Belote Rules — How to Play and Keep Score
Belote is the most widely played card game in France and one of the great members of the Jass family. Thirty-two cards, four players in two partnerships, eight tricks a deal. What makes it feel different from other trick games is that a large part of your score comes from combinations you simply hold and announce, so a hand can pay well even when the tricks go badly. Because both sides record a plain number every deal, this fits the rounds template rather than a bidding one.
Overview
Belote is the most widely played card game in France and one of the great members of the Jass family. Thirty-two cards, four players in two partnerships, eight tricks a deal. What makes it feel different from other trick games is that a large part of your score comes from combinations you simply hold and announce, so a hand can pay well even when the tricks go badly. Because both sides record a plain number every deal, this fits the rounds template rather than a bidding one.
Setup
Four players in two partnerships sitting alternately. Deal five cards each, turn one card face up, and offer that suit as trumps around the table. If someone takes it they receive the turned card and everyone else is dealt the rest, giving eight cards each. If nobody takes it, a second round lets a player name any other suit.
How to play
The player to the dealer's left leads. You must follow suit. If you cannot and your partner is not winning the trick, you must trump; if a trump has already been played you must beat it if you can. In trumps the order and values change completely, which is what gives the game its shape. Declarations are announced during the first trick and shown afterwards.
Scoring
Trump card values: jack 20, nine 14, ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, eight and seven 0, which is 62 in the trump suit. In every other suit: ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2, nine, eight and seven 0, which is 30 per suit. That makes 152 card points in the deal, and the last trick adds 10, so 162 is the normal total.
Declarations: a run of three cards in one suit 20, a run of four 50, a run of five 100, four jacks 200, four nines 150, four aces, tens, kings or queens 100 each. Four eights or sevens are worthless. Only one side scores declarations: compare the best single declaration held on each side, and the side holding it takes all of its own and the other side takes none. The king and queen of trumps in one hand, called belote-rebelote, is always worth 20 to its holder no matter what else happens.
The side that took trumps must finish with strictly more than the other side, counting declarations. If it fails it goes dedans: the defenders take the whole 162 plus every declaration made by either side, and the trump-taking side keeps only its belote 20 if it had one. Winning all eight tricks is capot and adds the capot bonus, so the usual total for a capot deal is 252.
Ending the game
Deals continue until one side reaches the target at the end of a deal. If both cross it together, the higher total wins.
Common variations
Many groups play to 1000 and round every deal to the nearest ten. Others ignore declarations completely for a faster game, or add contrée so that a confident defence can double the stakes.
Scoring at a glance
| Who wins | First to target |
|---|---|
| Played to | 501 points by default |
| Score sheet | One number per player per round, with a running total |
| Typical round score | 0 – 182 |
| Negative scores | Never — scores only go up |
| Worth knowing | Both sides record a number every deal. The two numbers normally add up to 162 plus any declarations. |
Belote — score sheet
House rules and settings
Every table plays Belote a little differently. These are the 7 rules groups argue about. Each one is a setting in the app — and changing it recalculates a match that is already in progress, which is the thing no other score keeper does.
Play to: what is the default in Belote?
The first side to reach this total wins. 501 gives a short game, 1000 or 2000 a long one.
Default: 501. Adjustable from 100 to 3000 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Play to”.
Count declarations: on or off in Belote?
Sequences and four of a kind held in hand are shown and paid for. Switch off for a plain game where only the captured cards matter.
Default: on.
In the app: “Count declarations”.
Capot bonus: what is the default in Belote?
Extra points for a side that wins every single trick in the deal.
Default: 90. Adjustable from 0 to 200 in steps of 10.
In the app: “Capot bonus”.
Last trick worth: what is the default in Belote?
A bonus, known as the dix de der, for whoever wins the final trick of the deal.
Default: 10. Adjustable from 0 to 20 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Last trick worth”.
When the deal ties: what are the options in Belote?
What to do when the side that took trumps ends up exactly level with the other side. The classic answer is to freeze their points and give them to whoever wins the following deal.
Default: Held over to the next deal. Three options:
In the app: “When the deal ties”.
Allow contrée doubling: on or off in Belote?
Lets the defenders challenge the side that took trumps, doubling the points at stake for the deal.
Default: off.
In the app: “Allow contrée doubling”.
Round scores: what are the options in Belote?
Some groups drop the units digit to keep the sheet tidy. Halves round upward.
Default: Exact numbers. Two options:
In the app: “Round scores”.
Variants of Belote
Belote Coinchée
An auction replaces the turned card, and the contract is announced in multiples of ten.
Two-handed Belote
Two players, each with their own pile, using the same card values and declarations.
All Trumps and No Trumps
Bulgarian and Greek forms add contracts where every suit is trump or none is, with rescaled card values.
Belote is also known as
Belotte, Belote Classique, Belote Bridgée. These are the same game — the rules and the score sheet above apply to all of them.
Keep score offline
The sheet above works in your browser. Cardzo for iPhone remembers your players, survives a closed tab, and works in a field with no signal.
Coming to the App Store.