How to Play Belote
How to Play Belote
Belote is a lively four-player partnership card game about choosing a trump suit, taking valuable tricks, and helping your partner. You need a normal deck of cards, and you can find a regular deck of playing cards from Playmore. This guide uses one common standard version; house rules can vary, so agree on differences before you begin.
Quick facts
| Item | Standard Belote |
|---|---|
| Players | 4, in two teams of two |
| Cards | 32 cards, from 7 through ace |
| Partnerships | Partners sit opposite each other |
| Deal | 3 cards, then 2 cards, then 3 cards |
| Goal | Reach 1,000 points first |
What you are trying to do
Each round, one player chooses the trump suit. Trump is the special suit that beats cards from the other suits. The player who chooses it is called the taker, and that player’s team tries to collect at least as many points as the other team. You collect points by winning tricks containing valuable cards. A trick is one card played by each player, with the strongest legal card winning all four cards.
Belote is a partnership game, so your job is not simply to win every trick yourself. Notice which suits your partner plays, protect their strong cards when possible, and remember important cards that have already appeared.
What you need
Use a 32-card deck. Remove the 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 from a regular 52-card deck, leaving the 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace in each suit. You also need paper and a pencil or a notes app for the running team scores.
In a non-trump suit, cards rank from high to low as ace, 10, king, queen, jack, 9, 8, 7. In the trump suit, the order changes to jack, 9, ace, 10, king, queen, 8, 7. Card values also change: a trump jack is worth 20 points and a trump 9 is worth 14. The other trump cards are worth 11, 10, 4, 3, 0, and 0 in that order. Non-trump cards are worth 11 for an ace, 10 for a 10, 4 for a king, 3 for a queen, 2 for a jack, and 0 for a 9, 8, or 7.
Set it up
Choose a dealer. In the traditional version, play and dealing move counterclockwise, but clockwise play is a common house choice. Partners sit across from each other. Cut the deck before each deal rather than shuffling it again after the first deal.
The dealer gives every player three cards, then two more. Turn the next card face up. Starting with the player immediately after the dealer, each player may take the turned-up suit as trump or pass. If everyone passes, each player gets a second chance to name a different suit as trump. If all four pass again, collect the cards and let the next player deal.
When someone takes, that player receives the face-up card. Deal three more cards to every other player and two more to the taker, so everyone has eight cards. Begin with the player after the dealer when dealing this final packet.
How to play
- Lead the first trick. The player after the dealer plays any card. The winner of each trick leads the next one.
- Follow the suit led. If the first card is a heart, for example, you must play a heart if you have one. The suit led is the suit that normally controls the trick.
- Trump when required. If you cannot follow a non-trump suit and an opposing player is currently winning, you must play a trump if you have one. If your partner is already winning, you may discard another suit instead.
- Beat a trump when possible. If another player has already trumped, you must play a higher trump when you can. If you cannot beat it but still have a trump, play a lower trump. When trump is led, follow trump and beat the highest trump already played whenever possible.
- Find the winner. The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins. Put the trick face down in front of the winning team.
- Announce ordinary declarations. A sequence is three or more consecutive cards in one suit. A three-card sequence is worth 20, four cards 50, and five cards 100 points. A square is four cards of the same rank: four jacks are worth 200, four 9s 150, and four aces, 10s, kings, or queens 100. In this common version, announce declarations as you play your card to the first trick. Only the team with the highest ordinary declaration scores its declarations.
- Declare belote-rebelote. If you hold the king and queen of trump, say “Belote” when playing the first one and “Rebelote” when playing the second. This combination is worth 20 points and is counted separately from ordinary declarations.
- Finish the hand. Continue until all eight tricks have been played. The team winning the last trick receives an extra 10 points, called the last-trick bonus.
How you win
Add the card values in each team’s tricks, the last-trick bonus, and any declarations that team is allowed to score. There are 162 trick points in a normal trump hand, including the 10-point last-trick bonus. The taker’s team succeeds when it has at least as many points as the other team. If it succeeds, both teams write down their own totals. If it fails, the opponents score the full 162 trick points plus their eligible declarations, while the taker’s team scores no trick or ordinary-declaration points; belote-rebelote is still counted when applicable.
If the taker’s team wins all eight tricks, it scores 252 trick points: 100 points for capot instead of the 10-point last-trick bonus, plus any declarations it is entitled to score. The other team scores no ordinary declarations, but belote-rebelote is still counted when applicable.
Record the totals after every hand. The first team to reach 1,000 points wins. If both teams reach 1,000 on the same hand, treat the game as a tie or agree on a house rule before starting.
Easy first-game tips
Before choosing trump, count your strong cards, especially the trump jack and 9. Keep track of which suits you can no longer follow, because that tells you when you may trump. Do not lead a short suit automatically: sometimes leading a high card helps your partner keep control. When your partner is winning, avoid taking the trick away with a needless trump. Finally, say declarations clearly and write scores down immediately so nobody has to rely on memory.
Quick questions
Can partners show each other their cards?
No. Keep your hand hidden and communicate only through legal card play and the agreed table rules.
What happens if everyone passes?
Give everyone a second chance to choose a different trump suit. If nobody chooses one then, redeal with the next player as dealer.