Belote variants around the world: Coinche, Contrée, Belot, Bela, Baloot

Belote, Coinche, Contrée, Belot, Bela, Baloot, Klaverjas… These games are so alike that a player of one understands another within a few hands. They share a common backbone:

• 32 cards: Ace down to 7 in four suits (or their equivalents in other decks).
• 4 players in 2 teams, partners sitting opposite (2- and 3-player forms exist too).
• An upside-down trump suit: in trumps, the Jack becomes the highest card (20 points) and the 9 the second (14 points), above the Ace.
• The King and Queen of trumps earn a bonus when one player holds both: this is Belote-Rebelote (or “belot”, “baloot” depending on the game).
• Declarations of consecutive cards and of four of a kind, in most variants.
• The last trick earns a bonus (Belote’s “dix de der”).

What changes from one variant to another: how trumps are chosen, how many cards you hold before choosing them, which declarations count, and the target score.

This is the reference form, the one of family games and evenings with friends. Each player gets 5 cards, one card is turned up in the middle, then each player in turn takes (the turned-up suit becomes trumps) or passes. If everyone passes, a second round lets a player take in another suit. The taker picks up the turn-up card and receives 2 more cards, the others 3: everyone holds 8 cards.

There is no numbered bid: the taking team simply has to score more than the other team, declarations included. During the first trick, players declare their sequences (tierce, fifty, hundred) and fours of a kind; Belote-Rebelote (King + Queen of trumps) is worth 20 points. All the details are in our Belote rules.

Some competitions also play Belote without declarations, counting only tricks, the last-trick bonus and, usually, Belote-Rebelote.

Coinche is the great bidding variant of Belote. There is no turn-up card: all 8 cards are dealt at once, then players bid in turn by announcing a number of points and a trump suit (most often from 80 to 160 in steps of 10, then capot). The team that wins the auction must score at least its contract.

• Coincher means doubling the opponents’ bid: if the contract fails, the points are multiplied. The doubled team can surcoincher (redouble) to multiply them again.
• Many tables add No-Trumps (no suit is trumps, the Ace is top card everywhere) and All-Trumps (every suit is played like a trump suit).
• Declarations exist, but how they count towards the contract depends on local rules.

Coinche therefore asks you to assess your hand precisely before bidding, whereas classic Belote is played more trick by trick.

Contrée is a very close cousin of Coinche: the same 8 cards dealt from the start, the same numbered bids with a trump suit, the same option to double and then redouble the opponents’ bid — hence its name, from “contrer” (to counter). Depending on the region and the club, “Contrée” and “Coinche” are the same game or two rulebooks that differ only in details: bidding steps, capot value, how declarations count towards the contract.

Very popular in Eastern Europe, Belot combines both worlds. Each player receives 5 cards, then the bidding names a trump suit, No-Trumps or All-Trumps, with double and redouble; the remaining 3 cards are dealt afterwards. It has sequences (tierce, quarte, quinte), fours of a kind and the King + Queen of trumps bonus, called precisely “belot”.

Points for each hand are usually counted in reduced form, and a game is most often played to 151 points.

In Bela, another very popular variant in Eastern Europe, each player usually receives 6 cards to choose trumps, then 2 hidden cards that they pick up afterwards. In its most common form, if everyone passes, the dealer must name trumps: there is no redeal.

Declarations look like Belote’s (sequences of 3, 4 or 5 cards, fours of a kind, King + Queen of trumps), and games are often played to 501, 701 or 1001 points.

Baloot is the great variant of the Arabian Peninsula, with its own vocabulary. It keeps the deal of classic Belote: 5 cards, a turn-up card, then the taker receives the turn-up and 2 cards, the others 3. But when taking, players choose between two modes of play:

• “Sun”: played without trumps, and the hand’s points count for more.
• “Hokum”: played with a trump suit, where the Jack and the 9 rule as in Belote.

Declarations are called “projects” (sequences of 3, 4 or 5 cards, fours of a kind, and a special project for four Aces in Sun), and the King + Queen of trumps bonus in Hokum bears the name of the game: “baloot”. Points are counted in reduced form and a game is usually played to 152.

Klaverjas is one of the oldest known cousins: its trump Jack is called the “jas” and its trump 9 the “nel”, two cards that rule just as in Belote. Declarations are counted in the trick where they are played, and the rules on trumping over your partner vary from table to table.

There is also Blot, 2- and 3-player forms of Belote, and games of the same family traditionally played with the Spanish deck, such as Bolot. If you come from one of these games, our page on Belote cards gives you the card-by-card equivalents.

On Atlas Carta you play classic Belote with declarations, 2 vs 2: 5 cards, a turn-up card, “Take” or “Pass” over two rounds, then 8 tricks. You get Suivis (sequences), Carrés (fours of a kind), Belote-Rebelote, the last-trick bonus, capot and ties — with no numbered bid, no No-Trumps and no All-Trumps.

One visible feature: it is played with the 32-card Spanish deck, mapped card for card (the 10, the Sota, plays the Jack’s role; the 6 plays the 9’s). Card order, points and declarations are exactly those of classic Belote: our card equivalence table shows it at a glance.

Already know Coinche, Belot or Baloot? You will find your bearings within a few hands: review taking and the playing obligations, then the declarations guide.