BELOTE
Belote is a card game played with 32 cards ranging from 7 to Ace. Two teams of two players compete in several rounds, the points of which are accumulated in order to reach the fixed point objective.
Card distribution and trump selection:
Cards are dealt clockwise starting from the player to the left of the dealer.
Each player receives three cards, then two. After all four players have received their first five cards, one card is turned face up and offered to players in turn, starting with whoever is to the left of whoever is dealing.
In the first round, each player must either pass or accept the face-up card whose color will then determine the trump.
If each player prefers to pass, a second turn is taken. Players can then offer one of the remaining suits as a trump by taking the card face up.
If neither player chooses a trump, the cards are reshuffled and a new round begins starting with the next player to the left.
When a player has decided to take the card, the distribution of the cards continues by giving three additional cards to each of the players except for the taker who only receives two.
Game flow:
Once the trump is selected, the player to the left of the dealer plays the card of his choice, followed by the other players in turn in a clockwise direction.
A sleeve is made up of eight pleats. At each trick, each player must play a card and the player who played the highest card wins the trick. He then begins the next trick and so on until the end of the round.
Once the trick has started, the other players must play a card of the same color. If a player does not have one and his partner has not played the highest card in the trick, he will then have to play a trump card (he cuts). If he does not have a trump or his partner has played the highest card in the trick, he can then play any card.
If an opponent has already cut and is the strongest in the trick, then the player will have to play a trump of a higher value if he has any, or a weaker trump if he does not.
If his partner has already cut and he is the strongest in the trick, the player who does not have the color played initially can then play the card he wants.
If the first card of the trick is a trump, the other players must successively play a stronger trump than those already played if they have any.
Score calculation:
Ranking and value of the cards:
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Asset :
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Jack: 20 points
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New: 14 points
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Ace: 11 points
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Ten: 10 points
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King: 4 points
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Queen: 3 points
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Eight: 0 points
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Seven: 0 points
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Excluding assets:
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Ace: 11 points
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Ten: 10 points
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King: 4 points
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Queen: 3 points
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Jack: 2 points
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New: 0 point
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Eight: 0 points
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Seven: 0 points
The points earned at each trick are counted at the end of the round.
The player who wins the last trick of the round scores 10 additional points.
To win the round, the team that took the card from the start must score a minimum of 82 points out of the 162 points available in total. If it does not succeed, the opposing team will then score 162 points.
If a player has the King and the Queen of the trump, he must then announce "belote" by playing the first card of the two then "rebelote" by playing the second and will then score 20 additional points.
If a team wins all the tricks of the round (“cap”), it then benefits from 90 additional points (252 points in total or 272 if belote/rebelote in addition).