Photo: Nick Fewings on Unsplash
How belote scoring works
Belote is a trick-taking card game played in France with a 32-card deck (seven through ace in each suit), four players in two teams of two, partners sitting across from each other. If you’ve played Bulgarian belot or Dutch klaverjas, you’ll recognize the family. Each hand is worth 162 points: 152 points of cards, plus 10 for the team that wins the last trick, the “dix de der” (ten for the last one). The team that chooses trump is the taker; the other team defends.
Card values:
| Card | In trump | Not trump |
|---|---|---|
| Jack | 20 | 2 |
| Nine | 14 | 0 |
| Ace | 11 | 11 |
| Ten | 10 | 10 |
| King | 4 | 4 |
| Queen | 3 | 3 |
| Eight and seven | 0 | 0 |
The trump suit is worth 62 points and each other suit 30: add the 10 for the last trick and you land on 162.
Belote and rebelote. The player holding the king and queen of trump says “belote” when playing the first one, then “rebelote” when playing the second. Their team earns 20 points, and keeps them no matter what, even if it loses the hand.
Declarations, if your table plays them: a run of three cards in the same suit (tierce) is worth 20, a run of four (fifty) 50, a run of five (hundred) 100, four jacks 200, four nines 150, and four aces, tens, kings or queens 100. Each team counts its own.
The contract. The taker must finish with more points than the defenders, belote and declarations included. With no declarations and no belote on either side, that means at least 82 points.
- Contract made: each team scores its cards, its declarations and its belote.
- Down (the French say “dedans,” inside): the taker has fewer points than the defenders. The defenders score 162, plus every declaration from both teams and their own belote. The taker keeps only its belote.
- Tie (litige): a perfect split, like 81 to 81. The defenders score their points. The taker’s points, cards and declarations, are held back and go to whichever team wins the next hand. The taker keeps its belote. Two ties in a row add up.
- Capot: one team wins every trick and counts 252 instead of 162, plus its declarations. If the defenders make capot, they score 252 plus all declarations, and the taker keeps only its belote.
Worked examples, hand by hand
Here is a game to 501 points: Emma and Jake against Olivia and Marcus, last-trick bonus included.
| Hand | What happens | Emma and Jake | Olivia and Marcus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emma takes: 102 against 60, made | 102 | 60 |
| 2 | Marcus takes: 76 + belote 20 = 96 against 86 | 86 | 96 |
| 3 | Jake takes: 88 against 74 + belote 20 = 94, down | 0 | 182 |
| 4 | Olivia takes: 81 to 81, tie | 81 | 0 |
| 5 | Emma takes: 97 against 65, + 81 from the tie | 178 | 65 |
| 6 | Marcus takes: capot, 252 + belote 20 | 0 | 272 |
| Total | 447 | 675 |
Hand 2, saved by the belote. With 76 card points, Marcus and Olivia are short of 82. But the belote brings them to 96, against 162 − 76 = 86 on the other side: the contract is made.
Hand 3, going down. Jake’s 88 would be enough on its own, but the defenders have 74 plus a belote, 94. Jake and Emma score 0; Olivia and Marcus score 162 + 20 = 182.
Hands 4 and 5, the tie. At 81 each, Emma and Jake, on defense, score their 81. Olivia and Marcus’s 81 are set aside. Then Emma takes and makes her contract: her team scores 97 + 81 = 178.
With the capot in the sixth hand, Olivia and Marcus pass 501 and win, 675 to 447.
What about declarations? Jake takes with a tierce and makes 95 card points: 95 + 20 = 115. On the other side, Olivia has a fifty and her team 67 card points: 67 + 50 = 117. Jake is down by 2. Olivia and Marcus score 162 + 20 + 50 = 232, Emma and Jake 0.
With the Buzzloo score counter
At the top of this page, type the names and choose a game to 501 or 1,000 points. Create the game and you get a link to send on WhatsApp, by text message, or to copy. Everyone opens it on their phone and sees the same scoreboard, live.
Only one person keeps score: whoever created the game. For each hand, they tap the team that took and type its points, last trick included: the other team’s points appear on their own. Belote, capot and declarations are set with buttons. Before you confirm, the site shows the full calculation: contract made, down or tie.
Made a mistake? Undo the last hand or fix a name. Need a break? Hand over the pen to another player with a separate link, and take it back whenever you like.
At the end: the winner in big letters, the ranking, a button to share the result and another to start a new game with the same group. Your group keeps its game history: who wins most often, how many wins for each name. A game is deleted 30 days after its last hand, a group’s history 6 months after its last game. Free, nothing to install, no account and no email address: first names are enough.
The same score counter works for French tarot, rummy and other games.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting the last-trick bonus. If your two totals add up to 152, the 10 for the last trick is missing.
- Counting the jack and nine of trump like other cards. In trump, they’re worth 20 and 14.
- Thinking 82 points is always enough. The other team’s belote and declarations count too: in hand 3, 88 loses to 74 + 20.
- Taking the belote away from a team that went down. Its 20 points stay.
- Putting the taker down at 81 all. In classic belote, that’s a tie.
Variations
Every table has its habits. Some round to the nearest ten, others count a hand as 160 instead of 162. Some tables put the taker down on a tie, others skip declarations altogether. Coinche, the bidding version of belote, uses numbered bids: for that one, use the score sheet, where you type the points yourself. The same goes for belot, klaverjas and other cousins, which have their own scoring.
Our counter follows classic belote: exact points, 162 per hand, a tie held over to the next hand, capot at 252, declarations only if your table plays them.
The end of the game
The game is played to 501 or 1,000 points, chosen at the start. It ends at the end of the hand in which a team reaches that score. If both teams reach it, the higher total wins. If they’re level, you play one more hand.
To decide who deals first, draw a random order. To set up the teams, make random teams. And to wrap up the evening, bring out the quiz buzzer or explore all the Buzzloo tools.