Belote ›

Rules of Belote

Game tutorial

• Introduction to Belote
• Aim of the game
• Value of the cards
• How to play Classic Belote
• Coinché
• Controls
• Table options
• Ranking for points

Introduction to Belote

Belote is a French card game from the beginning of the 20th century, based on a Dutch game, it’s played with only a 32-card French deck. Currently Belote is played around the world in different ways with games of 2 and 3 players or in pairs.

The type of game is similar to Tute, Brisca or Guiñote.

Aim of the game

The object of Belote is to get the necessary points to win the game before your opponents.

Value of the cards

The value of the cards depends on if its suit is trump or not.

How to play Classic Belote

At the beginning of the game, the player who goes first is decided by automatic ballot. In the following round (if it takes place) begins with the player to the left of the current one who goes first.

Deal the cards and trump suit

5 cards are dealt to each player and one is placed face up in the centre of the table. In this phase, each player in turn can take this card or pass.

• If ’taking’ the card, it is added to your hand and the suit considered as trump suit.
• If all the players pass, a second turn is taken by all in which any of the 4 suits can be chosen.
• If all players pass, deal again.

Once the trump suit is decided, the rest of the cards are dealt until they all have 8.

Contract

The team which has taken the trump must obtain more points that the rival team. If not, all the points won in that round will big given to the opposing team.

Game course

The player that is the hand starts by throwing any of his/her cards. The others must throw one of their cards considering the first one. The group of cards played in a hand is called trick.

If a trump card is played, the next player must throw down...

1. ... a trump card of greater value.
2. ...any other trump card.
3. ...any other card.

If the card isn’t a trump, the next player must throw down...

1. ...a card of the starting suit.
2. ...a trump card higher than any other card on the table.
3. ...any other card.

Players on the same team are not obliged to lose a trick that their teammate may be winning.

The player that places the highest valued trump or if there are no trumps, the highest valued card of the initial suit (the first card to be thrown) wins the trick.

That player gets the trick, that is, the cards thrown by the other players on that hand and keeps them until the end of the round.

The player who gets the trick starts discarding on the following hand.

Special plays

Declarations

In the first trick, combinations of cards can be declared that each player possesses in turn to win extra points.

Declarations

Declaration	Discription	Points
Carré (1)	4 jacks.	200
Carré (2)	4 nines.	150
Carré (3)	4 tens, 4 queens, 4 kings or 4 aces.	100
Quint	Flush of 5 cards of the same suit.	100
Quarte	Flush of 4 cards of the same suit.	50
Tierce	Flush of 3 cards of the same suit.	20

Belote

The player must have the King or the Queen trump to play them in two tricks, declaring first Belote and then Rebelote. It has 20 additional points value.

Last ten

The team that wins the last trick of the hand gets 10 additional points.

Capote

The team that wins all the tricks of a hand gets 90 points plus 10 for winning the last trick (last ten) which makes a total of 100 points.

End of a round and count of points

The final round ends when players have no cards left.

• If the team that takes the trump gets more points than their opponent, the tricks’ points are added to the extra points received.
• If the team that takes the trump gets less points than the opponent, they only get the additional points received. So, the rival team adds 162 points and the points for announcing Belote and Rebelote.

In the case that 2 teams draw, the points of the team that took the trump are not counted. They will be taken by the team that wins the next hand, this is called litige.

The game continues while no player or pair have reached the score needed to win.

Coinché

The principal variation in classic Belote is that from the beginning we are given the opportunity to choose any trump suit.

The first step is to deal 8 cards to each player so that after, each one of them can opt to declare a trump suit or pass.

The players on their turn can choose a contract valued from 80 to 160 (from 10 to 10) being able to opt for Capote (250 points).

The rest of the players can change the contract raising its value.

• No trump, a contract in which no suit is trump.

  Normal value

  Cards	1 (Ace)	10	King	Queen	Jack	9, 8, 7
  Points	+19	+10	+4	+3	+2	0

• All trumps, the starting card of each trick becomes the trump suit.

  Value of the cards

  Cards	Jack	9	1 (Ace)	10	King	Queen	8, 7
  Points	+13	+9	+7	+5	+3	+1	0

• Contra and re-contra
  • Once a contract is announced, the rival team can make a Contra if they think the declaring team won’t fulfill their contract. If they win the hand their points are doubled.
  • On declaring the contra, the team that declared the contract has the option of Re-contra, confiming fulfillment of the contract multiplying the points by 4.

This modality allows declarations.

Game controls

Click on a card to put it into play.

Push the information button i to see the value of the cards during the game.

Why do robots play? What for?

In some games, when a player loses connection during the game, a robot substitutes until the player can return. The player has a time allowed of some minutes to return to the game and continue playing.

End the game amicably (cancel game)

Some games have the option of ending the game amicably. If this happens, the game is cancelled. That is, the players don’t receive or lose points and the game doesn’t count in the leaderboards or statistics. What’s more, the chips bet are returned to each player (except in the case of penalisation for abandoning the game).

To cancel a game, one of the players must click the following button . All the players must agree to end the game, otherwise the game will continue.

The robot doesn’t count in the votes to end a game amicably.

Table options

The table options are chosen by the master (the first player to sit at the table and that has a star beside his/her avatar).

To see or change the table options, press the following button . The table options can be changed before starting a game or in the middle of the games. If the icon is changed to red, that means the master changed some of the options.

Time per turn

Used to indicate the time a player has to play on his/her turn. If the time ends, the game plays for him/her. See also: Game in automatic mode

Compete for points and chips.

Permits playing competitive games. Deactivate this option to practise (you will not score points or win chips, nor will you get badges or level up).

Bet per game:

Indicate the amount of game chips you will bet in the game. The winner takes the pot. See also: What are the game chips? How can I get them?

Private table.

If this option is active, only invited players or friends can sit in. See also: How to invite other players to play at your table.

Spectators allowed.

Other people can enter the table to watch the game and chat. See also: Watchers during the games

Mode

Classic Belote with declarations, Classic Belote without declarations, Coinché

Points per game (301, 501, 1000)

Determine the end of the game. The player or pair that gets total points, wins the game.

Ranking for points

To take part in the leaderboard of this game, it is necessary to be registered and have chips enough to meet the bets.

To score points, the games have to be competitive (indicated by a boxing glove or swords). There is no scoring if 2 players at the table share the same IP.

If at one table game chips are being bet, you will need to have sufficient chips available to cover the bet. The winner of the game will get the XP points and the chips bet (the bank will receive 10% of the pot).

The experience points (XP) got depend on the number of players and they are calculated 10×number of players.

• 2 players: 20 points
• 3 players: 30 points
• In pairs: 20 points for each

The players that lose a game, add 5 points. If the game is ended amicably, each player gets back their chips bet.

Play Belote