What is Bahraini Kout?
Bahraini Kout is a partnership trick-taking card game for four or six players. Players form two fixed teams. Seats alternate between Team A and Team B, so in Kout 4 your partner sits opposite you. Play moves anti-clockwise, toward the player seated on your right.
Players, cards, and the deal
Every KoutBH player receives eight cards, and the whole deck is dealt.
| Format | Deck | Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Kout 4 | Ranks 7 through Ace in four suits, minus the 7 of Diamonds, plus one Joker. 32 cards. | Two teams of two. |
| Kout 6 | Ranks 3 through Ace in four suits, minus the 3 of Diamonds, plus one Joker. 48 cards. | Two teams of three. |
The dealer gives one card at a time, starting with the seat anti-clockwise from the dealer, for eight passes around the table.
How is the first dealer chosen?
Before the first round each seat draws a card, and the player with the lowest card becomes the dealer. The Joker counts as the lowest rank in the dealer draw: 7 in Kout 4 and 3 in Kout 6. If the lowest cards tie, only the tied seats draw again, and the draw repeats until one card is lowest. The dealer draw happens once per match.
Bidding and Bahraini terminology
Bidding starts anti-clockwise from the dealer and rises from Bab to Inzili. A bid must exceed the current contract. If every earlier seat passes, the dealer (the last to bid) must choose Bab, Six, Seven, or Inzili.
| Term | Value | Meaning in KoutBH |
|---|---|---|
| باب Bab | 5 | The bidding team promises at least 5 of the round’s 8 tricks. |
| Six | 6 | The bidding team promises at least 6 tricks. |
| Seven | 7 | The bidding team promises at least 7 tricks. |
| انزلي Inzili | 8 | The bidding team promises all 8 tricks. Success wins the match immediately. Failure loses the match immediately. |
حكم, transliterated Hukm, means the trump suit. After bidding ends, the winning bidder chooses a suit present in their own hand. Trick play starts with the seat anti-clockwise from the bidder.
How trick play works
A player must follow the led suit when holding it. A player who is void in the led suit may play another suit. The Joker is always legal when following. On the first trick of an Inzili round, the opening leader must lead Hukm when holding any. A normal trick goes to the Joker if played, otherwise to the highest Hukm card, or to the highest card of the led suit when no Hukm appears. The trick winner leads next.
KoutBH ends a round as soon as its outcome is fixed. The bidding team finishes early after reaching its contract. The defenders finish it early after taking enough tricks to make the contract impossible.
How does the Joker work?
The Joker cannot lead a trick while its holder has another card. If the Joker is the player’s only remaining card when leading, KoutBH forces the Joker onto the table and it cannot win: the trick goes to the other team, to their highest Hukm or, without Hukm, their highest card of the led suit. The first ordinary card sets the led suit. The round and the match continue.
How KoutBH scoring works
KoutBH uses one signed score counter. Team A wins move the score upward. Team B wins move it downward. A made Bab, Six, or Seven contract scores 5, 6, or 7 points for the bidding team. A failed contract gives the opponents twice its value, which is 10, 12, or 14 points.
A match ends when the absolute score reaches its configured target. Online matches play to 31. Practice lets you choose 26, 31, 51, or 101. An Inzili result ends the match at once and does not move the signed counter.
How the dealer rotates
The trailing team always deals. KoutBH uses one signed score counter. The same player keeps dealing while their own team is behind, and while the counter sits at zero nothing changes. The round that puts the dealer’s own team ahead moves the deal anti-clockwise to the next player, who is always an opponent. The leading team never deals.
Digital play in KoutBH
Each bid, Hukm choice, and card play has a 15-second decision timer. A computer player acts for a human seat after a missed decision or disconnection. The bot keeps acting until the player explicitly returns. Reopening an active match or choosing “I’m back” restores human control.
Offline Practice runs fully on the device against bots. Practice carries no stake and changes no online statistics or wallet balance. Online tables use Coins for stakes, and the game pays the prize to the winning players.
Rules authority and scope
These are the official rules implemented by KoutBH. The rules were reviewed against Bahraini play. Local groups sometimes use house rules. KoutBH describes its own verified implementation and does not claim every Kout variant follows the same rules.