How to play Belote

1. The deal and the talba

The deck contains 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace in each suit. Everyone gets eight cards. Seats opposite each other form a team, so each team plays 16 cards across the hand.

During bidding, pass or offer a higher talba with an atout suit. Atout means trump: it can beat another suit when played legally. The default opening bid is 90, increasing by tens to 160. An announced capot is a separate promise to win all eight plis.

Four opening passes cause a redeal. After a talba, three passes start the hand. If enabled, an opponent can say contre to challenge the contract; the bidder can answer with surcontre. Those choices raise the scoring stakes.

2. Atout changes the card order

In atout, jack is strongest and 9 comes next. In the other suits, ace is strongest, followed by 10. Strength determines who takes a pli; point value determines how much the captured cards contribute.

Atout, strongest first: J, 9, A, 10, K, Q, 8, 7.
Other suits, strongest first: A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7.

3. Playing a pli

A pli is one trick: each player contributes one card. The strongest legal card wins it, and that winner leads the next pli. The last pli adds 10 points, bringing the ordinary hand's card-point total to 162 before rounding.

• Follow suit if you can. If a heart is led and you hold hearts, play a heart even if another card looks more useful.
• Raise atout when it is led. If the led suit is atout and you can beat the current winning atout, you must do so.
• Cut when required. If you cannot follow suit and an opponent is winning, play atout if you have it. If an atout is already winning, overcut with a stronger one when possible.
• When your partner is winning. If you cannot follow suit, you do not have to cut. The follow-suit and raise-atout rules still apply when you can follow.

The game restricts the cards you can legally play. If a card is unavailable, check the led suit, the current winning card and whether your partner is winning before assuming the game is wrong.

4. Making the talba

In the default Tunisian points preset, the takers' card points are rounded to the nearest ten before checking a numeric talba. So 85 makes a talba of 90, while 84 does not. The takers must also outscore the defenders under the enabled lead rule.

An ordinary successful contract scores rounded card points, with the defenders receiving the rest of 160. The bid is not added as another bonus. For example, 114 card points on a successful 100 talba round to 110 for the takers and 50 for the defenders, before Belote.

A failed ordinary contract, called chute, gives the defense 160. If the defense takes all eight plis without a contre, it gets 250 instead. A numeric contract under contre awards 320 to the winning side; surcontre awards 640. Belote is handled separately.

The default match target is 1000. Custom tables also offer 500 or 2000 and can change scoring options, so check the table settings before you bid.

5. Belote-Rebelote, annonces and capot

Holding the king and queen of atout allows Belote-Rebelote. The game announces the pair as you play the two cards and awards 20 points. In the default preset, that 20 does not help fulfill the talba and is not multiplied by contre or surcontre.

On a successful contract, each side keeps its own Belote points. On a chute, the takers' Belote transfers to the defense. Other annonces, such as tierce, cinquante, cent and carre, are off by default and can be enabled at custom tables.

Taking all eight plis without announcing capot scores 250 in an undoubled hand. A successful announced capot scores 500, or 1000 under contre and 2000 under surcontre, before Belote. An announced capot requires all eight plis, not just enough card points.

These are the club's rules, not a claim that every local Belote table uses the same convention. Before your first live game, practice bidding and following suit, then read the score breakdown after each hand.