Baloot is Saudi Arabia's most popular card game, and most English-language explanations get the scoring wrong. This is a compact, implementation-oriented reference we used while building Arb3a Baloot (Unity client, Node.js server, RL-trained opponent).
Deck and seating
32 cards (7 through Ace in four suits), four players in two fixed partnerships, eight cards each. The dealer rotates counter-clockwise. Bidding starts with the player to the dealer's right.
Contracts
- Sun: no trump. Card order per suit: A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7. Point values: A 11, 10 10, K 4, Q 3, J 2, others 0. Round total is 130 plus 10 for the last trick.
- Hokm: one trump suit. In the trump suit the order becomes J, 9, A, 10, K, Q, 8, 7 with J worth 20 and 9 worth 14. Other suits keep the Sun order. Round total is 162 including the last-trick bonus.
Bidding
Two rounds. In the first round, players may take the face-up card as trump (Hokm), call Sun, or pass. In the second round a player may name a different trump suit or Sun. If everyone passes twice, the hand is redealt. The side that buys must score more than half the points or it loses everything to the opponents.
Projects (melds)
Declared during the first trick, shown after the second. Sira (3 consecutive cards, one suit), Fifty (4), Hundred (5, or four of a kind), Four Hundred (four Aces, Sun only), Baloot (K and Q of trumps). Only the side with the strongest project scores its projects.
Doubling
Double, Triple, Quadruple and Qahwa multiply the round result. Qahwa ends the match on that hand.
Scoring (qaid)
Points are converted with rounding: in Hokm divide by 10 and round (with special rules at .5), in Sun divide by 5 then round. A team wins the match at 152 or more, provided it is ahead. Kaboot (winning all eight tricks) is worth 44 in Sun and 25 in Hokm.
Try it
- Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.e_moh.balootgame
- iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6759184291
- Full rules and glossary (Arabic): https://baloot.kriyadh.com/rules
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