A belote game to occupy you over the holidays

Are you looking for a family activity for the holiday season? Play belote! This is a great game for you to enjoy as a family or with friends. Unlike poker or tarot, here, you don’t need any chips, mats or special cards… a normal pack of cards is enough. A major asset when you get round to packing!

Which type of belote should you choose for having fun as a family?

Card games, like board games, are the best things for a successful family vacation.

You will have a good time playing belote assembled round the table.

Here are some ideas for you…

How do you convert your family to your favorite card game?

Suggest a game of classic belote! This is the most played variant in the world.

Whose turn it is to speak, trump suit, value and order of the cards, fulfilling your contract, capot, combinations, 10 of der, belote-rebelote… Ensure that each participant knows the rules of the game.

Consider printing off the official rules from the FunBelote webpage and writing up a cheat sheet with the order and value of the cards in belote. That will help any beginners to get used to those.

Get the young ones involved by letting them deal the cards. Or charge them with counting up the points at the end of the game. Counting up the points for a trick is an excellent exercise for mental arithmetic. And they will get used to the notions of dealing cards, the dealer, led suit, the player who accepted the face-up card, defender, contract, etc.

Are you already a family of experienced belote players?

Take advantage of the vacation for discovering the many variants together and trying a new way of experiencing the game.

For example, spice up the game with announcements made at the start of a game of belote or test out coinche belote with bids and overbids!

These are the most played variants by classic belote players. Bidding/overbidding make the game more complex and bring more excitement to classic belote.

Consider belote contrée too. If the accepting side doesn’t make their contract, the player who doubled will get extra points. But if the accepting pair succeeds, they will receive double the points!

Why not also organize family belote tournaments and reward the winning side? Or even play bridge? Find all the information on our FunBridge website!

How do we play belote online AND with family?

The FunBelote app allows you to play against AI as a family, thanks to its duplicate game modes. Online belote has more than one trick up its sleeve!

Discover the daily belote tournament, challenges and free multiplayer belote games.

There will be the opportunity for you to crown your best players and to win lots of chips.

Rather play solo? Try the free and unlimited “practice” mode.

Download the FunBelote app to play belote online for free.

Available on iOS and Android.

How many players do you need for belote ?

Traditional belote is played by four players divided into two partnerships. But many variants of the game allow you to play with only two or three players.

Before starting a game, read the following!

Four-player belote

This is the official belote played by players all over the world!

Small reminder. Four players sitting at the table; each side is made up of two players.

The game uses 32 cards: the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, Nine, Eight and Seven of each suit.

The trump suit is the same as that of the face-up card.

The trick is won by the player who plays the strongest trump card or, failing that, the strongest card in the led suit. That player leads to the following trick. And so on.

The aim is to get the most trumps, along with your partner, in order to win your bet!

Each deal is made up of 8 tricks (the number of cards in each player’s hand).

The number of rounds will depend on the point total agreed upon at the beginning of the game.

As a reminder, you can find the rules of classic and four-player coinche belote in detail on the FunBelote website.

The two- and three-player variants of belote

It is possible to practice classic belote or two- or three-player coinche.

Aside from the counting of points, which for the most part remains the same, each variant has its own particular features.

Two-player belote

This is a type of belote which provides a good introduction to the game. Each player receives nine cards. Six cards in the first stage of the deal. The thirteenth card is turned face up. Once the trump suit has been accepted, the second stage is carried out with three extra cards dealt to each player.

The game is played with each card on the draw pile (which comprises the undealt cards) being turned over one by one. There is therefore no opening lead. Find out the two-player belote rules on our blog.

Three-player belote

In the three-player version, the player who accepted has no partner. This player has to play against his two opponents and must reach a higher point total than either of them.

Each player has nine cards in his hand. The card which is face up is the nineteenth card to be dealt. The draw pile comprises the four undealt cards. Find out the three-player belote rules on our blog.

Two-player coinche

This configuration is difficult for the player who accepted, as the draw pile comprises 12 cards here. In other words, it is impossible to anticipate how your opponents will play…

Three-player coinche

In three-player coinche, there are no partnerships. Each player plays individually! The one who gets the highest score wins the game.

Note that there is also five-player, even six-player coinche (called family coinche or coinche stéphanoise).

How long does a game of belote take ?

The duration of a belote game is random… Different factors should be taken into account.

A deal is 8 tricks long. The rounds are quick when the players are experienced.

This will be longer with beginners, who will wonder on every trick which is the best card to play. The length of the game will depend on the level of the players around the table.

A game takes place over several rounds. Its duration will depend on the agreed point total. The higher the score gets, the longer the game will become for you and your teammates.

The French Belote Federation advises a final score of 1,000 points. Players usually pick a number between 500 and 3,000 points.

Then again, do this according to the level of the players. Do not take beginners to a grand slam tournament!

Go round the table and determine a reasonable set of scores together. And increase them progressively, taking into account the levels of experience and interest of the competitors.

Finally, according to the type of belote (with announcements, bids or belote contrée), adding up the points will be different. Be sure to be confident with the subtleties before playing a game.
Otherwise, there is sure to be a debate and the game will NEVER end!

On the FunBelote website, you will find a series of articles explaining the rules, tips and tactics for playing belote. Our goal: for you to have an excellent holiday period playing belote as a family!

Happy holidays! 🎁🎄