How to play belot (bela)
Bela, also called belot, is the favourite coffee-table card game across Bosnia and its neighbours. Four players play in two partnerships, and the aim is to score more than the other pair from tricks and declarations.
Rules change from town to town, so this guide describes the most common version. Agree on the details before you start, such as the forced call and whether you must play a higher card when you can.
Cards and the deal
Bela uses 32 cards: seven to ace in four suits. Partners sit opposite each other. The dealer gives each player six cards and then two more that stay face down until trump is chosen. That pair of cards is called the talon.
Play goes counterclockwise and the deal passes on after every hand.
Trump and the forced call
After seeing six cards, the players in turn, starting next to the dealer, name a trump suit or pass. Whoever names trump commits their side to taking more than half the points of the hand.
If everyone passes, the dealer must name trump. This is called mus. Once trump is set, the players turn up their two talon cards.
Card ranks and values
In the trump suit the jack is highest and worth 20 points, then the nine with 14, ace 11, ten 10, king 4 and queen 3, while the eight and seven score nothing.
In the other suits the order is ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2, then nine, eight and seven with no points. All cards together are worth 152 points, and the last trick adds 10 more, 162 in all.
How tricks are played
The player next to the dealer leads the first trick. The others must follow suit. If they cannot, they must play a trump, and if they have no trump, any card. In most groups a player must also beat the card on the table when they can.
The highest trump wins the trick; with no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next one.
Declarations and the bela
Before the first trick, players announce declarations. Three cards in sequence in one suit score 20, four score 50, and five or more 100. Four jacks score 200, four nines 150, and four aces, tens, kings or queens 100 each.
The king and queen of trumps are the bela, worth 20 when the second of the two is played. Only the side with the strongest declaration scores its declarations; on a tie, the player closer to the first lead wins.
Scoring and going down
At the end of a hand each side adds its trick points and declarations. The side that named trump must have more than half of the total. If it fails, it goes down, and all the points of the hand go to the opponents.
A side that takes every trick earns 90 extra points. Games are usually played to 1,001.
Belot tips
Name trump when you hold the jack or the nine of that suit and at least one more strong card. Track which trumps have gone: once the opponents can only have small cards left, cash your aces.
Talk to your partner through play, never words: leading a suit in which you hold the ace often tells them where you are strong.
Belot with friends and online
Belot takes an evening to learn and years to master. Once you know the basics, local variations come quickly.
Online igre does not have belot yet. The closest game you can play right now is Euchre, a trump trick-taking game in which the jack is the strongest card, just as in belot. More card games wait in the Table games world.