Baloot

Baloot is a trick taking card game played chiefly in the Arabian Peninsula, especially Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, and is closely related to the French game Belote. Four players form two partnerships seated across from each other, and the game is played with a thirty two card Piquet pack running from seven up to ace in each of the four suits, with eight cards dealt to every player. A round begins with bidding between the two available contract types, Hokum, a trump contract, and Sun, a no trump contract taken from the French word sans, and play then proceeds counter-clockwise around the table with players following suit when able. Card values and trick scoring differ depending on which contract is chosen and on whether a suit is trump, and partnerships accumulate points across a session toward an agreed target. Baloot belongs to a wider family of regional trick taking games that includes Tarneeb, Tarabish, Pilotta, and Klaverjas, all descended from similar European trick taking traditions.