Belot
Belot (usually abbreviated as Bela , Armenian blot ) is the name of a card game with 32 cards for two to four players. It is traditionally played with a French or German hand . The cards are used: Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8, 7 in four colors of clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds.
This game is particularly popular in Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , North Macedonia and Arabia. It is still played in some states of the former Soviet Union (e.g. Russia or Ukraine ) and by communities of the Armenian diaspora and Jewish communities worldwide. However, there are relatively different interpretations of the rules in this game, so that one cannot speak of a fixed, uniform rule. The rules are almost identical to the French national card game La Belote and thus an Eastern European variant of the large Jass family .
regulate
- As the captain you have to score more points than the opponent (s) in the played round, otherwise your own points will be allocated to the opponent or opponents; if the number of points is equal, the captain's points will also be allocated to the opponent or opponents.
- If a player or team does not earn any cards in a round, 90 points are added to the other player or team; previously announced points of the player or team without cards are forfeited.
Card distribution for 2, 3 or 4 players
Two players
If there are 2 players, each player receives six cards that he is allowed to see and four cards that remain upside down until the trump is chosen, the top card of the remaining pile is then turned over. One after the other the players have to decide whether to accept this face up card; if anyone does, he becomes the captain and the suit of the accepted card becomes trump ( adut ). The rest of the cards do not come into play. If both players reject the card, they are allowed to decide in a second round whether they want to be the captain and, if so, which color should be trump, but they are no longer allowed to choose the color of the revealed card if no one after the second round chooses a trump, the dealer must choose a suit as a trump.
Three players
With 3 players, each player also receives six cards that he can reveal and four that remain upside down. There are two cards left, which are given to the player who chooses the trump from his 6 cards and thus becomes the captain. He takes the two cards and the four that are turned upside down, compares which cards suit him best, and puts down two cards upside down that no longer belong to the game and cannot be seen by the other players.
Four players
With 4 players each player receives 6 cards and 2, which are turned over. Since there are no cards left in the case of four players, as the hand only contains 32 cards, the first player next to the dealer chooses a trump from his 6 cards or passes on the choice of trump (in Serbo-Croatian: dalje ). If none of the three players decides on a trump, the dealer must choose a trump.
Game start
Before the game you can already announce points that you have in your hand, these are then added to the points earned at the end of the round (see "Announcing points").
In the case of 2 players, the following point must be observed: If the trump has been chosen and it corresponds to the color that is revealed, a player who has the 7 of this color among the first six cards may exchange with the one below.
One of the players plays a card on which the other players must play a card of the same suit, if there is none, a trump card must be played, if there is no trump card, any card is played. If a trump has been played, a higher trump must be played, if available. The following applies: compulsory trumps in all suits and compulsory trumps in trumps.
The two, three or four cards played go to whoever placed the highest card.
The next round begins: one player plays a card, then the others follow, and so on. This is repeated until all cards have been played.
Scoring the cards
| map | Trump card | Another colour |
|---|---|---|
| Jack | 20th | 2 |
| nine | 14th | 0 |
| Ass | 11 | 11 |
| ten | 10 | 10 |
| king | 4th | 4th |
| lady | 3 | 3 |
| eight | 0 | 0 |
| seven | 0 | 0 |
Announcing points
Before the first round begins, you can also announce points that you already have on your hand; you have to show these announced points to the others. The score is made up as follows:
- 3 cards of the same suit in a row result in 20 points (e.g. 7-8-9 or 10-jack-queen)
- 4 cards of the same suit in a row give 50 points (e.g. 9-10 jack-queen or 7-8-9-10)
- 4 cards of the same symbols result in 100 points (e.g. 4 × 10 or 4 × queen or 4 × king or 4 × ace)
- 4 cards with the "9" give 150 points
- 4 cards with the jack symbol give 200 points
- 5 cards of the same suit in a row give 100 points (e.g. 10-Jack-Queen-King-Ace or 8-9-10-Jack-Queen)
The player who has both the king and queen of the trump suit can announce "Bela" when leading the queen or king. But he can also announce "Bela" at the beginning of the game, since this counts 20 points and can possibly play a role in announcing points before the round.
If a player has four of the same cards of all suits (except for 7 or 8) in hand, he also has 100 points, except if he has four times the 9, then he has 150 points and if he has four times the jack, then he has 200 points. You can also score the cards twice, e.g. B. if you have 8-9-10, that would be 20 points and if you still have 10 of the other three colors, then the 10 cards are also rated with 100 points, so you would then have to announce and show 120 points.
If the announcement of the points results in the same announced number of points, e.g. B. two players have to announce 100 points, then those of the player who sits closer to the dealer are counted, the 100 points of the other are omitted.
If you have all cards of one suit, from 7 to Ace, you have what is known as a "Belot", which means that you have won the entire game, regardless of whether you play up to 501, 701 or 1001 points.
Target points and end of the game
Usually, as is common in tournaments , Bela is played in groups of four, namely in 2 teams of 2 players each, but it can also be played in twos or threes, one at a time. The aim is to achieve 501 points with 2 players, 701 points with 3 players and 1001 points with four players, depending on the number of players.