Baloot rules

Be the first team to reach 152 points by winning card points in tricks, declaring projects and making the hands you buy.

The deck and the deal

Baloot uses 32 cards: 7 to ace in each suit. Four players in two teams, partners opposite, with everything moving to the right.

The first dealer is random and the deal then passes to the right after each hand. Everyone gets 5 cards, then one card is turned face up in the middle: the buying card.

After the buying, the buyer takes the buying card plus 2 more, and everyone else takes 3, so each player holds 8 cards.

Buying: Hokom, Sun, Ashkal

The first round starts with the player to the dealer's right. Each player may say:

• Pass.
• Hokom: the buying card's suit becomes trump. Only the first player to say it can; later players may still say Sun or Ashkal.
• Sun: no trumps, and the auction ends at once.
• Ashkal: only for the dealer and the player on the dealer's left, and not when the buying card is an ace. It is Sun, but the buying card goes to the caller's partner, who becomes the buyer.
• If the first round ends on Hokom, its caller chooses to keep Hokom or switch to Sun.
• If everyone passes, a second round follows: Sun, a "second Hokom" in a suit other than the buying card's, or pass. There is no Ashkal in the second round.
• If everyone passes twice, the cards are thrown in without scoring and the next player deals.

Doubling and Gahwa

Once the cards are dealt and before the first card is played, the stakes can be raised. In Hokom the teams take turns, and every step is optional:

• One of the opponents says Double (×2), open or closed.
• The buyer answers with Triple (×3).
• The doubler answers with Four (×4), open or closed.
• The buyer answers with Gahwa: whoever wins this hand wins the whole match.
• Closed: nobody may lead a trump unless they hold only trumps. After a Triple or Gahwa play is open again.
• In Sun there is a single Double (×2) only, and only when the opponents' total is under 100 and the buyer's team is over 100.

Card order and points (abnat)

In Sun and in non-trump suits, from the top: A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7. Values: ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2.

In the trump suit, from the top: J, 9, A, 10, K, Q, 8, 7. Values: jack 20, nine 14, ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3.

The last trick is worth 10 extra. A hand holds 162 card points in Hokom and 130 in Sun.

How a trick is played

The player to the dealer's right leads the first trick (not the buyer, as in some home games), and each trick's winner leads the next.

You must follow the suit led if you can. The highest trump wins; if no trump is played, the highest card of the suit led wins.

In Sun, if you can't follow suit you may play any card.

• Hokom obligations: when trump is led you must play a higher trump if you can, unless your partner is winning the trick.
• If you can't follow suit and an opponent is winning, you must trump with a card that wins, if you have one.
• If your partner is winning, you may play anything.
• The app never lets you play an illegal card, so there is no penalty (qaid) for misplays.

Projects and Baloot

Projects are declared during the first trick, each player on their turn before playing a card, using a button for each project in your hand. Undeclared projects don't count; declared ones are shown to everyone after the first trick.

Runs follow the order A K Q J 10 9 8 7 in one suit. A player can score at most two projects, and no card can be in both.

• Sira: three cards in a row. Hokom 2, Sun 4.
• Fifty: four in a row. Hokom 5, Sun 10.
• Hundred: five or more in a row, or four kings, queens, jacks or tens; in Hokom four aces too. Hokom 10, Sun 20.
• Four hundred: four aces in Sun. 40.
• Baloot: the king and queen of trumps in one hand. 2 points, counted automatically for its holder's team, unless both cards are part of that player's Hundred.
• The team with the best project scores all of its players' projects; the other team scores none of its own. Ranking: higher value, then four of a kind beats a run, then the higher top card, then whoever speaks first from the dealer's right.
• A team that takes no trick scores no projects.

Scoring

The opponents' card points are turned into game points: in Hokom round to the nearest 10 (a 5 rounds down) and divide by 10; in Sun round to the nearest 10 unless it ends in 5, then divide by 5. The buyer's points are 16 (Hokom) or 26 (Sun) minus the opponents', and each team adds its projects.

The buyer wins the hand with the higher total; on a tie, only if they took more card points.

• Undoubled, buyer wins: each team scores its own points and projects.
• Undoubled, buyer loses (khasara): the opponents take 16 or 26 plus both teams' projects; the buyer scores 0.
• Doubled: the winner takes 16 or 26 times 2, 3 or 4, plus both teams' projects doubled; the loser scores 0.
• Kaboot (all eight tricks): 25 in Hokom or 44 in Sun, times the doubling, plus that team's projects (doubled if the hand was doubled).
• Baloot is always 2 and is never multiplied.

Sawa

After the first trick, when it is your lead and the trick is empty, you can call "Sawa" to claim every remaining trick for your team. The app checks all the hands: if your claim holds whatever the opponents play, the remaining tricks are yours; if not, they all go to the opponents.

How the game ends

The first team to reach 152 points or more wins. If both teams pass 152 on the same hand, the higher total wins; if they are level, another hand is played.

The target in Baloot is fixed at 152; it is the only option when creating a table.

With Gahwa, the team that wins the hand wins the match on the spot, whatever the score.

Tips for beginners

• Learn the trump order: the jack and the nine outrank the ace, and they are the two most valuable cards in the game.
• Sun is worth 26 instead of 16 but has no trumps to protect you, so buy it with aces and tens.
• Don't forget to declare your projects in the first trick before you play; an undeclared project scores nothing.
• Mind the last trick: it is worth 10 card points and can decide the hand.
• Only double with a strong hand: the loser of a doubled hand scores zero.

Questions

Other games

• Rules of Tarneeb
• Rules of Tarneeb solo
• Rules of Trix
• Rules of Trix partners
• Rules of Trix complex
• Rules of Complex partners