Baloot Rules & How to Play

Components

Baloot uses a 32-card deck: a standard deck with every card below 7 removed, leaving 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace in each of the four suits. Each player receives 8 cards, so the whole deck is dealt.

Two kinds of points are used. Abnat are the card points captured in tricks during a deal. Game points are what goes on the scoreboard; abnat are converted into game points at the end of each deal, and the match is played to 152 game points.

Setup and the deal

Four players form two teams, with partners sitting opposite each other. The dealer moves one seat clockwise after every deal.

1. The deck is shuffled and each player is dealt 5 cards. The remaining 12 cards form the stock.
2. The top card of the stock is turned face up. Its suit is the only suit that can be bought as trump in the first round of the auction.
3. The auction decides the contract (Sun or Hokom) and the declarer — the player who bought it.
4. The deal is completed from the stock so that every player holds 8 cards.
5. The player to the dealer’s left leads the first trick.

Objective

In each deal your team wants to capture more card points than the other team and hold better projects. Over the match, the goal is to be the first team to reach 152 game points.

The auction: Sun, Hokom and Ashkal

Bidding starts with the player to the dealer’s left and goes clockwise. In the first round each player may pass or make one of these calls:

• Hokom — buy a trump contract with the face-up card’s suit as trump.
• Sun — buy a no-trump contract. You become the declarer.
• Ashkal — a “Sun for my partner” call: the contract becomes Sun and your partner becomes the declarer.
• If all four players pass, a second round follows with the same cards. Now Hokom can be bought in any suit except the face-up suit, and Sun and Ashkal are still available.
• A player who calls Hokom may then choose to keep Hokom or switch the contract to Sun.
• If everyone passes again, it is Wala: the deal is cancelled with no score and a fresh deal is dealt.

Card order and card points

Baloot uses two rankings. In Sun, and for non-trump suits in Hokom, the order from strongest to weakest is A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7. In the trump suit in Hokom, the Jack and 9 jump to the top: J, 9, A, 10, K, Q, 8, 7.

The team that wins the last trick adds a bonus of 10 abnat, known as the Ard. That makes 130 abnat in a Sun deal and 162 in a Hokom deal.

Playing the tricks

Eight tricks are played. Each player plays one card per trick, the highest card of the suit led wins unless a trump is played, and the winner leads the next trick.

• Sun: you must follow the suit led if you can; otherwise you may play any card.
• Hokom, trump led: you must play a trump if you have one, and you must beat the highest trump so far if you can — unless your partner is already winning, in which case any trump will do.
• Hokom, side suit led: you must follow suit if you can.
• Hokom, void in the suit led while an opponent is winning: you must trump, and over-trump if you can. If the winning card is already a trump you cannot beat and you are third or fourth to play, you may play any card.
• Hokom, void while your partner is winning: you may usually play any card, but the third player must trump if they can — unless the partner led an Ace in a side suit.

Projects (Mashari’) and Baloot

Projects are scoring combinations in your 8-card hand. They are declared automatically once the deal is completed and are worth game points directly. Runs follow the order 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A within one suit, and four-of-a-kinds only count for 10, J, Q, K or A.

Only one team scores projects: the team holding the single best project scores all of its projects, and the other team scores none. Projects rank by tier (400, then 100, then 50, then Sira), then a four-of-a-kind beats a run, then the higher top card wins. If the best projects are exactly equal, the declaring team wins.

Doubling: Double, Three, Four and Gahwa

After the contract is set, the defending team may raise the stakes. Each raise passes the choice to the other team, who can accept or raise again. In Sun the ladder stops at Double. In Hokom it can climb to Three, Four and finally Gahwa (“coffee”).

• Double multiplies the deal by 2, Three by 3, Four by 4, and Gahwa by 4 — and winning a Gahwa deal can end the whole match on the spot.
• Projects are multiplied by 2 at most, however high the stake climbs.
• In Hokom, a player raising to Double or Four declares the hand open or closed. In a closed hand, nobody may lead a trump unless they hold nothing but trumps.

Scoring

Card points are converted to game points: a Hokom deal is worth 16 game points in total and a Sun deal 26. Only card points decide whether the declaring team made its contract — projects and Baloot are added afterwards.

Winning the match

Scores are added after every deal. The first team to reach 152 game points wins the match, and the team with the higher total wins if both pass it together. Winning a deal played at Gahwa can also win the match instantly.

Strategy tips

• Buy Hokom when you hold the trump Jack or 9 with support — they are worth 20 and 14 points and win almost every trick they touch.
• Choose Sun when you hold several Aces and 10s; with no trumps, those top cards are your tricks.
• Use Ashkal when your hand is strong for Sun support but your partner is better placed to lead the contract.
• Count trumps in Hokom: once the Jack and 9 are gone, your Ace of trump becomes the boss card.
• Double only when you are confident — a failed or doubled contract hands every point, including projects, to the winning team.
• Save your last strong card for the eighth trick when you can; the Ard bonus of 10 points often decides close deals.

Frequently asked questions