How to Play Baloot: Sun, Hokom, Projects and Scoring
If there is one card game that defines an evening in Saudi Arabia, it is Baloot. Four friends, a short deck, shouts of "Sun!" and "Hokom!", and a score sheet racing towards 152. The rules sound like a secret language at first, but each word has a simple meaning. This guide explains how to play Baloot from the deal to the final score, with diagrams of the card values, the projects and the buying rounds.
Practise as you read in our free Baloot game online with a computer partner, and keep the score of real games with our Baloot score calculator.
What is Baloot?
Baloot (بلوت) is a partnership trick-taking game for four players, played across Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. It came to the region from the French game belote and grew its own vocabulary: Sun (صن), Hokom (حكم), Sira (سرا), kaboot (كبوت) and many more. Partners sit opposite each other, and dealing and play go counter-clockwise, to the right.
The cards
Baloot uses 32 cards: the 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace of each suit. The order and value of the cards depend on whether the hand is played as Sun or Hokom.
Dealing and buying
The dealer gives each player five cards (three, then two) and turns the next card face up in the middle. Now the buying begins, starting with the player on the dealer's right:
- Hokom: you buy the face-up card and its suit becomes trump.
- Sun: you buy the card and the hand is played with no trump. Sun beats Hokom, so a later player can still overcall a Hokom with Sun.
- Ashkal: available to the third player or the dealer in the first round. It is a Sun bid, but your partner takes the card.
- Pass (ولا).
If everybody passes, there is a second round (ثاني): now a player may buy Hokom in a different suit from the face-up card, or Sun. If everybody passes again, the cards are dealt anew.
The buyer takes the face-up card plus two more cards, and every other player takes three, so everyone holds eight. The player on the dealer's right leads the first trick.
Playing the tricks
- You must follow suit whenever you can.
- In Sun, if you cannot follow suit you may play any card.
- In Hokom, if you cannot follow suit and the opponents are winning the trick, you must cut with a trump (دق), and beat any trump already played if you can.
- When a trump is led in Hokom, you must play a higher trump if you have one.
- The highest trump wins the trick; if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins. The last trick earns an extra 10 card points (الأرض).
Projects (المشاريع)
At the first trick each player may declare a project: a run of cards in one suit or four of a kind. Only the team holding the single best project scores its projects, and they are shown at the second trick. A longer project beats a shorter one, four of a kind beats a five-card run of the same value, and between equal projects the higher top card wins.
Baloot itself, the king and queen of trumps in Hokom, is special: it is always worth 2 points to the team holding it and is announced when the second of the two cards is played.
Scoring a hand
At the end of the hand each team counts its card points, then converts them into game points:
- Hokom: divide by 10 and round, with 5 rounding down (65 is 6, 66 is 7). The hand is worth 16 points in total.
- Sun: double the card points, divide by 10 and round, keeping an exact 5 (65 is 13). The hand is worth 26 points.
- Add the projects and Baloot. If the buyer's team ends with fewer points than the opponents, it is khasran (خسران): the opponents take all the hand points and the projects.
- A team that wins all eight tricks scores a kaboot: 25 points in Hokom or 44 in Sun, plus its projects.
| Hand | Card points (us / them) | Projects | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hokom, we bought | 98 / 64 | — | Them: 64 rounds to 6, so us: 16 − 6 = 10 |
| Sun, they bought | 65 / 65 | Our Sira +4 | 13 each from the cards; we have 17 against their 13, so the buyers lose: we take 26 + 4 = 30 |
| Hokom, we bought | 162 / 0 (all 8 tricks) | Baloot +2 | Kaboot: 25 + 2 = 27 for us |
The first team to reach 152 points wins the game. Our Baloot calculator does all of these conversions for you.
Doubling (الدبل)
Many tables also play with doubling. An opponent of the buyer may say double (دبل), the buyer may answer triple (ثري), the doubler four (فور), and finally the buyer may call gahwa (قهوة), which wins the whole game for the winners of that hand. In a doubled hand there is no splitting: the winning team takes all the points. Sun can only be doubled when one team has more than 100 points and the other has less. Our online game is played without doubling, so it is a calm place to learn the core rules first.
7 tips to win more Baloot hands
- Buy Sun with aces. Two or three aces, especially with their tens, make a strong Sun, and Sun is worth 26 points.
- Buy Hokom with the jack or nine. The jack and nine of the face-up suit plus one or two more trumps make a good Hokom.
- Draw trumps when you bought Hokom. Lead your jack and nine early so the opponents cannot cut your aces.
- Feed your partner. When your partner is sure to win the trick, throw an ace or a ten on it.
- Count the trumps. There are only eight in each suit. Knowing how many are left tells you when your small trump is a winner.
- Remember the last trick. Its 10 extra card points often decide whether the buyer is khasran.
- Do not buy to block. A failed purchase gives the opponents the whole hand. Passing is often cheaper.
Rules differ a little between cities and groups, so agree on them before you start. A detailed English summary is available on Pagat. If you also enjoy Levantine partnership games, read our guide to how to play Tarneeb.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards are used in Baloot?
32 cards: the 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace of each suit. Each player ends up with 8 cards.
What is the difference between Sun and Hokom?
Sun is played without a trump suit and is worth 26 points. In Hokom one suit becomes trump, its jack and nine become the strongest cards, and the hand is worth 16 points.
How many points do you need to win Baloot?
The first team to reach 152 points or more wins the game (the sakka).
What does khasran mean?
The buying team ended the hand with fewer points than its opponents, so the opponents take all the points of the hand and the projects.
Is Baloot always worth 2 points?
Yes. Holding the king and queen of trumps in Hokom is worth 2 points, and doubling does not change it.
Who plays first in Baloot?
The player on the dealer's right leads the first trick, whoever bought the card.
Play Baloot now
Open our free Baloot game, try a quick game to 76 first, then play a full game to 152 with Saud against Fahad and Khalid. For more card games, try Trix, Tarneeb or see all our free card games.
