BALOOT

Welcome to the world of Baloot – the thrilling card game that’s all the rage in Saudi Arabia! In this game, four players team up in pairs, bidding against each other to determine the rules and score for each round. The objective? To outwit your opponents and win as many tricks as possible! If you manage to score 152 points or win a special “Gahwa” round, victory will be yours!

SETUP

Ready to give Baloot a try? Here’s how to set up the game: first, grab a deck of 52 cards and remove all the 2s through 6s. This leaves you with a sleek 32-card deck to unleash your skills! Make sure to sit facing your partner, as this will make for a more engaging and strategic game. And remember, the action goes counterclockwise – the card gods demand it!

Don’t forget to shuffle the deck thoroughly before handing out 5 cards to each player. Then, reveal one card and place it face-up on the table. The stakes are set – let the games begin!

So, here’s how the game works. First, we all take turns bidding to determine the “hokum,” which is like the special suit for that round. This will affect the ranking of the cards. After that, we each get three more cards.

Now, pay attention to the ranking of the cards in the hokum suit. It goes Jack (highest), 9, Ace, 10, King, Queen, 8, and 7.

For all the other suits, the ranking is different. It’s Ace (highest), 10, King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8, and 7.

GAMEPLAY

The game is usually played over several rounds. However, it’s possible to win in just one round if someone declares “Gahwa.” First, we have a bidding session, and then we play the round and score points at the end.

Bidding

So, here’s the deal: we’re all sitting around a table, and there’s this card faceup in the middle. We all want it. Whoever wins the bid gets that card, plus two more that are dealt randomly from the rest of the deck. After the bidding, the other cards will be dealt out randomly too.

Now, the player to the right of the dealer starts the bidding. When it’s your turn to bid, you have a few options. You can say “hokum”, “Sun”, or “Pass”. Hokum means you want to play with a trump suit, and the suit is determined by that face-up card on the table. Sun means there’s no trump suit at all. And if you pass, you’re giving the next player a chance to choose instead.

But here’s the tricky part: if someone declares hokum, then everyone else gets to decide if they want to declare sun or just pass. If all the players pass, then the original declarer can choose to stick with hokum or switch to sun.

If the sun is ever declared, the game ends right away. When it’s my turn, I can choose to declare the sun and take it from the original person who declared it. Or, I can pass and let someone else have a go.

But wait, there’s more! If it’s the third or fourth round of bidding, I also have the option to declare “ashkal.” This means I can go for the sun, but instead of me getting the card, my partner gets it.

If everyone passes without declaring anything, we start a new round of bidding. This time, if someone declares the sun, the bidding stops.

Now, here’s where things get interesting. If someone declares “hokum,” anyone who hasn’t passed yet gets to decide whether they want to go for the sun or pass. If everyone passes, the person who declared “hokum” has a choice. They can stick with hokum or switch to the sun. But beware! If they stick with hokum, they have to choose a trump suit, and it can’t be the same as the suit of the card that’s face-up on the table.

If no one bids on the second round, we reshuffle the cards and start the game over.

What Happens After Bidding

Once the bidding is done, there’s a chance to increase the point values.

If hokum is declared, the opposing team has the option to double the points of the rounds. If that happens, the player who won the bid can choose to triple it. And guess what? The player who doubled it can even choose to quadruple it! Lastly, the player who won the bid can declare gahwa, which means that winning this round results in winning the whole game!

If the points are doubled or quadrupled, players are not allowed to start a trick with a hokum card if they have another option. This is known as a “locked” round.

If sun is declared, the point increases mentioned earlier can only be made if the sun declarer has more than 100 points and the opposing team has less than 100 points.

Playing

When it’s my turn to start a round, I play the first card. Everyone else has to follow suit if they can. But if they can’t, they have the freedom to play any card, even one of those special hokum cards. The winner of the trick is the one who played the highest hokum card, or if there were no hokum cards, the highest card of the suit that was led. Then, it’s the winner’s turn to lead the next trick. And we keep going like this until all the cards have been played.

Projects

Projects are a way for us to earn extra points. To complete a project, we need to play a specific sequence of cards. We have to declare our projects at the start of the game, except for the special project called Baloot, which gets automatically added if we achieve it.

Sira is one type of project, where we need to play three cards of the same suit in a row.

50 is another project, where we need to play four cards of the same suit in a row.

In the game of Hokum, there are a few important rules to keep in mind. First, to score 100 points, you need to have 5 cards of the same suit in a row. Alternatively, you can have four 10s, Jacks, Queens, or Kings. In Hokum, you also have the option to play four aces to score 100 points.

Another variation of the game is called 400. In this version, you need to play four aces, but only during a sun round. This adds an extra challenge to the game.

Finally, there is the game of Baloot. In Baloot, you must play the king and queen of the hokum suit, but this cannot be done during a sun round. Once you achieve this, you declare the game and can score points.

It’s important to remember that in all of these games, you can only play your cards on one project. This adds an element of strategy to the game.

Scoring in Hokum

In Hokum, your score is not determined by how many tricks you win, but by the specific cards you win in a trick. Each card has a bunt value, which is used to calculate your score at the end of a round. The last trick of a round is worth 10 bunts if you win it.

When playing in the sun, the card values are as follows: Aces are worth 11 bunts, Kings are worth 4 bunts, Queens are worth 3 bunts, Jacks are worth 2 bunts, and 10s are worth 10 bunts. No bunts are awarded for 7-9s.

Hey there! Let’s dive into the exciting world of hokum card values. Don’t worry, I’ll break it down for you. The values of the cards in hokum are pretty similar to most other card games, with one exception – the hokum suit itself. In the hokum suit, the values change up a bit.

Here’s the lowdown: in the hokum suit, aces are worth a whopping 11 bunts, kings are worth 4, queens 3, jacks a surprising 20, tens a solid 10, nines an unexpected 14, and sevens and eights don’t hold any value.

Now, when it comes to projects, they also have bunt values, but these values vary depending on the round type. Let me break it down for you.

For sun, Sira cards are worth 4 bunts, fifties are worth 10, hundreds worth 20, and four hundreds worth a whopping 40.

But for Hokum, Sira cards are worth 2 bunts, thirties are worth 5, hundreds worth 10, and good ol’ Baloot cards are worth 2 bunts.

And here’s the final piece of the puzzle: once we’ve figured out the bunt values, we use those to calculate our round scores. Keep in mind, the way we calculate the scores depends on the round type.

In a sun round, we take the bunt value, round it to the nearest 10, then multiply it by 2, and finally divide it by 10. That gives us our round score. If the number is a bit tricky to round, let’s say like 25, we’ll just multiply it by 2 and divide it by 10 without any rounding.

Hey there! Let’s dive into the fascinating world of hokum bunts. Here’s how it works: first, we divide the bunts by 10, rounding to the nearest whole number. However, if the number has a 0.5, like 7.5, we drop the 0.5 and round down to the nearest whole number.

Now, after we’ve calculated the score, it’s time to determine if the bidder succeeded in their round. In a sun round, the bidder needs to score more than 13 points than the other team to be considered successful. In hokum, they must have scored at least 8 points higher. Each team adds their points to the total points collected so far.

But what happens if the bidder didn’t succeed? Well, in that case, the other team scores the maximum amount of points: 26 in sun or 16 in hokum. Unfortunately for the bidder’s team, they get nothing.

But wait, there’s more! If a team manages to win all the tricks in a round, they hit the jackpot, scoring a whopping 44 points (or 88 points if the faceup card they bid for was an ace). The other team, on the other hand, gets no points. Talk about a game-changer!

Game Over!

Once a team reaches 152 points or wins a gahwa round, the game is officially over. It’s time to sit back, relax, and reflect on the excitement of the game.

The journey to reach this moment has been thrilling, as teams strategized, made decisive moves, and faced unforeseen challenges along the way. Each point earned, each round won, has brought us closer to this ultimate goal.

But let’s not forget the essence of the game: it’s about the spirit of competition, camaraderie, and the joy of coming together to engage in a shared experience. Throughout the game, we laughed, strategized, and celebrated each other’s victories. These moments are what make this game so special.

Now that the game is over, let’s take a moment to appreciate the journey we’ve been on. The ups and downs, the highs and lows, all contribute to the rich tapestry of this game. We truly played our best and left it all on the table.

As the exhilaration of the game fades, we can look back and take pride in our accomplishments. We pushed ourselves, worked as a team, and showcased our skills. Win or lose, we can hold our heads high knowing that we gave it our all.

So as we bid farewell to this epic game, let’s cherish the memories, the lessons learned, and the connections made. The end of the game marks the beginning of a new chapter, filled with new challenges, new adventures, and new opportunities to excel.

Congratulations to all the players for an incredible game. May the spirit of competition and the joys of this game continue to inspire us in all our future endeavors.