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How to Play Belote Coinchée

The bidding, doubling variant of French Belote played by almost every serious club and café player. A blind auction sets the trump suit and a target score instead of a turned-up card, opponents can 'coincher' (double) a contract they distrust, and the takers can 'surcoincher' (redouble) back, so a single misjudged bid can swing far more points than in classic Belote.

Players
4
Difficulty
Hard
Length
Medium
Deck
32
Read the rules
Belote Coinchée card game, 4 players
How to Play Belote Coinchée

The bidding, doubling variant of French Belote played by almost every serious club and café player. A blind auction sets the trump suit and a target score instead of a turned-up card, opponents can 'coincher' (double) a contract they distrust, and the takers can 'surcoincher' (redouble) back, so a single misjudged bid can swing far more points than in classic Belote.

3-4 players ​​​Hard ​​Medium

How to Play

The bidding, doubling variant of French Belote played by almost every serious club and café player. A blind auction sets the trump suit and a target score instead of a turned-up card, opponents can 'coincher' (double) a contract they distrust, and the takers can 'surcoincher' (redouble) back, so a single misjudged bid can swing far more points than in classic Belote.

Belote Coinchée, universally shortened to 'la Coinche', is the competitive auction-driven descendant of classic Belote and the form played in almost every French belote club, café tournament, and the Fédération Française de Belote's official competitions today. It keeps the parent game's 32-card pack, four fixed partnerships, and signature trump ranking (Jack high, 9 second), but replaces Belote's simple 'accept or refuse the turned-up card' trump choice with a full spoken auction. Starting from a minimum of 80, players bid in multiples of 10 for the right to name trump and set a target score their partnership promises to reach, climbing over each other's bids or passing, with special all-trump and no-trump declarations available above the suited bids. Once three players pass in a row, the last bidder's partnership becomes the takers, committed to that exact contract. Before the first card falls, either defender may 'coincher' (double) a contract they distrust, and the takers may answer with a 'surcoinche' (redouble), so a single misjudged auction can swing far more points than in classic Belote. The doubled stakes, bluffing in the auction, and the same declaration and trick-play rules as Belote combine to make Coinche the sharper, higher-variance game serious French players usually mean when they say 'une partie de belote'.

Download rules (PDF)

Quick Reference

Goal
Win the auction, then as a partnership reach the EXACT point value you bid, doubled if coinched and doubled again if surcoinched.
Setup
  1. Use a 32-card pack (7-Ace in four suits); exactly 4 players in two fixed partnerships.
  2. Deal all 8 cards to each player with no card turned up.
  3. Bid anticlockwise from the dealer's right: name a suit and a value of 80 or more (multiples of 10), or a Tout Atout, Sans Atout, or Capot bid, or pass.
On Your Turn
  1. After 3 consecutive passes, the last bid becomes the contract; defenders may coinche, then takers may surcoinche.
  2. Follow suit if able; otherwise trump, and overtrump if a trump is already in the trick and you are able to.
  3. If your partner already holds the highest card in the trick, you may discard freely instead of overtrumping.
Scoring
  • Contract made: takers score the bid value plus their declarations; defenders score only their own declarations.
  • Contract failed: defenders score all card points in the hand plus both sides' declarations; takers score nothing.
  • A coinche doubles the resulting score; a surcoinche doubles it again on top of that.
Tip: Judge the auction, not just your cards: only bid what your hand can deliver, and only coinche when you hold real trump strength or a clear void in the bid suit.

Players

Exactly 4 players in two fixed partnerships, partners seated across the table from each other. Play runs anticlockwise, the French tradition inherited from classic Belote. The deal, the auction, and the trick play all rotate anticlockwise together. A single hand plays quickly, but a full match to the usual 1500- or 2000-point target takes an hour or more of repeated deals.

Card Deck and Rankings

  • 32-card pack: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7 in each of the four suits, built from a 52-card pack by removing every card from 2 through 6.
  • Trump-suit ranking, high to low, in a suited contract: Jack (20 pts) > 9 (14 pts) > Ace (11 pts) > 10 (10 pts) > King (4 pts) > Queen (3 pts) > 8 (0) > 7 (0).
  • Non-trump ranking, high to low: Ace (11 pts) > 10 (10 pts) > King (4 pts) > Queen (3 pts) > Jack (2 pts) > 9 (0) > 8 (0) > 7 (0).
  • A suited contract holds 152 card points (38 per suit) plus 10 for the last trick, 162 total. A 'Tout Atout' (all-trump) contract uses the trump ranking in every suit, raising the pot to 248 card points plus 10, 258 total. A 'Sans Atout' (no-trump) contract removes the trump bonus everywhere and instead values every Ace at 19, keeping the total at 152 plus 10.

Objective

Unlike classic Belote, where the takers only need to beat the defenders, Coinche's takers must reach the EXACT point value they bid in the auction, combining captured card points and declarations. Reach it and the takers bank the full bid value; fall short by even a single point and the contract is a failure, handing the defenders everything. A coinched or surcoinched contract multiplies whatever the takers were going to score, win or lose, so the auction itself is where most Coinche matches are decided.

Setup and Deal

  1. The dealer shuffles; the player to the dealer's right cuts the pack.
  2. Unlike classic Belote, no card is turned up. The dealer deals all 32 cards, typically in packets of 3-2-3, anticlockwise, so every player holds 8 cards before bidding starts.
  3. The player to the dealer's right speaks first in the auction.

The Auction

  1. Suited bids: on their turn a player may name a suit and a point value of 80 or higher, always a multiple of 10 (80, 90, 100, and so on), or pass. Each new bid must beat the previous one, either a higher value in any suit or the same value in a suit that outranks the earlier one under the local convention.
  2. Tout Atout (all-trump): a special bid that makes every suit trump, using the trump ranking everywhere; it outranks a suited bid of equal value and raises the card points at stake to 258.
  3. Sans Atout (no-trump): a special bid where no suit is trump and every Ace is worth 19 points instead of 11; it outranks Tout Atout at the same nominal value.
  4. Capot: a bid that a partnership will win all 8 tricks, worth a fixed high value (commonly 250); it is the highest possible contract.
  5. Bidding continues anticlockwise until three consecutive players pass after the last bid. That final bid becomes the contract, and the bidder's partnership becomes the takers.
  6. If all four players pass without a single bid, the hand is thrown in and the next dealer redeals.

Coinche and Surcoinche

  1. Once the auction ends and before the first card is led, either defender may announce 'Coinche' (also called 'Contre'), doubling the eventual score of the hand.
  2. In response, either taker may announce 'Surcoinche' (also called 'Contre-coinche' or 'Recontre'), doubling the score again on top of the coinche.
  3. A hand may only be doubled once and redoubled once; there is no further escalation beyond surcoinche in standard club rules.
  4. Coinching is a defensive bet: it pays off only if the takers actually fail their contract, so it should be reserved for hands where the defenders hold strong trumps or a clear shortage in the bid suit.

Declarations

  • Exactly as in classic Belote, declarations are shown after the deal and before the second trick and are scored only for the side holding the single highest one:
  • Tierce (3-card sequence in one suit): 20 points. Ranked by natural order A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7.
  • Quarante (4-card sequence in one suit): 50 points.
  • Quinte (5 or more card sequence in one suit): 100 points.
  • Carré (four of a kind): 100 points for most ranks; four Jacks score 200; four 9s score 150; four 7s or 8s score nothing.
  • Belote-Rebelote: holding the King AND Queen of trumps. Announce 'Belote' on playing the first and 'Rebelote' on playing the second, worth 20 points to that partnership regardless of the contract's outcome. In a Sans Atout hand there is no trump suit, so Belote-Rebelote cannot be declared.

Gameplay

  1. The player to the dealer's right leads the first trick with any card, face up.
  2. Follow suit: every player must play a card of the suit led if they hold one.
  3. Forced to trump: a player with no card of the suit led must play a trump if they hold one, and must overtrump any trump already in the trick if they are able to.
  4. Partner already winning: if a player's partner currently holds the highest card in the trick, that player is free to discard any card, including a low trump, without needing to overtrump.
  5. The highest trump played wins the trick; if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins. In a Sans Atout hand the highest card of the suit led always wins, since no suit is trump.
  6. The trick winner leads the next trick. Play continues until all 8 tricks are played.

Scoring a Hand

  • Total each side's captured card points plus their declarations; the side winning the 8th trick adds the 10-point 'dix de der' bonus.
  • Contract made: if the takers' total meets or exceeds their bid, they score the full BID VALUE (not their raw card points) plus their own declarations; the defenders score only their own declarations.
  • Contract failed: if the takers fall short of their bid, the defenders score every card point in the hand (162, or 258 for a Tout Atout hand, or 152 for Sans Atout) plus both sides' declarations, and the takers score nothing.
  • Coinched: whichever side would have scored under the rules above has that score doubled instead.
  • Surcoinched: the score is doubled again on top of the coinche, so a surcoinched failed contract can hand the defenders four times the hand's raw point value.
  • Capot bonus: a partnership that wins all 8 tricks scores an extra 90 points on top of their contract, whether or not Capot was the bid itself.
  • Belote-Rebelote's 20 points always go to whichever partnership held and announced it, independent of who made or failed the contract.

Winning

Deals continue, with the deal passing anticlockwise, until one partnership reaches the match target, commonly 1500 or 2000 points in club and tournament Coinche (higher than classic Belote's usual 1000, since coinched and surcoinched hands swing far more points per deal). Some casual groups agree on a lower target such as 1000 or play a fixed number of deals and compare totals. If both sides cross the target in the same hand, the takers' result is credited first; if the deal was a defenders' win that also crosses the target, the defenders take the match immediately. If that same-hand rule still leaves the two totals tied, the group plays one further tie-breaking deal to settle the match.

Tips and Strategy

  • Count your Jack and 9 of a candidate trump suit before bidding; together they are 34 of the 82 points a suited contract needs from card play alone, before any declarations.
  • Do not bid past what your hand can plausibly deliver just to win the auction; an overbid contract, especially if the defenders coinche it, is usually a bigger loss than passing and defending instead.
  • As a defender, coinche only when you hold real trump strength or a clear void; coinching a contract you cannot actually beat only doubles your own loss.
  • Track which suit was bid and by how much; a high bid value in a suit you are void in is the clearest signal to hold back a trump for overtrumping rather than to trump early.
  • In a Sans Atout auction, long suits headed by the Ace and 10 are worth more than they look, since every suit behaves like the old non-trump ranking and there is no trump to lose control to.

Glossary

  • Taker / Preneur: a member of the partnership that won the auction and must fulfil the contract.
  • Coinche: a defender's double of the final contract, made before the first card is led.
  • Surcoinche: the takers' redouble of a coinched contract.
  • Tout Atout: an all-trump contract; every suit uses the trump ranking.
  • Sans Atout: a no-trump contract; no suit is trump and every Ace is worth 19 points.
  • Declaration / Annonce: a revealed card sequence or four of a kind, worth bonus points to the side holding the single best one.
  • Belote-Rebelote: the King and Queen of trumps, announced in order as they are played; 20-point bonus.
  • Capot: winning every trick in the hand; a 90-point bonus on top of the contract.
  • Dix de der: the 10-point bonus for winning the final, 8th trick.

Tips & Strategy

Treat the auction as the real game: count your trump Jack and 9 before naming a suit, since they alone are worth 34 of the 82 points a suited contract needs. Never bid past what your hand can deliver just to win the auction, and reserve a coinche for hands where you hold genuine trump strength or a clear void, since a wrong coinche doubles your own loss instead of the opponents'.

Because the contract must be met exactly rather than merely beaten, Coinche rewards precise hand valuation during the auction far more than classic Belote does: overbidding by even one increment turns a winning hand into a failure. The coinche and surcoinche mechanic adds a second layer of judgment on top of that, since a correct double can be worth more than an entire ordinary hand, while an incorrect one costs just as much. Strong players treat the auction itself as an information exchange, reading suit and value choices for trump length and top-card strength before a single card is played.

Trivia & Fun Facts

A surcoinched Tout Atout Capot, the rarest and most extreme result the game allows, can be worth well over a thousand points in a single hand, more than half of an entire match target in one deal. French belote clubs run coinche tournaments with the same seriousness as chess or bridge clubs, complete with published rankings and regional championships. Because no card is turned up before the auction, a strong Coinche player reads as much from the bidding itself, who bid what and when they stopped, as from the cards later played to the table.

  1. 01In Belote Coinchée, what must the takers do differently from classic Belote to win a hand?
    Answer In classic Belote the takers just need to out-score the defenders, but in Coinche they must reach the EXACT point value they bid during the auction; falling short by even one point, even while still out-scoring the defenders on raw card points, counts as a failed contract and hands everything to the defenders.
  2. 02What happens to a hand's score if a defender coinches and the takers then surcoinche?
    Answer The score is doubled by the coinche and then doubled again by the surcoinche, so the final result is four times the hand's base value, whether that value ends up being credited to the takers (if they make the contract) or the defenders (if the takers fail it).

History & Culture

Coinche grew out of classic Belote in France during the mid-20th century as players added an auction and a doubling mechanic borrowed from the same competitive instinct that shaped Bridge's own bidding wars. By the postwar decades it had displaced the simpler 'accept the retourne' Belote as the version played for money and status in French cafés and belote clubs, and it remains the form used in the Fédération Française de Belote's official competitions today, alongside the closely related Belote Contrée found in southeastern France.

Coinche is the version of Belote that French competitive and café culture actually means by 'la belote' in serious company; classic Belote is treated more as the beginner's or family form. It anchors the Fédération Française de Belote's tournament calendar and regional championships, and its auction-and-doubling structure has made it a frequent point of comparison with Bridge among French card players who play both games.

Variations & House Rules

Belote Contrée, common in southeastern France, follows the same auction-and-doubling structure but uses slightly different bid increments and escalation conventions from region to region. Some casual groups drop the Sans Atout and Tout Atout special bids and play suited bids only, which simplifies the auction for newer players. Three-handed Coinche exists, with one player facing the other two and adjusted card counts, though the standard four-player partnership form is by far the most common.

New groups coming from classic Belote should start with a lower match target, such as 1000 points, until they are comfortable with how quickly a coinched or surcoinched hand can move the score. Dropping the Tout Atout and Sans Atout bids for the first few sessions keeps the auction to a single dimension (suit and value) while players learn to judge their hand strength against a target number instead of just against the other side.