The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (99 page)

Then turn the bot om card of the stock face up and place it beside

the original turn-up. This card – variously cal ed la bergère, la fil e,

etc. – is for information only.

If four play, the maker takes the turn-up, or the Seven that may

have been exchanged for it, and receives two additional cards

instead of three. Since everyone now has eight, no card can be

turned for information.

Melding Each player, upon playing to the first trick, announces the

best meld he holds (by type only, e.g. foursome, hundred, etc.),

provided that it is higher than any previous announcement. If it is

lower, he says ‘Good’. If it is equal, he asks ‘How high?’, and the

previous announcer then specifies the rank of the foursome or the

top card of the sequence. Whoever declares the best meld, or has

priority in case of equality, scores for it and any other meldshemay

declare. Al declared melds must be shown when that player plays

to the second trick (if so demanded).

Play Eldest leads first. To a trump lead, you must fol ow suit if

possible and must head the trick if possible. To a plain-suit lead,

you must fol ow suit if possible, but need not head the trick. If

unable to fol ow suit, you must play a trump if possible, and, if the

trick has already been trumped, must overtrump if possible. The

trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led, or by the highest

trump if any are played, and the winner of each trick leads to the

next.

Belote Holding the King and Queen of trumps entitles you to score

20 for belote, provided that you announce ‘belote’ upon playing

one of them and ‘rebelote’ upon playing the other to a subsequent

trick. Score Al scores are rounded up to the nearest ten if ending in

5-9, otherwise down. If the maker scores more than any opponent

individual y, everyone scores what they took in tricks and melds. If

he scores lower than any opponent, he scores nothing, and

whatever he counted is added to the score of the player who took

most. If tied, his points are held in abeyance (en reserve, or en

pénitence) and go to the winner of the next deal.

Capot A player who wins every trick adds 100 for capot. If a player

fails to win a trick, 100 for capot is added to the score of his

opponent if two play, or divided between any opponents who did

take tricks if three or four play. If two take no tricks in a four-

player game, 100 goes to each of the others. A capoted player may

player game, 100 goes to each of the others. A capoted player may

score for melds and belote, but not if this would enable him to

reach the target score.

Game Two play up to 500 points, three to 750 or 1000, four to

1000 or 1500.

Belote Marseil aise (á la Découverte)

(2p, 32c) Deal sixteen cards each in eight

packets of two as shown in the il ustration. The suit of the last card

is the proposed trump. Bid and play as at two-hand Belote. Each

player’s top eight cards are available for playing to tricks in the

usual way. As each top card is played, it reveals the one beneath,

which then becomes available in its turn.

Upon winning a trick, a player may claim the value of any meld

appearing in his top eight cards. The values are noted, but they are

not recorded until the end of play, since only those of the player

not recorded until the end of play, since only those of the player

with the best meld count, the opponent’s al being annul ed. Belote

scores in the usual way. Apart from that, no card may be declared

twice in a sequence.

If the play of a card to a losing trick reveals a scoring

combination, the trick-winner wil obviously at empt to lead in

such a way as to force out a card of that combination before it can

be scored.

In the il ustration, North announces the tierce in clubs and plays

J, drawing 8. North’s Jack uncovers K and South’s Eight

uncovers 9, giving him a fifty in spades, which beats North’s

tierce. North, hoping to uncover the fourth Queen for 100, must

win the next trick to prevent South from forcing a Queen out by

leading his 28. He therefore plays 9. This happens to uncover Q,

giving him the fourth Queen and so beating South’s fifty.

Partnership Belote

(4pp, 32c) Four playing in fixed partnerships fol ow the rules of

Basic Belote but with these dif erences:

1. The †7 may not be exchanged for the turn-up, which

automatical y goes to the maker. (Some schools ignore this

rule.)

2. The partner of the player with the highest meld may also

count his melds towards their combined total.

3. When unable to fol ow suit to a plain-suit lead which is being

trumped by an opponent, you must also trump and

overtrump if possible; but if your partner is winning it,

whether with a trump or a higher card of the suit led, you

may play as you please.

4. A side winning al tricks between them adds 100 for capot

instead of 10 for last. Since al cards are in play, the total of

instead of 10 for last. Since al cards are in play, the total of

trick-points is always 162, or 252 with capot (rounded down

to 160 and 250). Game is 1000 points.

Belote Bridgee

(4pp, 32c) This partnership game appeared in the 1930s,

borrowing from Bridge the features of a no-trump contract and of

doubling and redoubling. In Bridge-playing circles it also borrowed

the suit hierarchy of Bridge, so that, for example, a bid in clubs was

overcal ed by the same bid in diamonds or a higher suit. With

greater originality, it introduced the novel concept of an al -trump

bid, thus producing a game known as Toutat-Sansat (from tout

atout, sans atout). After the Second World War, Belote Bridgee

developed into the now classic game of Belote Coinchee, or

Coinche.

Coinche (Belote Coinchee, Belote

Contree)

4 players (2 × 2), 32 cards

Coinche means ‘fist’, and it is so cal ed because if you make a bid,

and an opponent doubles it – traditional y by banging a fist on the

table –the auction ends, and you’re stuck with it. It takes only a few

rounds of play to see why this has become France’s national card

game.

Preliminaries Four play in fixed partnerships and, traditional y, to

the right, but many now play to the left. Game is 3000 points, or

300 if counted in tens.

Cards and deal Cards number, rank and count as at basic Belote.

trump suit or all trump J 9 A T K Q

8 7

card-points

20 14 11 10 4 3 2 0 0 0

plain suits or no trump

A T K Q J 9 8 7

Deal Shuf le before the first deal, but thereafter only cut before each

successive deal. Deal eight each in batches of 3-2-3. Do not turn a