How to play Belote

The basics

Belote is played by four players in two teams of two, partners sitting opposite each other. It uses a 32-card deck — 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace in each of the four suits. Every hand, one suit becomes trump and beats the other three. Players play one card each into a trick; the highest card wins the trick and the points in it. The first team to 501 points, accumulated over several rounds, wins the match.

The deal

The dealer gives each player five cards (in packets of three then two) and turns one card face-up — the up-card. That card offers a potential trump suit for the bidding. After trump is decided, the rest of the deck is dealt out so everyone holds eight cards for the hand.

Taking trump (the bidding)

Starting to the dealer's left, each player may take the up-card's suit as trump or pass. If everyone passes, a second round lets a player name a different suit as trump instead. The player who takes commits their team to the contract: they must score more than the opponents, or their points don't count. If all four players pass twice, the hand is redealt.

Playing a trick

The trick rules are what make Belote Belote — follow suit, and cut when you can't:

• Follow suit if you can. In a plain (non-trump) suit you are not forced to beat the current winner.
• If you're void in the led suit you must trump (cut) — unless your partner is already winning the trick, in which case you may play anything.
• When you cut, or when trump is led, you must over-trump if you can (play a higher trump); you're never forced to play a losing trump under one.
• The highest trump wins the trick; with no trump, the highest card of the led suit wins.

Card points

Card values change depending on whether the suit is trump. There are 152 points in the cards, plus 10 for winning the last trick — 162 in total each hand.

Note the trump Jack (20) and 9 (14) are the two strongest cards — a quirk every Belote player learns fast.

Declarations (melds)

Beyond card points, certain combinations in your hand — declarations — score extra. Each player announces theirs on the first trick; only the team with the single best announced meld scores, and it then scores all of its melds. Belote (King + Queen of trump) is independent and always kept by its holder, announced by playing the trump King then Queen.

Scoring & winning

• The team that took trump must beat the opponents' points. If they do, both teams keep what they scored; if they fail (they're "set"), they get 0 and the opponents take everything.
• A capot — winning all eight tricks — scores 162 in French Classic, or 252 in French Official.
• On an exact tie, the points hang to the next round.
• First team to cross 501 points wins; the higher total takes it. (Some tables play to 1000 — the coinche default.)

Belote Pro offers two French rule sets: French Classic (with player-announced declarations, capot 162) and French Official, the Fédération Française de Belote's 2016 tournament rules (no announced melds — Belote/Rebelote still counts — and capot 252).

The Coinche variant

Coinche (also called Belote Coinchée) swaps the simple take-trump bidding for a full contract auction: players bid a target number of points and a suit, and opponents can coinche (double) a contract they think will fail — or the bidding team can surcoinche (redouble). Cards are all dealt up front (eight each, no up-card). Belote Pro follows the Fédération Française de Belote rules: it is played with announcements (tierce, cinquante, cent, carré) and belote, the takers must reach the bid and finish above the defenders, scores round to the nearest ten, and the match plays to 1000. Belote Pro supports all three: French Classic, French Official, and Coinche (Official).