Belote glossary: every term explained

Hand (deal)(Donne)

One complete round: dealing, choosing trumps, 8 tricks and scoring. A game is played over several hands, up to 1,000 points.

Dealer

The player who deals. The first one is chosen at random; then the deal passes to the right.

Turn-up(Retournée)

The card placed face up in the middle after the first 5 cards are dealt. In the first round its suit is the proposed trump; the taker picks it up.

Take(Prendre)

Agree to play the contract with a trump suit: in the first round, the turn-up’s suit; in the second round, another suit of the player’s choice.

Pass

Decline to take. If all four players pass twice, the hand is cancelled and the next dealer deals again.

Taker(Preneur)

The player who took. Their team must score more points than the defenders.

Second round

The second round of bidding when everyone passed in the first: a player may then take by naming a suit other than the turn-up’s.

Completing the deal

The end of the deal after someone takes: the taker gets the turn-up and 2 cards, the others 3 cards. Everyone then holds 8 cards.

Contract

The taking team’s commitment: to total strictly more points than the defenders (tricks, declarations and Belote included).

Lead

The first card of a trick, which sets the suit led. The player to the dealer’s right leads the first trick; after that, the winner of the previous trick.

Trick(Pli)

The 4 cards played in turn, one per player. A hand has 8 tricks; whoever wins a trick leads the next one.

Suit

One of the four series of cards: oros (coins), copas (cups), espadas (swords), bastos (clubs).

Trumps(Atout)

The suit chosen when taking, stronger than all others during the hand. In trumps the order is 10 > 6 > 1 > 7 > 12 > 11 > 5 > 4.

Follow suit

Play a card of the suit led. Compulsory when you have one.

Trump (verb)(Ruff, Couper)

Play a trump on another suit led when you have none of that suit. Compulsory if an opponent is winning the trick.

Overtrump(Overruff)

Trump with a higher trump than the one an opponent already played. Compulsory when possible.

Undertrump

Play a lower trump than the one already played, when you cannot overtrump. Compulsory if you only have lower trumps (and not the suit led).

Go higher

When trumps are led, play a trump higher than the highest already played, if you have one. Compulsory, even if your partner is winning.

Master

A card is master when it is the highest still in play in its suit; a player is master of the trick when their card is currently the highest.

Partner is master

When your partner is winning the trick and you can’t follow a non-trump suit, you are free to discard or trump as you like.

Discard

Play a card of another, non-trump suit that cannot win the trick. Allowed when you have neither the suit led nor an obligation to trump.

Defenders(Defence)

The team that did not take. Their goal: make the taker fail.

Declaration(Annonce, Meld)

A combination declared during the first trick as you play your first card: a Suivi or a Carré. A forgotten declaration is lost.

Suivi(Sequence, Run)

At least 3 consecutive cards of the same suit, in the order 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 1. Example: a Suivi (5-6-7 of cups) = 20 points; 4 cards = 50; 5 or more = 100.

Tierce

The usual French-deck name of a 3-card Suivi (e.g. 10-11-12 of coins): 20 points.

Fifty(Cinquante)

The usual name of a 4-card Suivi (e.g. 7-10-11-12 of coins): 50 points.

Hundred(Cent)

The usual name of a Suivi of 5 cards or more (e.g. 4-5-6-7-10 of clubs): 100 points.

Carré(Four of a kind)

All four cards of the same rank. Four 10s = 200, four 6s = 150, four 1s, 7s, 11s or 12s = 100; four 4s or 5s don’t count.

Declaration comparison

At the start of trick 2, each team’s best declaration is compared; only the winning team shows and scores its declarations, all of them. Exact tie: none are shown or counted.

Belote

The name of the game, and the call made when playing the first of the 11 and 12 of trumps if you hold both.

Rebelote

The call made when playing the second of the two (11 or 12 of trumps). Belote + Rebelote = 20 points, kept even if the contract fails; “Rebelote” alone = 0.

Dix de der(Last-trick bonus, Ten for last)

The 10 bonus points for the team that wins the last trick. With the 152 card points, they bring a hand to 162.

Capot

Winning all 8 tricks of a hand: the team then counts 252 trick points instead of 162.

Fail (go inside)(Dedans, Chuter)

For the taker, not scoring more than the defenders. The defenders then score 162 (252 with capot) plus all validated declarations; the taker keeps only their Belote.

Tie(Litige)

An exact tie between the taker’s total and the defenders’. The defenders score their points; the taker’s go into reserve.

Reserve

The taker’s points set aside after a tie. They go to the team that wins the next hand that is not a tie; several ties add up.

Deciding hand

A hand played when both teams have passed 1,000 points on the same hand with exactly the same total.

Everything about declarations is in our Belote declarations guide, and all the scoring, with examples, in how to count points in Belote.

Ace (1)

The highest card outside trumps (11 points) and the third highest in trumps (11 points).

Sota (10)(Jack)

The 10 court card of the Spanish deck, equivalent to the Jack. In trumps it is the strongest card in the game: 20 points.

Caballo (11)(Knight, Queen)

The 11 court card, a knight, playing the role of the Queen. With the 12 of trumps it makes Belote-Rebelote.

Rey (12)(King)

The 12 court card, the king: 4 points, in trumps or not.

Oros(Coins)

The suit of gold coins in the Spanish deck.

Copas(Cups)

The suit of cups in the Spanish deck.

Espadas(Swords)

The suit of swords in the Spanish deck.

Bastos(Clubs, Batons)

The suit of clubs (wooden batons) in the Spanish deck.

The full equivalence table with the French-suited deck is on the Belote cards page.