Bazar blot rules

Bazar blot is one of the best-loved card games in Armenia, close to French coinche belote. Here are the rules as HayBlot plays them.

Players and cards

Four people play in two teams of two. Partners sit opposite each other. The deck has 32 cards, from seven to ace; everyone gets 8 cards.

Card values

In trumps the jack is strongest, then the nine and the ace. In other suits the ace is strongest, then the ten. In no trump the ace is worth 19. All cards together are worth 152, and the last trick adds 10: 162 in total.

Bazar (bidding)

After the deal, players bid in turn. The lowest bid is 8, meaning 80 points. Each new bid must be higher than the last. A trump suit or no trump is chosen. If all four pass, the cards are dealt again. Kaput can be bid from 25.

Kuansh

The opponents may say KUANSH if they think the bidding team will not make its bid. Kuansh multiplies the points of the deal.

How to play

• You must follow suit.
• If trumps are led, you must play a higher trump if you have one.
• If you cannot follow suit and your partner is not winning the trick, you must trump, higher if you can.
• If your partner is winning, or you have no higher trump, you may play any card.

Declarations

Only the team with the strongest declaration scores its declarations. Blot always counts.

• Terz — three cards in a row in one suit: 20.
• Fifty — four in a row: 50.
• Hundred — five or more in a row: 100.
• Four jacks — 200, four nines — 140, four aces — 110, four tens, queens or kings — 100.
• Blot — king and queen of trumps: 20.

Was the bid made?

The bidding team must reach its bid with points from tricks and declarations. If it does not, all the points of the deal go to the opponents.

Kaput

Kaput is when one team takes all 8 tricks. It is worth 250 points before declarations.

How many points to win?

A match is played to 151 points (301 in the Palace room). The first team to reach it wins.

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