Baloot Rules
The complete guide to playing Baloot, Saudi Arabia's most popular card game.
Overview
Baloot is a four-player trick-taking card game played in partnerships. It originates from French Belote and is the most beloved card game in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region. Players form two teams: you and your partner sit across from each other, and the opposing team fills the other two seats. The game is played counter-clockwise.
The Deck
Baloot uses a 32-card deck. Cards from 2 through 6 are removed from a standard deck, leaving four suits (Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs) with ranks 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace in each suit.
Dealing
The dealer gives each player 5 cards, then places one card face-up in the center. This face-up card determines the potential trump suit for the first round of bidding. The remaining cards form the stock pile. After bidding is resolved, each player receives 3 more cards (the bidder receives 2 plus the face-up card), giving everyone a final hand of 8 cards.
Bidding
Bidding determines whether the round is played as Hokum (with a trump suit) or Sun (no trump, higher stakes). Bidding has two rounds:
- Round 1: Starting from the player to the right of the dealer, each player may either bid "Hokum" (accepting the face-up card's suit as trump) or "Pass". If a player bids Hokum, bidding ends and that suit becomes trump.
- Round 2: If all four players pass in Round 1, bidding continues for a second round. Now each player may bid "Hokum" (choosing any suit except the face-up card's suit as trump), "Sun" (no trump with double scoring), or "Pass".
If all players pass in both rounds, the cards are re-dealt with the next dealer.
Card Rankings
Card rankings differ depending on the game mode:
Hokum - Trump Suit Ranking (highest to lowest)
J β 9 β A β 10 β K β Q β 8 β 7
Hokum - Non-Trump Suit Ranking
A β 10 β K β Q β J β 9 β 8 β 7
Sun - All Suits Ranking
A β 10 β K β Q β J β 9 β 8 β 7
Card Point Values
Each card has a point value. The team that collects more points wins more bunts (score units).
| Card | Hokum (Trump) | Hokum (Non-Trump) | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|
| J | 20 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| A | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| K | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Q | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 8, 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total per suit | 60 | 30 | 30 |
Grand total: 162 points (all four suits combined, last trick bonus included)
Trick Play
The player to the right of the dealer leads the first trick. Play proceeds counter-clockwise. Each player plays one card per trick, following these rules:
- You must follow the suit that was led if you have a card of that suit.
- In Hokum: If you cannot follow suit, you must play a trump card if you have one.
- If you cannot follow suit and have no trump (or in Sun mode), you may play any card.
- The highest card of the led suit wins the trick, unless a trump card was played, in which case the highest trump wins.
- The winner of each trick leads the next trick.
The team that wins the last (8th) trick earns a bonus of 10 points.
Scoring
After all 8 tricks are played, points are tallied:
Hokum Scoring
Each team's bunts (card points + project points) are divided by 10 and rounded to the nearest whole number. If the bidding team's total is less than the non-bidding team's total, the bidding team scores 0 and the non-bidding team receives all 16 bunts (plus project points).
Sun Scoring
Each team's bunts are rounded to the nearest 10, doubled, then divided by 10. In Sun, the bidding team must outscore the non-bidding team by at least 1 bunt. If they fail, they score 0 and the opposing team gets all 26 bunts plus any project points.
Projects (Bonuses)
Projects are bonus points declared at the start of a round based on card sequences or sets in a player's hand:
- Sira (20 points): A sequence of 3 consecutive cards in the same suit.
- 50 (50 points): A sequence of 4 consecutive cards in the same suit.
- 100 (100 points): A sequence of 5 or more consecutive cards in the same suit, or four of a kind (four cards of the same rank).
- 400 (400 points): Four Aces in Sun mode only.
- Baloot (20 points): Holding both the King and Queen of the trump suit in Hokum mode. Declared when one of the two cards is played.
Only the team with the highest-value project scores any project points. If both teams declare projects of equal value, neither team scores project points.
Winning the Game
Teams play multiple rounds. Scores accumulate across rounds. The first team to reach 152 points wins the game.