How to play belote de comptoir ?
Among the many variants of belote, do you know belote de comptoir? It is quicker to play than classic belote but that does not mean it is any less fun or colorful!
How to play belote de comptoir? You will need a deck of cards and two to four players. Then read this article to learn everything about the rules and start a game of belote de comptoir with your family or friends !
Belote de comptoir: dealing the cards and aim of the game
To be able to play belote de comptoir, you need two, three or four players. As in classic belote, you also need a deck of 32 playing cards, from the 7 up to the Ace in each suit (Spades, Clubs, Hearts, Diamonds). One big difference is that there is no teammate in belote de comptoir! There is no partnership and scores are individual. Each player adds up his own points. However, a bit like in tarot, when a player takes, the other players share the same goal – see the accepter fail his contract – and are therefore the opposing side.
Dealing the cards
The first dealer is drawn by lot. The cards are then distributed by the winner of the last deal.
Each dealer must proceed as follows. He must deal one to five cards to each player counterclockwise. In a game of belote de comptoir, there is no face-up card or extra cards to be distributed in a second round of dealing as in classic belote. And if there are any cards left, they are simply not used on the deal.
Ending a game of belote de comptoir
At the end of each deal, the players must count their points. The first player to reach a total of 6 points wins the game.
Belote de comptoir: bidding among players and trump suit
How to bid in a game of belote de comptoir ?
The bidding phase does not look the same as in coinche or even belote contrée… Here the players don’t bid the value of their contract or the combinations they are holding. In belote de comptoir, the aim of the bidding is to announce the number of points a player thinks he can reach with all of his tricks. So, at the beginning of a deal, a player must assess each of his cards to guess the number of tricks he will be able to take and the number of points he should be able to achieve. The next player can bid higher. He must then announce a total of points higher than the one claimed by the last bidder. Of course, it is possible to bluff to push up the bidding and spice up the game! The aim is to encourage the accepter to announce a contract that he will fail.
Designating the trump suit
The player who wins the bidding starts playing and chooses the trump suit. Indeed, the first card played by the accepter designates the trump suit for the whole deal.
Belote de comptoir: card order and value
The order and value of the cards in belote de comptoir are the same as in all belote games.
As a reminder :
Order and value of trump cards
The value of trump cards – the trump suit is designated during the bidding – from highest to lowest is as follows: the Jack counts 20 points, the Nine counts 14 points, the Ace counts 11 points, the Ten counts 10 points, the King counts 4 points, the Queen counts 3 points, the Eight and Seven count 0. The trump suit prevails over the other three suits of the deal.
Order and value of non-trump cards
The value of non-trump cards, i.e. cards from the other three suits, from highest to lowest is as follows: the Ace counts 11 points, the Ten counts 10 points, the King counts 4 points, the Queen counts 3 points, the Jack counts 2 points, the Nine, Eight and Seven count 0.
Belote de comptoir: card play phase
The rules for taking a trick are the same as in classic belote. You will find all the details about the official rules on our website.
As a reminder:
At each trick, the players must put down a card of the suit led. If a player doesn’t have a card from the required suit, he can trump. If the card played is from the trump suit, the players must drop a higher-ranking card from the trump suit except if they don’t have any. If a player doesn’t have a card from the required suit and the trump suit, he can discard and play any card of any suit.
The strongest card wins the trick and the winner leads the next trick.
Finally, keep in mind that in belote de comptoir there is no bonus such as capot, 10 of der or belote rebelote.
Belote de comptoir: counting the points
Once all the cards have been played, the players must count the points. The accepter counts his. If he fulfils his contract or does better, he scores 1 point. If he fails, the opponents score 1 point each. The game ends when a player reaches a total of 6 points.
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You want to give it a go? All you need is real players of belote de comptoir! As far as we know, unfortunately, there is no online version for this type of belote… And whatever the variant of belote you play, the best thing to do if you want to become a top player is to train yourself up with friends or an app!
FunBelote, the official app for online belote and coinche, offers several game modes to play on your smartphone or tablet!
You can, for instance, play games of belote against the artificial intelligence in the free and unlimited practice mode.
Why not try free multiplayer belote and play as a team with or against players from all over the world too?
You want to try a new game experience? Duplicate challenges are just what you need! These are mini tournaments where you can challenge your friends. This game mode puts the participants on an equal footing: they receive the same cards and are sitting at the exact same place at a virtual table.
And for those who like challenges, belote tournaments are taking place every day on FunBelote. Classic belote, coinche or belote contrée: register and try to win one of the many batches of chips by ranking among the top 50 players! These competitions are played in duplicate format to guarantee perfect equality between all of the participants.
Join the FunBelote app now and play online whenever and wherever you want! Open a player account or refer a new friend; FunBelote is offering chips!
Download the mobile app FunBelote for free! Available on the Google Play and Apple stores for Android and iOS devices.