What you need to know about counting points in belote
Do you launch into games of belote between friends, only to find that none of you know how to count points in this card game? Don’t panic! This article will summarize what you need to know for a good understanding of counting points in belote.
Let’s start with a brief reminder of the fundamentals of belote…
How is the trump suit decided in belote?
Whatever the variant of belote, cards will not be worth the same in trump and no-trump contracts. But here, unlike in tarot, the trump suit is a regular suit.
Belote is a game for four players divided into two partnerships, with a total number of 32 cards. These are the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 7, 8 and 9 of each suit (Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades).
Before starting a game, the dealer deals out the cards: 5 cards per player. Then, he puts one card face up in the middle of the table.
Each player must now take it in turns to say whether he accepts this or not.
Accepting the card will designate that suit as the trump suit for the duration of the game.
Note that in coinche, this first time going round the table is also used for making announcements.
On the second time round, the dealer gives three more cards to each player.
The player who accepted the face-up card takes two more in addition to that.
The four players therefore start the game with 8 cards each.
The first player starts by playing a card of his choice. Then play continues counterclockwise.
The players must follow suit to the lead. If they have no cards in that suit, they must ruff with a trump.
The rule is that the trump suit always beats the other three suits.
He who played the highest card wins the trick and will play first to the following trick.
And so on…
To learn the rules of the game in detail, go to FunBelote, where you will find the classic and coinche belote rules.
How much are the cards worth in classic belote?
The order and value of the cards vary according to whether or not they are trumps.
The order will help you to memorize which card is the highest in the game and therefore to win the trick!
The value is the number of points the card is worth. These will be counted at the end of the game.
A good memory can be helpful… But don’t shy away from writing a little reminder to keep on hand during the game!
Value and order of the “trump” cards
The order in a trump suit (from highest to lowest) is as follows:
Jack, Nine, Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Seven, Eight.
How much is each trump card worth?
The JACK is worth 20 points.
The NINE is worth 14 points.
The ACE is worth 11 points.
The TEN is worth 10 points.
The KING is worth 4 points.
The QUEEN is worth 3 points.
The SEVEN and EIGHT are not worth anything.
Value and order of the “non-trump” cards
For the three non-trump suits, the order is:
Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack, Nine, Eight, Seven.
Aside from the Ten being higher than the King-Queen-Jack, note that this order is more conventional!
How much is each non-trump card worth?
The ACE is worth 11 points.
The TEN is worth 10 points.
The KING is worth 4 points.
The QUEEN is worth 3 points.
The JACK is worth 2 points.
The NINE, EIGHT and SEVEN are not worth anything.
Are you playing coinche belote or belote contrée? Then you should know that the value and order of the cards are identical to those of classic belote.
How are belote scores calculated?
No matter which variant of belote you play, you and your partner are going to have to fight your way through a few rounds before you win the game!
How does one count up the points at the end of a game of belote?
After each round of cards, one player will collect the trick. At the end of the game, each pair will collect their tricks together and proceed to add up their points.
The accepting side must reach a total of at least 82 points to fulfil their contract.
If they do not, they are said to be “inside” and must give their points to the defenders.
The score for one game adds up:
• The total number of points for the tricks: add up the points for each card, differentiating between trump and non-trump cards (the total number of points of both sides should be equal to 152 points).
• The 10 of der: a bonus of 10 additional points for the team that took the final trick.
• “Belote” and “rebelote” (Queen and King of Trumps): bonus of 20 additional points to any player who held the King and Queen of Trumps at the same time and loudly announced “belote” and “rebelote” respectively when he played them.
• Capot: the 10 of der is worth 100 points rather than 10 if one side won all of the tricks.
Due to the many variants of belote, there are several possible bonuses.
For example, in coinche, announcements help you to fulfil the contract and change the way the points are calculated.
To explore this further, consult our funbelote.com site and get access to all of the information related to the counting of points and different possible melds in coinche belote.
When does one side win the game?
As the rounds go by, the points add up… The first pair to reach a fixed number of points wins the whole game!
Indeed, you must have defined a goal with your fellow players in advance: 500, 1000, 1500, 3000… up to you! The final score, once reached, will signal the end of the game.
Up to you to see whether you prefer to play a quick game or whether you have the whole day ahead of you!
Have you mastered counting the points?
Now learn to play belote like a pro! Take a look at our article “Belote against the computer: train yourself up and become a pro”.
Don’t worry about counting the points: the artificial intelligence system will take care of that for you!
Download the FunBelote app for free and test out our different game modes!
Play by yourself in practice mode, join a community of players via our free belote multiplayer mode or pit yourself against real players in daily tournaments and win FunBelote chips! (app available on iOS or Android).
Do you like card games? You can also try out FunBridge, the no. 1 bridge app in the world!