How to play batak: rules and scoring

Batak is one of Turkey's best-loved card games: win the bid, name trumps and take as many tricks as you said you would. This guide covers the rules of every kind of batak on Boombala and how to score them.

Deck and card order

A standard 52-card deck without jokers. In each suit cards rank ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9 … 2. Play goes counter-clockwise and the deal passes one seat to the right each hand.

Who takes the trick?

• You must follow the suit led.
• If you can't, you must play a trump; with no trumps either, play anything.
• The highest trump takes the trick; with no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led.
• Trumps can't be led until one has been played (broken), unless you hold nothing but trumps.
• A table may turn on must raise: if you can beat the trick, you have to.

Bidding batak (solo)

Four players get 13 cards each. Starting after the dealer, each player bids (at least 5, higher than the last bid) or passes out for the hand. The last one in wins the bid, names trumps and leads. If everyone passes, the player after the dealer plays a bid of 4.

Partners batak

Players opposite each other are a team and their tricks count together. Bids start at 8 (the table may choose 7); if everyone passes, the bid is 7. The bidder's partner lays their cards face up and plays them open. The other team must take at least 2 tricks.

Spades (koz maça)

Spades are always trumps and there is no auction. Starting after the dealer, everyone says how many tricks they will take (0–13). Taking fewer, or 3 or more extra, goes down.

Buried-cards batak (gömmeli)

With four players everyone gets 12 cards, with three 16; four cards stay face down. The bidder names trumps first, then picks up the four cards and buries four of their own. Buried cards never count as tricks. Bids start at 5 with four players and 8 with three.

Three-player batak

The ♦2 is taken out, leaving 51 cards, 17 each. Bids start at 6 (the table may choose 7); everything else is as in bidding batak.

Scoring

Result	Points
Bidder makes the bid	Bid × 10, +1 per extra trick (table rule)
Bidder goes down	−bid × 10
Other players	+10 per trick
No trick at all	−bid × 10
Partners: other team under 2 tricks	−bid × 10
Spades: call made	Call × 10 + 1 per extra trick (a call of 0: +10)
Spades: down	−call × 10 (a call of 0: −10)

Example

Ali wins the bid at 7 and takes 8 tricks: 7 × 10 + 1 = 71. Ayşe takes 3 and Can 2: 30 and 20. Deniz takes none and goes down: −70. After the table's last hand the highest total wins.