Belote declarations: sequences, fours and Belote-Rebelote

A Suivi is a run of at least 3 consecutive cards of the same suit. The sequence order is 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 1: since there are no 8s or 9s in the deck, 7 and 10 are consecutive, and the Ace (1) comes after the 12. A 3-card Suivi is worth 20, 4 cards 50, 5 cards or more 100.

A Carré is all four cards of the same rank. Four 10s (the four Sotas) is the strongest declaration: 200 points. Four 6s are worth 150. Four 1s, 7s, 11s or 12s are worth 100. Four 4s or four 5s are worth 0: they don’t count and beat no declaration.

The same card cannot be used in two declarations. If you hold four 12s and a 10-11-12 run of coins, the 12 of coins can only belong to one of them: choose the combination worth the most. The one exception: the 11 and 12 of trumps can be part of a declaration and of Belote-Rebelote.

So when you have several possible combinations, choose the ones that use no card twice and bring in the most points.

You declare during the first trick, as you play your first card. After that it is too late: a forgotten declaration is lost. At first you only say the type and value of the declaration; the cards are shown only at the comparison, and only if the declaration counts.

Declaring is optional: nobody has to announce a combination. But an undeclared combination scores nothing, and it can no longer be declared once you have played your first card.

At the start of the second trick, the best declaration of each team is compared (only one per team, even if both partners declared). The better one is:

1. the one with the higher point value;
2. at equal value (100 against 100), a Carré beats a Suivi;
3. between two Suivis of equal value: the longer one, then the one whose top card is higher (order 4… 12, 1), then the one in trumps;
4. between two Carrés of equal value: the one of the higher rank in sequence order (1 > 12 > 11 > 7);
5. if there is an exact tie, no declaration counts, on either side.

At that moment only the winning team shows its declarations: its cards are revealed to everyone and all of its declarations count, the partner’s included. The losing team’s declarations stay hidden and do not count. In an exact tie, no declaration is shown.

As soon as one of your team’s declarations is the best, your team scores all of its declarations: yours and your partner’s, even ones weaker than the opponents’ best. The losing team scores no declaration. If only one team declared, it wins the comparison automatically.

The player holding the 11 (Caballo) and 12 (Rey) of trumps — the Queen and King of the French deck — says “Belote” when playing the first of them and “Rebelote” when playing the second, in either order. Their team scores 20 points.

• The 20 points are always kept, even if the team fails its contract.
• Belote-Rebelote is not part of the declaration comparison: it beats nothing and nothing beats it.
• You say Belote when playing the first of the two (11 or 12 of trumps), then Rebelote with the second. Without “Belote” it’s 0; “Rebelote” without “Belote” is also 0.

When the taking team fails, the defenders score 162 + all validated declarations, including those the taker had won at the comparison. Belote-Rebelote stays with the team that called it. Full calculations are in how to count points in Belote.