What is Bahraini Kout?
Bahraini Kout is a partnership trick-taking card game for four or six players. Players form two fixed teams. Seat numbers alternate between Team A and Team B, placing partners opposite each other. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kout4 | Ranks 7 through Ace in four suits, minus the 7 of Diamonds, plus one Joker. 32 cards. | Two teams of two. |
| Kout6 | 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?
Each seat draws a card, and the lowest card becomes the first dealer. The Joker counts as rank 15, so it never wins the dealer draw. Tied lowest seats draw again. Later rounds use the dealer-rotation rule described below.
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 final bidder 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. |
| إنزلي 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. 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 immediately awards the whole match to the opposing team. No trick or round score is added after a forced Joker lead.
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. The default available targets are 26, 31, 51, and 101, with 31 as the default. An Inzili result ends the match at once and does not move the signed counter.
How the dealer rotates
Dealer rotation depends on the round winner and ownership of the signed score. A positive score belongs to Team A, a negative score belongs to Team B, and zero belongs to neither team.
- If score ownership flips between teams, the deal passes anti-clockwise to the next seat on the team opposite the new owner.
- If the dealer’s team wins while the score is zero or owned by the other team, the dealer keeps the deal.
- In every other case, the deal passes to the next seat on the team opposite the round winner.
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 settle the pot to the winning human seats through the server.
Rules authority and scope
These are the official rules implemented by KoutBH. The rules were reviewed against Bahraini play and are protected by matching TypeScript and Dart scenarios. Local groups sometimes use house rules. KoutBH describes its own verified implementation and does not claim every Kout variant follows the same rules.