How To Play Belote Card Game Rules

You could also deal out cards to determine teams. Shuffle the deck and give each player 1 card. The players with the highest-value cards form one team and the players with the lowest values form the second team.

If you dealt cards to determine teams, you can use the same cards to determine who starts the game as the dealer.

You can look at the cards in your hand, but don’t show them to your teammate or the other players.

For example, if the flipped card was a 7 of spades, then spades would be the trump suit and win against hearts, diamonds, and clubs during the round.

If you’re holding the jack or 9 of the trump suit, accept the trump since those cards are the strongest cards in the suit. Accepting the trump card means you think your team will earn more points than the other team at the end of the round.

You may pass again if you don’t have the jack or 9 in any suit. Keep a piece of paper nearby so you can write down the trump suit for the round. If all the players pass a second time, collect all the cards to shuffle and deal them out again into new hands.

Four jacks - 200 points Four 9s - 150 points Four aces, kings, queens, or 10s - 100 points Quinte (5 cards of the same suit in sequential order) - 100 points Quarte (4 cards of the same suit in sequential order) - 50 points Tierce (3 cards of the same suit in sequential order) - 20 points Belote/Rebelote (king and queen in trump suit) - 20 points You can play Belote without making declarations if you want a more strategic game.

Trump: Jack (20 pts), 9 (14 pts), Ace (11 pts), 10 (10 pts), King (4 pts), Queen (3 pts), 8 (0 pts), and 7 (0 pts) Non-trump: Ace (11 pts), 10 (10 pts), King (4 pts), Queen (3 pts), Jack (2 pts), 9 (0 pts), 8 (0 pts), and 7 (0 pts)

If the lead card was in the trump suit, then you must play a trump card with a higher value if you have one. Otherwise, you can play a lower value. If the lead suit was a non-trump suit and you don’t have any in the same suit, you must play a trump card. If you can’t follow the lead suit but your teammate already played the highest-value card, you can choose any card from your hand. If you don’t have any card matching the lead suit or the trump, you can play any card from your hand.

Example: Trump is hearts. The lead card was a queen of spades. Players followed with a king of spades, ace of spades, and 9 of spades. Whoever played the ace of spades wins the trick since it’s the highest value in the lead suit. Example: Trump is spades. The lead card was a king of diamonds. Other players played a jack of diamonds, seven of spades, and ace of diamonds. The seven of spades wins the trick since it’s in the trump suit.

You earn points based on the cards you win in tricks, so keep track of what cards have already been played. That way, you can deduce if other players have cards that are of a higher value.

Example: Trump is hearts. Your team won 1 trick with the jack of hearts, king of hearts, queen of spades, and ace of spades. The trick is worth 38 points total (20 + 4 + 3 +11). If a team wins all 8 tricks, add 90 points to the total. When a team wins the last trick of the round, add 10 points to the total. If your team didn’t make the declaration with the highest value, then the only declaration you’re able to score is Belote/Rebelote.

If the team that accepted trump scored less than the other team, the other team gains 162 points, which is the total value of all the cards plus the 10 bonus points for the last trick. The team also earns points for any declarations both teams made. If the team that picked trump didn’t win any tricks, known as a Capot, then the opposing team earns 252 points plus both teams’ declarations instead.

If both teams cross the target score on the same round, whoever has the most points wins. If teams have the same score, then the game ends in a tie.