Baloot

Four players play in two fixed partnerships, partners sitting opposite: you and North against West and East. The pack has 32 cards, sevens to aces, and dealing, bidding and play all go anticlockwise.

Each player gets five cards, and the next card is turned face up. In the first round, starting on the dealer's right, each player may pass, bid Hokum (play with the turned-up suit as trumps) or bid Sun (no trumps, worth double). Sun always beats Hokum, and an earlier player can overcall a later player's Sun with their own. The third and fourth players may bid Ashkal instead: a Sun bid in which their partner takes the turned-up card. If everyone passes, a second round allows Hokum in a different suit, or Sun. If everyone passes again, the cards are thrown in.

The declarer takes the turned-up card and two more; everyone else gets three. The player to the dealer's right always leads the first trick.

• Cards: in trumps, jack 20, nine 14, ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, eight and seven 0. In other suits, ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2. The last trick earns 10 more.
• Sun: follow suit if you can, otherwise play anything.
• Hokum: follow suit if you can. If you can't, or if trumps were led, you must play a trump to beat an opponent's card when you can. You are free when your partner is winning, except that the third player must still trump after a partner's lead that was neither an ace nor an Ekka (a declared highest remaining card).
• Projects: a Siri (three in sequence) is worth 2 game points, a Fifty (four) 5, a Hundred (five, or four aces, kings, queens, jacks or tens) 10, and in Sun these values double. Four aces in Sun are a Four Hundred, worth 40. Only the side with the best project scores its projects.
• Baloot: the king and queen of trumps in one hand, worth 2 game points to whoever holds them.
• Scoring: card points become game points (16 in a Hokum hand, 26 in Sun). If the declaring side loses, the opponents score all the points. Winning every trick is Al-kaboot: 25 in Hokum, 44 in Sun. The first side to 152 wins the match.

• Auction: tap Hokum, Sun, Ashkal or Pass. Only the bids you can legally make are shown.
• Play: tap a highlighted card. The trumping rules are applied for you, and Ekka is announced automatically when you lead the highest remaining card of a suit.
• After each hand, a table shows card points, game points, projects, Baloot and the running score.

• Daily: everyone gets the same deals each day.
• New Game: a fresh random match with North as your CPU partner.
• This version doesn't include the optional doubling (Double, Triple, Quadruple and Gahwa) or locked play.

• Sun scores double, so bid it with aces and protected tens, but remember any ten without its ace can fall to an opponent's ace.
• In Hokum, the jack and nine of trumps are the heart of a good hand. The turned-up card is yours if you declare, so count it in.
• When your partner is winning a trick, throw your tens and aces onto it.
• Lead the highest remaining card of a suit as an Ekka. It frees your partner from having to trump over your winner.
• Keep track of projects: the side with the single best project scores all of its projects, and the other side scores none.

Baloot is played in Saudi Arabia, where it is said to be the most popular card game, and also in Kuwait. It is derived from and closely related to the French game belote, but with several significant differences.

One difference is the no-trump contract played for double score. Its name, Sun, clearly comes from the French sans, as in sans atout, 'without trumps'. The other contract, Hokum, is played with a trump suit.

Today Baloot is described as the number one social activity in Saudi Arabia, an integral part of the culture and popular with people of all ages (source). The rules here follow pagat.com.

Baloot is a free browser version of the traditional Saudi card game, with a CPU partner and opponents, a new daily deal every day and online leaderboards. There's nothing to download and no sign-up.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.