1.Players and cards
Belot is played by four in two teams of two, partners sitting opposite each other, with a 32-card deck, seven to ace in each suit. The deal and the play go counter-clockwise.
The dealer gives each player five cards, three and then two. After the bidding everybody gets three more, so each holds eight.
2.Bidding
Starting next to the dealer, each player may pass or bid higher than the bid before: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, no trumps, all trumps. An opponent of the last bidder may say contra, which doubles the deal, and the bidding side may answer re-contra, which doubles it again.
The bidding ends after three passes in a row. If all four pass, the cards are thrown in and the next player deals.
3.Card values
The last trick adds 10. A suit deal is worth 162 points, a no-trumps deal 130 and an all-trumps deal 258.
| Card | Trump | No trumps |
|---|---|---|
| Jack | 20 | 2 |
| Nine | 14 | 0 |
| Ace | 11 | 11 |
| Ten | 10 | 10 |
| King | 4 | 4 |
| Queen | 3 | 3 |
| Eight, seven | 0 | 0 |
4.Declarations
Combinations are declared on the first trick and added to the side’s points. Nothing is declared in a no-trumps deal. In an all-trumps deal a belot can be declared in every suit.
| Declaration | Points |
|---|---|
| Tierce — three in a row | 20 |
| Quarte — four in a row | 50 |
| Quinte — five in a row | 100 |
| Four aces, tens, kings or queens | 100 |
| Four nines | 150 |
| Four jacks | 200 |
| Belot — king and queen of trumps | 20 |
| Valat — every trick | 90 |
5.Game points
Card points are turned into game points by dropping the last digit: a suit deal is worth 16, a no-trumps or all-trumps deal 26. A no-trumps deal is counted twice before it is rounded.
The side with fewer points rounds up from 6 in a suit, from 5 in no trumps and from 4 in all trumps; the side with more rounds up from 7, 5 and 5. So 87 to 75 in a suit gives 9 and 7.
6.Inside
If the side that won the bidding scores less than its opponents, it is inside: the opponents get the whole deal.
7.Hanging points
If both sides score the same, the opponents write down their points and the bidding side’s points hang: they go to whoever wins the next deal.
8.Contra and re-contra
A doubled deal is worth twice as much, a redoubled one four times. The side with more points takes the whole deal; with equal points the whole deal hangs.
9.Winning
The first side to reach 151 wins. When both pass it in the same deal, the side with more points wins; on an equal score play goes on. A valat cannot end the game: the next deal decides.
10.Keeping the score in the app
After each deal tap “New round”, choose who won the bidding, the contract and any contra, and enter the points of one side with the declarations counted in; the app works out the other side and the game points, and shows what will be written down before you save.
“Everyone passed” records a redeal and hands the deal on. “Inside” records a lost deal without entering points.
Let the app keep the score
The app knows these rules: it turns card points into game points for every contract, counts contra and re-contra, inside and hanging points, and keeps track of who deals.
Download the app