Pilotta

Pilotta is a trick-taking card game for four players derived from Belote and played with a thirty-two card French-suited deck, with a typical hand lasting about twenty-five minutes; it is especially popular in Cyprus, where informal pilotta meetings are a common social activity in cafes and cafeterias, particularly among younger players. Before play, the four players bid on an expected score starting at eighty points and rising in increments of ten, and the highest bidder sets the trump suit for that hand. Play proceeds counterclockwise with players required to follow suit when able, and whoever plays the highest-ranking card in a trick collects every card in it; hands continue until one partnership reaches a target of 351 points, a threshold that can be adjusted by agreement. The game's trump suit has its own reversed ranking, with the jack outranking the nine, ace, ten, king, queen, eight and seven in that order.