108

Card points for the deal

Belote

20

The king and queen of hearts, announced

Ben and Dev

54

Everything else in the pack

108 with 54 is 162, the check that nothing has been miscounted. The takers scored more than the other side, so both keep what they made: 128 for Alice and Cara with the belote, 54 for Ben and Dev, and the running score is 338 to 230.

On the next deal Ben takes in spades and his side finishes with 74 card points to 88: less than the other side, so it is dedans and Alice and Cara are given the whole 162, taking them to 500 to 230, one short of the line. A quiet third deal at 90 to 72 ends it at 590 to 302.

Ending

First side to 501 points over as many deals as it takes; a deal that carries a side past the line wins where it stands. Some tables play to 1,000, or a fixed number of deals. Keeping score on SquareScores, the host sets the target at launch and the app ends the match at the line.

Taking the turned card

Count what the turned suit would be worth in your hand before you take it. The jack alone is a fine start, because nothing can beat it, and the jack with the nine is the deal half won: 34 points and two certain tricks. Three or four trumps with an ace outside is the ordinary taking hand. Remember that you will be dealt only two more cards where everyone else gets three, so take on what you can see. In the second round, name a suit only where you hold its jack or nine with length behind it: going down costs the whole 162, where passing costs nothing.

Playing with your partner

When your partner is winning a trick, do not trump it and do not waste a high card on it: throw a ten or an ace onto it instead, because points in your partner's trick are your side's, and a ten that would otherwise die under an opponent's trump is safe there. When the other side holds the trick and you cannot follow suit, you must trump, so keep a small trump back for that job rather than leading it out early.

Leading trumps

The taking side wants the opponents' trumps out of the way before its aces and tens are led. If you hold the jack, lead it: it cannot lose, and it pulls two trumps from the table for one of yours. Follow with the nine. Once the trumps are gone, an ace outside trumps is a certain trick and the ten beneath it is nearly one. The defending side wants the opposite, and leads its long suit to make the takers trump early and run short.

Counting to 82

There are 162 points in a deal, so 82 is the number the taking side needs and the defenders want to reach first. Keep a rough count as the tricks fall: the jack and nine of trumps are 34 together, each ace 11, each ten 10. A side that has taken the two top trumps, two aces and the last trick is already on 66. When you are defending and close to 82, stop chasing tricks and make sure of the one that gets you there; when you are taking and short, the last trick's ten is often the difference, so hold a trump for it.

Coinche, or Belote contrée

Everybody is dealt all eight cards at once and there is no turned card. Players bid the number of points their side will make, in tens from 80 upwards, naming a suit as trumps or bidding no-trumps or all-trumps, and the highest bid stands; the defenders may double, which is to coincher, and the bidders redouble. The bidding side must make what it bid or the opponents take the points.

Belote sans annonces

Played without sequences or fours of a kind: the only declaration is belote and rebelote itself, which still scores 20. Many tables play this way and call it plain belote.

Three-handed

Three play each for themselves with the same pack and values. Five cards each are dealt and one turned as usual, and because thirty-two cards do not divide by three, some cards stay face down and out of play, so not every trump is in circulation. The taker plays against the other two together.

Rounded scores

Many French tables round each side's total to the nearest ten, so a deal counts 160 rather than 162. Nothing else changes.

Game to 1,000

The same deals played to a higher line, for a longer game. Some play a set number of deals instead, and the higher score at the end wins.

What does belote mean in the card game?

The king and queen of trumps held in one hand. Say belote as you play the first and rebelote as you play the second, and your side scores 20, which can never be taken away even if your side goes down. The game took its name from the pair.

Why is the jack worth 20 in Belote?

Only in trumps. The jack of trumps is the highest card in the game and worth 20, and the nine of trumps is second and worth 14; in the other suits the jack is an ordinary court card worth 2 and the nine is worth nothing. The ranking comes from Jass, the Swiss game Belote grew out of.

How many points are there in a deal of Belote?

162: 152 in the cards and 10 for the last trick, called dix de der. Declarations and belote are added on top. So 82 is the number the taking side has to reach, and if it takes all eight tricks the deal counts 252 instead.

What happens if the side that took trumps loses?

It is dedans, and the opponents score all 162 points for the deal along with any declarations, the takers' own included. The taking side keeps only a belote it announced. At 81 all the defenders score 81 and the takers' 81 waits for the next deal.

Do you have to trump in Belote?

Yes, when you cannot follow suit and the other side is winning the trick, and you must play a higher trump than any already down if you hold one. If your own partner is winning the trick you are free to throw any card. When trumps are led you must go higher if you can.

Can you play Belote with two or three players?

Yes. A two-handed version exists, and three can play each for themselves, the taker against the other two. The four-hand partnership game is the one to learn first.