Belot rules

Bela is played with a 32-card deck (seven to ace in four suits). Four players in two pairs is the usual game, partners sitting across from each other; it is also played three-handed (everyone for themselves) and two-handed.

• The dealer shuffles and the player to their left cuts.
• Cards go round to the right, two at a time, until everyone has six; the rest forms each player's talon — two cards in four-player, four in three- and two-player.
• The dealer turns one card as the offered trump. Going right, each player says whether they take that suit or pass.
• Four players: in the second round trump is chosen freely; if nobody calls, the dealer is forced to.
• Three players do not bid — the player to the dealer's right must call, and may not pass.
• Two players: the non-dealer decides first; if both pass, the dealer must pick trump from the remaining three suits.
• Once trump is settled everyone takes the talon: eight cards in four-player, ten in three- and two-player.
• In three- and two-player part of the deck stays out of play, so a deal is not worth 162 — only what the cards actually played hold.

Bela has three different card orders, and mixing them up is the most common argument at the table.

That is why a ten beats a king in a trick but sits between the nine and the jack in a sequence. In trump, the nine and the jack jump above everything.

All the cards together come to 152; with the last trick, worth 10, a four-player deal is 162 points. Three- and two-player leave part of the deck out, so a deal there is worth less — exactly how much shows only once the piles are counted.

• You must follow the suit led if you hold it.
• If you hold a higher card in that suit than the one on the table, you must play it.
• Without the suit led you must play a trump; if a trump is already down, you must beat it when you can.
• With neither the suit nor a trump, play anything.
• Playing against these rules is a renonce — the deal goes to the other side.

Declarations are shown in the app strictly as numbers. Their values are:

• 20 — a sequence of three cards
• 50 — a sequence of four cards
• 100 — a sequence of five or more cards
• 100 — four aces, tens, kings or queens
• 150 — four nines
• 200 — four jacks
• 20 — bela (trump king and queen)

The highest single declaration wins: that side scores all of its declarations, the opponent 0. Bela always belongs to whoever holds it.

Belot (all eight cards of one suit in hand) is an automatic win of the game, regardless of score.

Bela is the king and queen of trump and is worth 20. It is announced with the declarations or during play: as you play the first of the two you say "bela", and as you play the second, "od bele". Unannounced, it does not count. Bela always belongs to whoever holds it, whoever won the declarations.

A four-player deal is worth 162 points in total — ten of them for the last trick. You enter them together: what a side collected, last trick included. Three- and two-player do not play the whole deck, so every pile is counted and entered — nothing is inferred as "the rest", and 0 is a perfectly good entry for someone who took no trick.

The last trick is worth +10 points to the side that takes it.

Štiglja (one side takes every trick): that side is credited everything that was in play (162 in four-player) + 90 + all declarations, the opponent 0.

The caller must score strictly more than half of everything in play — cards and declarations together (half + 1). In four-player the threshold is (162 + total declarations) / 2; in three- and two-player it is measured against what was actually played.

If the caller does not pass (falls), in four- and two-player everything — cards, declarations, štiglja and bela — goes to the opponent, and the caller scores 0. A dead heat is a fall: the caller needs more, not equal.

In the three-player game everyone writes their own points; if the caller does not pass, the caller scores nothing and the other two keep as much as they collected (no transfer).

• Four players — two teams of two, eight cards each; the whole deck is in play (162). If the calling pair falls, everything goes to the opponents. Usual target: 1001.
• Three players — each for themselves, ten cards each; the player after the dealer must call. If the caller falls, they score nothing and the other two keep their own. Usual target: 701.
• Two players — each for themselves, ten cards each. If the caller falls, the opponent takes it all. Usual target: 501.

Must pass (MUST_PASS): to win, the side reaching the target must also pass (>half) in that deal. If it crossed the target but did not pass, the game continues.

Enough (ENOUGH): the instant a side reaches the target, the game ends.

If both sides are at or over the target, the pass rule is ignored — the higher total wins.

Targets: 501, 701 or 1001 points — customarily 501 two-handed, 701 three-handed and 1001 four-handed.

• Whether the dealer is forced to call when nobody else does, or the hand is redealt.
• An offered trump card, or a free choice from the first round.
• Whether four court cards beat four tens, or the other way round.
• Ending: stop the moment someone reaches the target, or play the deal out and then add up.
• Swapping the seven for the offered trump card, where that is played.

The app supports both endings and all three game lengths (501, 701, 1001).