How to play Bela

Belote is a trick-taking card game for four players in two partnerships, played with 32 cards, in which the bidding decides the trumps and which side has to make the contract.

Belote with a computer partner against two computer players, under Croatian Bela rules to 1001 points.

About Bela

Bela, played under Croatian rules, differs from the Bulgarian game in its deal and its calls: each player sees six cards, two more stay hidden until trumps are named, everyone calls only once, and the dealer must name a suit if the other three pass. There is no No trumps, All trumps or doubling, and every point is kept. Call on the six cards you can see, since the two hidden ones may not help. Since everyone must beat the highest card of a led plain suit when they can and the trick holds no trump, leading a low card of a suit forces anyone holding a higher one to play it.

Bela deals six cards to each player, three and three, and two more face down that nobody sees until trumps are named. It keeps every point, with no dividing or rounding, and is played to 1001.

Starting to the dealer's right, each player may name a suit as trumps or pass, once, and the dealer may not pass. The first suit named is trumps, and every player then picks up their two hidden cards. There is no No trumps, no All trumps and no doubling.

When a plain suit is led and the trick holds no trump, you must play a higher card of that suit if you can, even over your partner. If you cannot follow suit you must play a trump, even when your partner is winning, and beat any trump in the trick if you can.

Every four of a kind and every run counts, and a card can be in both at once. A run of five, six or seven cards is worth 100. Each side's best declaration is compared: more points wins, then a four of a kind beats a run of 100, then the higher four of a kind, the longer run or the higher top card. If they are still equal, the side of the player who comes first from the dealer's right wins. The better side counts all of its declarations and the other side none.

All eight cards of one suit in one hand score nothing as a declaration, but win the game for that side at the end of the hand, whatever the scores.

Bela, the king and queen of trumps in one hand, is worth 20 and is announced as you play the first of the two. A side that takes no trick loses its declarations and belas to the side that took them all.

Taking every trick adds 90. The callers must end with more than half of all the points in the hand, counting cards, declarations and belas. If they do, each side scores its own points. If they do not, a tie included, they fall: they score nothing and the other side scores every point of the hand.

The game ends after a hand in which a side reaches 1001 points, and the higher score wins. If the scores are equal, play goes on.

The goal of Belote

Belote is a trick-taking game for four players in two partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other. You play with a computer partner against two computer players. Each hand the bidding decides the trumps and which side has to make the contract, and the first side to reach the target score wins.

How to set up Belote

Belote is played with 32 cards, the seven to the ace of each suit, and every player ends up with eight. In the Bulgarian game, French Belote and Bela some are dealt before trumps are chosen and the rest after, while Coinche deals all eight first. The deal and the play go counter-clockwise, and the deal passes to the next player after every hand.

Belote rules

The player to the dealer's right bids first and leads the first trick, and whoever wins a trick leads the next.

In the trump suit the cards rank jack, nine, ace, ten, king, queen, eight, seven, and are worth 20, 14, 11, 10, 4 and 3, with nothing for the eight and seven. In the other suits they rank ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine, eight, seven, and are worth 11, 10, 4, 3 and 2, with nothing for the rest. In a suit contract that makes 152 points in the cards, and the last trick adds 10 for 162.

You must follow the suit led if you can. When trumps are led, you must play a higher trump than any in the trick if you have one, even when your partner is winning. When you cannot follow suit, the rules you play decide when you must trump.

A sequence of three cards in one suit, in the order seven, eight, nine, ten, jack, queen, king, ace, is a tierce worth 20, four is a quarte worth 50, and five is a quint worth 100. In a suit contract four jacks are worth 200, four nines 150, and four aces, tens, kings or queens 100.

You announce your declarations as you play your first card, and a declaration you do not announce does not score. They are shown after the first trick and compared, and the side with the weaker declarations does not score them.

The king and queen of trumps in one hand are worth 20 points, whichever side has the better declarations. The pair is called belot in the Bulgarian game, belote in French Belote and Coinche, and bela in Bela.

The full Belote guide, with strategy tips and common questions