Belote rules
Free to play. No install, no ads between hands, no betting.
The rules in 30 seconds
- Four players in two teams, 32 cards.
- A card is turned face up: take its suit as trump or pass; in the second round another suit can be named.
- The taker's team needs at least 82 of the 162 card points; belote and melds do not count toward that.
- Belote and rebelote — the king and queen of trump — are worth 20 and always stay with their holder.
- Raw points to 501; Belote with melds also scores runs and four of a kind.
Classic French Belote skips the auction. A card is turned up, and the question is simply whether someone takes it as trump — quick to start, and the version most people mean by "Belote" outside Armenia.
Belote Club runs it in two flavours: plain Belote, where only belote and rebelote score as declarations, and Belote with melds, where runs and four-of-a-kinds count too.
The turn-up
- Four players, two teams, 32 cards
- One card is turned face up — that suit is the trump on offer
- Players decide in turn whether to take it; taking it means committing to win at least 82 of the 162 card points — belote, rebelote and melds do not count toward that
- If nobody takes it in the first round, the choice widens in the second
Card values
Standard Belote values: in trump the jack leads at 20 and the nine follows at 14.
| Card | Plain suit | Trump |
|---|---|---|
| A | 11 | 11 |
| 10 | 10 | 10 |
| K | 4 | 4 |
| Q | 3 | 3 |
| J | 2 | 20 |
| 9 | 0 | 14 |
| 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 0 | 0 |
152 card points plus 10 for the last trick — 162 in a deal.
Belote and rebelote
The king and queen of trump in the same hand are worth 20, announced as you play them — belote on the first, rebelote on the second. Here they are always credited to the player who holds them — even when the contract is lost.
Plain Belote vs Belote with melds
The two variants share one engine and differ in exactly one thing: whether declarations beyond belote count.
- Belote — only belote and rebelote score; runs and four-of-a-kinds are off
- Belote with melds — runs (20 / 50 / 100) and four-of-a-kinds score, for the team holding the biggest one
- Both play to 501 in raw points
- Belote with melds uses the French four-of-a-kind values: jack 200, nine 150, ace, ten, king or queen 100
Melds, when they are on
| Cards | Points |
|---|---|
| 3 | 20 |
| 4 | 50 |
| 5 | 100 |
Four of a kind: jack 200, nine 150, ace / ten / king / queen 100 each.
The 81–81 split
A deal can end 81–81. The defenders bank their 81 straight away; the taker's 81 are carried forward and go to whoever wins the next deal that is not itself a tie — so a dead-even deal still decides something.
Scoring and the target
Raw points, no division, first team to 501. A deal is worth 162 plus declarations, so a match is typically four to six deals.
Common questions
What is the difference between Belote and Coinche?
Belote turns a card up and asks whether anyone takes it; Coinche runs an auction from 80 to 160 and lets opponents double the contract. Belote plays to 501, Coinche to 701.
Which variant should I pick?
Plain Belote is the fastest game in the lobby and the easiest to teach. Belote with melds rewards holding a hand together, since runs and squares are back in play.
Play a hand
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