How to play Belote

Belote is France's favourite card game: four players in two partnerships, 32 cards, and a trump suit in which the jack and the nine are suddenly the strongest cards. You decide whether your team can take the trump and score more than the other side, then prove it trick by trick, helped by declarations such as a tierce or four jacks and by the belote, the king and queen of trumps. Coinche, its competitive cousin, replaces the turned card with an auction: you bid how many points your team will make, and the other side can double you. Both reward counting cards, reading your partner and judging your hand.

How to play on skill.games

When you open the game, the settings appear. Choose a difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard or Crazy), the game (Belote, Coinche, or Coinche+ with no-trump and all-trump bids) and the length of the match (Shorter or Longer), then press PLAY.

• The table: you sit at the bottom with your partner Claire across from you, against Marc on your right and Paul on your left. Play goes anticlockwise, as in France, so Marc plays after you. A "D" marks the dealer. At the top, the status line says whose turn it is, and two chips show the match score and the contract.
• Taking the trump (Belote): a card lies face up beside the pack. On your turn press TAKE to make its suit trump, or PASS. In the second round, tap one of the other suits to name it, or PASS.
• Bidding (Coinche): pick a suit (or NT / AT in Coinche+), set the number with minus and plus, and press BID, or PASS, or COINCHE when your opponents hold the bid. Above 160 the stepper offers capot and générale. When you are coinched, the panel offers SURCOINCHE or PASS. Each player's last call shows in a bubble by their name.
• Playing: tap a card or drag it onto the table. Playable cards are lifted and glow; a card that isn't allowed shakes and the status line explains why, such as "You must overtrump". Declarations are announced automatically with each player's first card. After the first trick the cards of the side that scores them are shown face up in the middle of the table for a few seconds, so everyone can see them. "Belote!" and "Rebelote!" are called for you too.

After each deal a sheet shows the card points, the dix de der, declarations, belote, the contract, whether it was made, and both totals; press NEXT HAND to continue. The menu button in the top-left corner pauses, starts a new match or turns the sound off. The match is saved as you play, so you can press CONTINUE later. At the end, the results screen shows the score, the contracts each side made and your statistics.

Rules

The cards. 32 cards, seven to ace. In trumps the order is jack, nine, ace, ten, king, queen, eight, seven, worth 20, 14, 11, 10, 4, 3, 0 and 0. In the other suits it is ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine, eight, seven, worth 11, 10, 4, 3, 2 and nothing. The last trick earns 10 more, the dix de der, so a deal holds 162 points.

The deal (Belote). The first dealer is drawn at random and the deal passes to the right. Each player gets five cards, three then two, starting on the dealer's right, and the next card is turned face up.

Taking the trump. Starting on the dealer's right, each player may take the turned card's suit as trump or pass. If all four pass, there is a second round in which each may name one of the other three suits. If everyone passes again, the cards are dealt anew by the next dealer. The taker receives the turned card and two more; everyone else gets three, so all hold eight.

The play. The player on the dealer's right leads. You must follow the suit led. When trumps are led you must play a higher trump than any already played if you can, even over your partner. If you can't follow suit and your partner is winning the trick, you may play anything; otherwise you must trump. If an opponent has already trumped, you must overtrump if you can, and if you can't you must still play a lower trump. The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led, and the winner leads next.

Declarations. Three cards in a row in one suit (tierce) are worth 20, four (cinquante) 50 and five (cent) 100, in the order seven, eight, nine, ten, jack, queen, king, ace. Four jacks are worth 200, four nines 150, and four aces, tens, kings or queens 100; four eights or sevens count nothing. A card counts in one declaration only. Only the side with the best single declaration scores, and then all of its declarations count: a higher value wins, a four of a kind beats a sequence of the same value, then the higher top card, then a sequence in trumps. If the best declarations are still equal, neither side scores them.

Belote and rebelote. The king and queen of trumps in one hand are worth 20 to their team, announced as "belote" with the first and "rebelote" with the second. The belote always stays with its team, even when the contract fails.

Scoring (Belote). The taking team must score strictly more than the defenders, counting card points, the dix de der, declarations and belote. If it does, each team scores its own points. If not, the takers are inside (dedans): the defenders score 162 plus every declaration, and the takers keep only their belote. If both totals are equal, it is a litige: the defenders score their points, and the takers' points are set aside for whichever team wins the next deal. Taking all eight tricks is a capot: the dix de der becomes 100, so the deal is worth 252, and the losers' declarations are lost.

Winning. The first team to reach 501 (or 1000 in a longer match) wins. If both pass the target in the same deal, the higher total wins, and an exact tie plays another deal.

Coinche. All eight cards are dealt at once, three, two and three. Starting on the dealer's right, each player passes or bids a number of points from 80 to 160, in tens, with a trump suit; each bid must be higher than the last, and a player who passed may bid again. Capot (all eight tricks, worth 250) is above 160, and générale (one player alone takes every trick, worth 500) is above capot. Three passes after a bid end the auction; four passes at the start mean a new deal. On your turn you may coinche the other side's bid: the bidding stops and the deal counts double. The coinched team may then surcoinche, which makes it count four times.

Scoring (Coinche). The bidders need at least their bid and more points than the defenders. If they make it, they score their points plus the bid, and the defenders score theirs. If they fail, the defenders score 160 plus the bid and every declaration, and the bidders keep only their belote. When coinched, the winning side scores 160 (250 on a capot) plus the bid and the declarations, doubled or quadrupled. A team that takes every trick also takes the other side's declarations. Every score is rounded to the nearest ten, 5 up. The first team to 1000 (or 2000) wins.

No trump and all trump (Coinche+). In no trump there are no trumps and no belote; the ace is worth 19 and four aces 200, four tens 150. In all trump every suit ranks like trumps, with the jack worth 13, nine 9, ace 6, ten 5, king 3 and queen 2; you must always play higher in the suit led if you can, and every king and queen pair is a belote.

Strategy tips

• Count the jack and nine. The jack and nine of the trump suit are its two top cards, worth 34 points together.
• Take with length. Three trumps with a top honour, or a strong side ace, usually make a contract.
• Draw the trumps. With the contract and the master trump, lead trumps before cashing your aces.
• Feed your partner. When your partner is sure to win the trick, give them your ten or ace.
• Don't lead a ten into an ace that is still out.
• Remember the voids. A player who didn't follow suit has none left, and one who didn't trump has no trumps.
• Coinche with care. It doubles the stakes both ways, and the bidders may surcoinche.

Difficulty levels

Your partner Claire always plays at least at Hard, and at Crazy plays Crazy. The difficulty you choose sets how well your opponents play:

• Easy: takes and bids by rough feel and often plays a careless card.
• Normal: tests its hand in many imagined deals before taking or bidding, and plays solid cards: it counts what is out, draws trumps, feeds its partner and ducks when it can't win.
• Hard: also reads the auction, weighs several possible deals before each card, and coinches.
• Crazy: the strongest: far more imagined deals for every decision, and it remembers who couldn't overtrump and what everyone bid.

Modes

• Game: Belote is the classic game with a turned card; Coinche has the auction from 80 to 160, capot, générale, coinche and surcoinche; Coinche+ adds no-trump and all-trump bids. Statistics are kept for each difficulty and game.
• Game to: Shorter plays Belote to 501 and Coinche to 1000; Longer plays Belote to 1000 and Coinche to 2000.