Belote Rules

Belote is one of the most popular card games in France, Belgium and Québec. Born in the 1920s, it is traditionally played by four, in two teams of two. Its rules are simple to learn, but the strategic depth comes from the declarations, reading your opponents' cards, and choosing the trump suit. This guide covers everything you need to play properly, from the basics to the most commonly played variants.

If you just want to count the points without doing the maths by hand, there's an app that does it for you: Belote7. But first, the rules.

1. Equipment and setup

To play classic belote you need:

• A 32-card deck: the cards from 7 to Ace in the four suits — ♠ spades, ♥ hearts, ♣ clubs, ♦ diamonds. The 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 6s are removed.
• Four players, split into two teams of two. Teammates sit opposite each other, crosswise.
• Something to keep score: pen and paper, or a dedicated app.

The first dealer is chosen at random (for example, each player turns over a card and the highest deals). After that, the deal rotates clockwise each hand.

2. Dealing the cards

Dealing always goes clockwise, starting with the player to the dealer's left:

1. The player to the dealer's right cuts the deck.
2. The dealer first deals 5 cards to each player (in two packets of 3 then 2, or 2 then 3, depending on the table's convention).
3. The dealer then turns over the top card of the remaining stack. The suit of this card is the proposed trump.
4. The last 3 cards are dealt after the bidding.

3. The bidding: take or pass

Once the card is turned up, players decide in turn whether they take (accept the turned-up suit as trump) or pass.

First round of bidding

Starting with the player to the dealer's left, each one says: "I take" or "I pass".

• If someone takes, their team becomes the attacking team. Trump is the suit of the turned-up card. The dealer gives them that card, then deals the last 3 cards to everyone (the taker receives only 2, since they already have the turned-up card).
• If everyone passes, you move on to the second round.

Second round of bidding

Each player may name a trump in a different suit than the one turned up, or pass again. The first player to name a suit becomes the taker.

If everyone passes in the second round too, the deal is void: the cards are returned to the next dealer, who shuffles and deals in turn.

4. Card values

This is where belote trips up every beginner: card values change depending on whether they are trump or not. Learning this table by heart is an investment that pays off fast.

The total points spread across the 32 cards is 152 points (62 in the trump suit + 30 × 3 in the three other suits), plus the 10 points of the last-trick bonus (10 de der, awarded for the final trick), for 162 points in play each hand.

The order of the cards

• In trumps, the order from strongest to weakest is: Jack, 9, Ace, 10, King, Queen, 8, 7. The trump Jack and 9 are the two master cards of the game.
• In non-trump suits, the classic order applies: Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8, 7.

5. How a hand plays out

The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick by playing a card of their choice. Play then proceeds clockwise. Three fundamental rules govern every trick:

1. You must follow suit: you have to play a card of the led suit if you have one.
2. You must trump (and overtrump): if you can't follow suit, you must trump with a trump card. And if a trump has already been played to the trick, you must play a higher trump if you can.
3. Free discard: if you can neither follow suit nor overtrump, you throw any card (ideally a low one).

The player who wins the trick (highest card of the led suit, or highest trump if trumped) gathers the cards and leads the next trick. The hand lasts 8 tricks, until the cards run out.

6. Declarations

Declarations are combinations you can announce during play to score extra points. They are declared on the first trick, except for belote-rebelote, which is announced as you play it.

Belote-rebelote (20 points)

Holding the King and Queen of trumps in your hand scores 20 points. You say "Belote" when playing the first of the two cards (whichever one), then "Rebelote" when playing the other. This declaration always counts, even if your team loses the hand.

Tierce, fifty, hundred (sequences)

A sequence is made up of consecutive cards in the same suit, using the classic card order (not the trump order): 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace.

• Tierce (3 consecutive cards) = 20 points
• Fifty (4 consecutive cards) = 50 points
• Hundred (5 consecutive cards or more) = 100 points

Four of a kind (carré)

Holding all 4 cards of the same rank (the 4 Jacks, the 4 Aces, etc.) scores big — except for the 7s and 8s, which don't count:

• Four Jacks = 200 points
• Four 9s = 150 points
• Four Aces, 10s, Kings or Queens = 100 points

7. Scoring

At the end of the hand, each team adds up:

1. The card values from all the tricks they won.
2. The declaration points that count (if they were higher than the opponents').
3. The 20 points for belote-rebelote, if it was announced.
4. The 10 points of the last-trick bonus for the team that won the final trick.

Case 1: the taker made the contract

The attacking team scored more than 81 points. Each team records its own points. The hand is valid.

Case 2: "set" or "went down"

If the attacking team scored 81 points or fewer, it failed. All 162 points (cards + last-trick bonus) go to the defenders, plus the defenders' declarations. The attacking team only scores any belote-rebelote points it may have.

Case 3: capot

If one team wins all 8 tricks, that's a capot: 252 points instead of 162. It's rare, but it turns a game around.

The game

Depending on the region, the game is played to 501 points, 1,000 points or 1,001 points. The first team to reach the threshold after a complete hand wins. If both pass it at the same time, the attacking team must also have made its contract.

8. Variants

Coinche (or contrée)

Coinche adds a numbered bidding system to classic belote. Instead of simply "taking" or "passing", each player can bid a contract of 80, 90, 100, 110… up to 250, plus capot and the générale (winning every trick while leading first). The contract must rise with each bid.

The opposing team can "coincher" (or "double") a contract it thinks is unrealistic: if it's right, the points are doubled in its favour. The taking team can then "surcoincher" (or "redouble"), which quadruples the stakes.

The rest — dealing, card values, trump order, declarations — is identical to classic belote.

Belote with 2 or 3 players

Possible but less common. With 3, everyone plays for themselves: the taker faces a temporary alliance of the other two. With 2, you deal 6 cards per player and often play with a "stock" in the middle.

Belote with 5, 6 or 7 players

See the detailed guide: Belote with 5, 6 or 7 players for the rotation tables and full examples. In short: it's the classic friends'-night scenario — there are too many of you for a single table of four, but you don't want two tables. The solution is rotation: each hand, one (or more) player sits out while the other four play. The next hand, someone else rests.

• With 5 players: one player rests per hand. Over 5 hands, everyone will have rested once.
• With 6 players: two players rest per hand. The teams also rotate to avoid always playing with the same partners.
• With 7 players: three players rest per hand. This is where doing it by hand gets complicated — you need a system to make sure everyone plays and rests fairly, and that the partner pairings change.

9. Strategy: 10 tips to start well

1. Don't take with fewer than 2 master trumps (Jack, 9, or Jack + Ace). Taking without a strong trump often ends in going down.
2. Count the trumps that have been played. There are 8 in total. Knowing how many remain changes your whole end-of-hand strategy.
3. Lead your long suit in non-trumps: you'll force the others to discard or trump, and you'll quickly learn where the Aces are.
4. Don't trump in first position without a reason. You waste a strong card without knowing whether your partner couldn't have won the trick anyway.
5. The trump 10 is worth 10 points: don't sacrifice it on a suit you could win with a King.
6. Watch your partner's declarations: their belote, tierce or fifty tell you about half of their cards.
7. On the last trick, play for the 10 de der: 10 easy points not to hand the opponents.
8. Lead out your small trumps first if you're ahead: you clear the opponents' hands before they can trump your master cards.
9. On defence, keep your Ace of the trump suit for the end: it guarantees you a trick no matter what.
10. Communicate through play, not words: belote allows no signals between teammates. Everything goes through the cards you choose to play and the order in which you play them.

10. Frequently asked questions