Tarneeb rules

The goal is for your team to be the first to reach or pass the match target (31, 41 or 61, depending on the room setting). Points are earned by making the contract you declared in the auction and by taking tricks.

In every hand one team (the team of the highest bidder) promises to take a number of tricks, and the other team tries to stop it.

• Exactly 4 players.
• Two fixed teams for the whole match; partners sit opposite: seats 0 and 2 against seats 1 and 3.
• Play goes counter-clockwise.
• The first dealer is chosen at random by the system. After every hand the deal passes to the player on the dealer's right.
• Every player sees only their own cards; neither the partner nor spectators can see another player's hand.

A standard 52-card deck without Jokers is used: 4 suits (♣ clubs, ♦ diamonds, ♥ hearts, ♠ spades) of 13 cards each.

Rank order inside every suit, highest to lowest:

A > K > Q > J > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7 > 6 > 5 > 4 > 3 > 2

The Ace is highest. A card of the trump suit beats any card of another suit.

• The deck is shuffled and each player receives 13 cards, so the whole deck is dealt.
• Cards are dealt one at a time, starting with the player on the dealer's right, with the dealer receiving last.
• After each hand the deal passes to the player on the current dealer's right.
• If all four players pass at their first chance, the hand is cancelled, the cards are reshuffled and the same dealer deals again (the deal does not move).

• The player on the dealer's right speaks first, and the auction continues counter-clockwise.
• A bid is the number of tricks the bidder's team promises to take in this hand.
• The lowest bid is 7 and the highest is 13.
• Every new bid must be higher than the previous bid (not equal, not lower).
• PASS: the player leaves the auction of this hand for good and cannot come back into it.
• If all four players pass at their first chance, the hand is cancelled and the same dealer reshuffles and deals again.
• Otherwise the auction continues until only one bidder who has not passed remains.
• The auction winner names the trump suit: ♣, ♦, ♥ or ♠, and then leads the first trick.
• There is no No-Trump in this version.
• The auction ends immediately after a bid of 13, since nobody can raise it.

• The leader of a trick may play any card.
• Following suit is compulsory: a player who holds a card of the led suit must play one.
• A player with no card of the led suit (void) may play a trump or discard a card of any other suit. Cutting with a trump is not compulsory.
• The trick is won by the highest trump if any trump was played, otherwise by the highest card of the led suit.
• The winner of a trick leads the next one.
• A hand consists of 13 tricks and ends after the 13th.

After the 13th trick each team's points for the hand are calculated as follows (bid lower than 13):

Example: bid 8 and the team takes 10 tricks: it scores 10, the opponents 0. If it takes only 6: it loses 8 points and the opponents score the tricks they actually took (7).

Example: a team bids 13 and takes only 11 tricks: it loses 16 points and the opponents score 2 x 2 = 4 points.

• All pass: if all four pass at their first chance, the hand is cancelled (no points) and the same dealer reshuffles and deals again.
• Last player with no bid at all: if no bid has been made and one player is left, that player still has their turn: bid 7 or higher, or pass. If they pass it counts as all four passing and the hand is redealt.
• Illegal play: a move that breaks the rules (for example not following suit while holding the suit) is rejected, nothing in the game changes, and a legal move must be played.
• Time-out: the turn duration is an operational room setting, not a rule of the game. When time runs out the system always plays a legal move: in the auction it passes (except the last player with no bid at all, who bids 7), when naming the trump it picks the suit the player holds most of, and when playing it plays the weakest legal card.
• Disconnection: a returning player rejoins the same match in the same state, with no re-deal of the cards.

• The match target is set by the room: 31, 41 or 61 points (a Quick Match table uses 41).
• After each hand has been fully scored, the first team to reach or pass the target wins the match.
• By the way scoring works, both teams cannot reach the target for the first time in the same hand.
• If no team has reached the target, the next hand is dealt and the deal passes to the right.

• Remember that a bid is a promise by your whole team, not one player; your tricks and your partner's tricks count together.
• The lowest bid is 7 tricks and the highest 13; a bid equal to or lower than the previous one is not allowed.
• Failing is costly: you lose the value of the bid and the opponents score the tricks they took. A failed bid of 13 costs 16 points and gives the opponents double their tricks.
• Always follow the led suit if you can; you may only play a trump when you are void in that suit, and even then cutting is not compulsory.
• Trump beats the other suits, and the Ace is the highest card in every suit.
• Watch the room's target (31, 41 or 61) to know how many points you need.

• Trump (Tarneeb) — the suit named by the auction winner; its cards beat cards of the other suits.
• Trick — one round in which four cards are played, one from each player, and one player wins it.
• Bid — the number of tricks (7 to 13) the bidder's team promises to take.
• Pass — leaving the auction of the current hand for good.
• Dealer — the player who deals; the role moves to their right after each hand.
• Leader — the player who plays the first card of a trick.
• Led suit — the suit of the first card played in a trick.
• Void — a player who holds no card of the led suit.
• Cut / Ruff — playing a trump on a trick of another suit.
• Kaboot — taking all 13 tricks.
• Contract — the winning bid together with the chosen trump.
• Hand — one full cycle of deal, auction, 13 tricks and scoring.