Jakoz › Baloot rules
Baloot (بلوت): how to play
Baloot is the card game of the Gulf majlis: four players in two teams, quick calls of Sun and Hokm, and a race to 152. Play it free on Jakoz with friends, with voice chat, or against the computer.
Updated 2 November 2026 · by Jakoz Gaming
Players and cards
Four players in two teams; partners sit opposite each other. Baloot uses 32 cards: 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K and A of each suit. Play goes to the right.
The deal and the face-up card
Everyone gets 5 cards and the next card is turned face up. Starting next to the dealer, each player chooses:
| Call | Arabic | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Hokm | حكم | Trumps are the face-up card’s suit, and you take that card |
| Sun | صن | No trumps, worth double; beats a Hokm call |
| Ashkal | أشكال | (Last two to speak) Sun, but your partner takes the face-up card |
| Pass | ولا | Not this time |
If everyone passes, there is a second round: Sun, or Hokm in a different suit. If everyone passes again, the cards are dealt again. The buyer takes the face-up card and 2 more; everyone else gets 3, so all players have 8 cards.
Playing the tricks
- The player next to the dealer leads the first trick; whoever wins a trick leads the next.
- Follow suit if you can.
- In Hokm, if you have none of the suit that was led you must cut with a trump, unless your partner is already winning the trick, and beat a trump that was already played if you can.
- When trumps are led, play a higher trump if you have one.
- The highest trump wins; with no trump, the highest card of the suit that was led.
Card order and points
| Order (high to low) | Points | |
|---|---|---|
| Normal suits and Sun | A 10 K Q J 9 8 7 | A 11 · 10 10 · K 4 · Q 3 · J 2 |
| Trumps (Hokm) | J 9 A 10 K Q 8 7 | J 20 · 9 14 · A 11 · 10 10 · K 4 · Q 3 |
The last trick is worth 10 extra. A Sun hand has 130 card points and a Hokm hand 162.
Projects (مشاريع)
| Project | Cards | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Sira (سرا) | 3 in a row, same suit | 20 |
| 50 (خمسين) | 4 in a row | 50 |
| 100 (مية) | 5 in a row, or four 10s, Js, Qs or Ks (four Aces in Hokm) | 100 |
| 400 (أربعمية) | Four Aces in Sun | 40 game points |
| Baloot (بلوت) | K + Q of trumps in Hokm | 2 game points, never lost |
Projects are shown after the first trick. Only the team with the best project scores its projects.
Scoring
- A Sun hand is worth 26 game points (card points ÷ 5); a Hokm hand 16 (card points ÷ 10). Projects add the same way.
- The buying team must score more than the other team. If they don’t, the other team takes the whole hand and all projects.
- Kaboot (كبوت): one team wins all 8 tricks: 44 points in Sun, 25 in Hokm.
- The first team to 152 wins the match.
Tips
- Call Sun with aces and guarded 10s; call Hokm with the J and 9 of the trump suit.
- When your partner is winning a trick, give them your points (an A or a 10).
- In Hokm, draw the opponents’ trumps early when you hold the J.
Fair deals
Cards are shuffled and dealt on the Jakoz game server, and each player’s phone only ever receives its own cards.
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