How to Play

Dehla Pakad is a North Indian partnership trick-taking game where teams race to capture tens across rounds; seven consecutive round wins or a single all-four-tens deal wins the match.

Dehla Pakad ('catch the tens') is a North Indian four-player partnership trick-taking game and a variant of the Court Piece (Sar) family. Each partnership tries to capture three or all four tens (Dehla = 10) of the deal. Tricks themselves do not score; only tens count. Trump is set by the first player who is unable to follow suit; their played card's suit becomes trump for the rest of the deal. A partnership winning a round (3+ tens captured) holds a 'kot' (advantage); winning seven consecutive rounds is the match-winning goal. Capturing all four tens in a single round is also a kot win and ends the match immediately.

Players

Exactly 4 players in two fixed partnerships, partners sitting opposite. Deal rotates anti-clockwise, but the dealing pattern shifts depending on the previous round's outcome (see Dealing). Play also runs anti-clockwise.

Card Deck

One standard 52-card deck, no jokers. Ranks within each suit, high to low: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The four 10s are the only scoring cards in the deck; nothing else has point value. One suit becomes trump (called hukum or 'rang') during play; trumps beat any non-trump card.

Objective

Capture three or four of the four tens during the deal. Across consecutive rounds, build a winning streak: seven consecutive round wins capturing 3+ tens win the match (a kot). Capturing all four tens in any single round also wins the match instantly.

Setup and Deal

1. Choose first dealer by cutting for the highest card. Dealer shuffles, the player to the dealer's right cuts.
2. Dealer deals all 52 cards anti-clockwise, one at a time, so each player gets 13 cards. No talon, no kitty.
3. Trump (hukum): Trump is not declared at the deal. Instead, the first player who is unable to follow the led suit on any trick chooses (and plays) a trump from their hand; the suit of that played card becomes trump for the rest of the deal. (Variant: closed trump, where the trump-setter writes the suit down secretly and reveals it only when they cannot follow.) Some clubs allow the trump-setter to nominate the suit verbally without playing a card to it.
4. Dealing rotation by outcome: If the dealer's partnership wins the round (captures 3+ tens), the deal passes to the right (anti-clockwise as normal). If the dealer's partnership loses (captures 0-2 tens), the same dealer deals again. This makes losing teams suffer the disadvantage of dealing under their opponent's pressure.
5. Misdeal: A card exposed during the deal voids the deal; the same dealer redeals.

Gameplay

1. The player to the dealer's right leads to the first trick by playing one card face up.
2. Following suit: Each player in turn must follow the led suit if able. If void in the led suit, you may play any card.
3. Setting trump: The very first time any player is void in the led suit, the card they choose to play sets trump for the entire deal. Once trump is set, it remains set; later void plays do not change it.
4. Winning the trick: The highest trump wins. If no trump was played, the highest card of the led suit wins. Trick winner gathers the 4 cards face down and leads the next trick.
5. Capturing tens: Whenever a 10 is played to a trick, the partnership winning that trick captures the 10. Tracking which side has captured each of the four tens is the only point of the deal.
6. Continue until all 13 tricks have been played. Count captured tens by partnership.

Scoring

• Round result: The partnership capturing 3 or 4 tens wins the round. A 2-2 split means no winner for the round (the kot streak does not advance, but neither does it reset).
• Kot (court / sirr): A partnership that wins seven consecutive rounds (capturing 3+ tens each round, with no losses in between) wins the match. Capturing all 4 tens in any single round is an instant kot win regardless of streak.
• Streak reset: Losing a round (capturing 0-2 tens) resets your kot streak to zero. A 2-2 round leaves the streak unchanged.
• No card or trick points: Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and other ranks contribute nothing to the score. Only 10s and the kot streak matter.A♠K♠Q♠J♠

Winning

• Round winner: Partnership capturing 3 or 4 tens.
• Match winner: First partnership to either capture all 4 tens in one round (instant sirr/kot win) or to win 7 consecutive rounds with 3+ tens.
• Tie-breaker: A 2-2 round produces no round winner; play continues with the same dealer if the dealing-team lost the prior round, otherwise normal anti-clockwise rotation.
• Match-length variation: Some groups shorten the kot target to 3 or 5 consecutive rounds for casual play; tournament play uses 7.

Common Variations

• Open trump: Dealer's partner declares trump before play begins; eliminates the dynamic trump-setting mechanic.
• Closed trump: The trump-setter writes the suit secretly and reveals only when they next play void; widely used in Delhi and Punjab.
• Double Sar: Like Dehla Pakad but tens count for two and other ranks count for one; less popular today.
• Coat / kot variant: Some groups score 1 game point per round won and award the match at 7 game points (instead of consecutive wins).
• Three-deck Dehla Pakad: A six-player extension using three 52-card decks shuffled together for two partnerships of three; tens still the only scorers.
• Court Piece base game: Without the tens-only restriction; played the same way but tricks are counted instead.

Tips and Strategy

• Lead high cards in side suits early to extract opponents' high cards before any tens come into play.
• Hold off playing your tens until you control trump or the led suit; a 10 led into a trick easily becomes the opponents' capture.
• Coordinate with your partner: leading a low card in your strong suit signals your partner to play their high card if they can.
• If your partnership is on a kot streak (5 or 6 consecutive wins), become more conservative; a single 2-2 deal is no harm but a 0-1-2-tens loss resets the streak entirely.
• If the trump-setter is on your team, time the void-and-trump moment to claim trump in your strongest suit, not just in the suit you happen to be void in first.
• Keep one trump in reserve for the late tricks; partnerships often win the round by capturing the final 10 with a low trump after the high trumps have been played out.

Glossary

• Dehla: Hindi for 10; also the four scoring cards in the deck.
• Pakad: Hindi for 'catch'; the action of capturing.
• Hukum (rang): Trump suit; set by the first void play.
• Sirr: Capturing all four 10s in a single round; instant match win.
• Kot (or court): A run of 7 consecutive round wins; the standard match goal.
• Round: One complete deal of 13 tricks per player.
• Streak reset: A round with 0-2 tens captured, which resets the partnership's kot count to zero.
• Open trump: Trump declared before play begins.
• Closed trump: Trump written down secretly by the first void player.