Hokm
This page is mainly based on information from Ali Jahânshiri. Thanks also to Babak Mozaffari and Cathy Tavangarian for sending descriptions of this game.
Hokm is an exciting trick taking card game which originated in Iran and is currently the most popular card game played there. Hokm is designed to be played by two, three or four players. Challenge hundreds of online Hokm players to gain the ranking you deserve. The only online Hokm game that let you play with non-android players. Improve your skills by playing with competing online. Your existing facebook account: HokmBuzz.Com - All rights reserved - Rules & Scoring Feedback Privacy PolicyRules & Scoring Feedback Privacy Policy. Everyone knows his story is pure hokum. His new film is yet another piece of Hollywood hokum. Recent Examples on the Web Yet the American space-industrial complex is sustained. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us.
Game Overview
Hokm is a trick taking card game, in which the object is to be the first team or player to win 7 points. It's the most popular card game in Iran. Deal and play are anticlockwise.
The word Hokm literally means 'command, order' but in card game jargon, it's Persian for trump suit.
Hâkem
At the beginning of each hand, one of the players becomes Hâkem. Hâkem literally means 'ruler, governor' and in card game jargon, it refers to a player having certain privileges in the game. In Hokm, these privileges are:
- To be the player who receives the first cards dealt.
- To be the player who makes trump (i.e. chooses and declares what suit will be trump) for the current hand.
- To be the player who leads to the first trick of the hand.
Players and Cards
Hokm can be played with 2, 3 or 4 players. If with four players, two players normally team up against the other two.
The game uses a standard 52-card deck. Within each suit, the cards are ranked from highest to lowest: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Hokm for 4 Players
The four players are in fixed partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other.
Determination of Hâkem, His Partner and Dealer
One of the players flips one card to each player anticlockwise. The first player to take an Ace becomes Hâkem. The dealing is continued (notice that Hâkem gets no more card) until another player takes another Ace. This player becomes the partner of Hâkem. If necessary, the players must change seats so that the partners are sitting opposite each other. The player to the left of Hâkem, who is from the opposite team, becomes dealer.
Deal
Before the deal, the partner of Hâkem (the player to dealer's left) has the right to cut the deck. The dealer then deals out all the cards in 3 rounds so that each player has 13 cards. Each player receives 5 cards at a time in the first round, and 4 cards in the following rounds. The first cards are dealt to Hâkem (the player to dealer's right) and the deal continues anticlockwise, ending with the dealer. Hâkem must choose and declare the trump suit on the basis of his own first 5 cards only. To avoid any possibility that Hâkem's partner might help by passing information about his cards, the deal must be paused during the first round, and no cards given to Hâkem's partner until Hâkem has declared the trump suit.
Play
Hâkem leads to the first trick. Each player in turn must follow suit. If a player holds no cards of the suit led, that player may play any card (including any trump card). The highest card in the trump suit always wins the trick. If no trump cards are played, the trick goes to the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next.
Scoring
- The first team to take 7 tricks wins the hand and scores 1 point.
- If the Hâkem's team wins the hand by taking the first 7 tricks, the other team having taken none, they win 2 points instead of 1. If the Hâkem's opponents win by taking the first 7 tricks, they win 3 points instead of 1.
- The first team to reach 7 points wins the game.
- If the Hâkem's team won the hand, the Hâkem retains the rank, and the same dealer deals again. If the other team wins, the turn to deal passes to the right: the previous Hâkem deals and the player to his right becomes Hâkem for the following hand.
Hokm for 3 Players
Determination of Hâkem and Dealer
Before starting the game, one of the 2's is removed from the deck, leaving 51 cards (17 cards for each player). One of the players flips one card at a time to each player anticlockwise. The first player to take an Ace becomes Hâkem and the player to his left becomes dealer.
Deal
The dealer deals out all the cards in 4 rounds so that each player has 17 cards. Each player receives 5 cards at a time in the first round, and 4 cards in the following rounds. The Hâkem receives the first cards and the deal continues anticlockwise. The deal is paused after the first round, and continued after Hâkem has declared the trump suit.
Play
Hâkem leads to the first trick. Each player in turn must follow suit. If a player holds no cards of the suit led, that player may play any card (including any trump card). The highest card in the trump suit always wins the trick. If no trump cards are played, the trick goes to the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next.
Scoring
- If one player takes all the first 7 tricks, the hand is over and the winner scores either 2 points if he was Hâkem or 3 if he wasn't Hâkem.
- Otherwise, the winner is the first player who takes a number of tricks that cannot be equalled or exceeded by another player. For example if the tricks are 7-4-3 the play must continue, because a second player might also achieve 7 tricks, but at 7-4-4 the player with 7 tricks has won, because no one else can take more than 6 tricks. In the same way 8-3-1 is not yet a win, but 8-2-2 is a win for the player with 8 tricks. In such a case the winner of the hand scores 1 point.
- If two of players take the same number of tricks then the third player wins the hand and scores 1 point. So for example if the tricks are 7-7-3, the player with 3 tricks wins.
- The first player to reach 7 points wins the game.
- If Hâkem won the hand, he keeps this rank and the same player deals again. Otherwise Hâkem becomes the new dealer and the player to his right becomes Hâkem for the following hand.
Hokm for 2 Players
Determination of Hâkem and Dealer
One of the players flips one card at a time to each player alternately. The first player to take an Ace becomes Hâkem and the other player becomes dealer.
Deal
The dealer deals 5 cards at once to Hâkem and 5 to himself and the undealt stock is placed face down in the middle of table. Hâkem examines his cards and declares the trump suit. Then he chooses 3 of his 5 cards to discard face down to start the discard pile. In the same way, the other player discards 2 unwanted cards from his hand face down.
Now Hâkem draws the top card from the undealt stock (without exposing it to his opponent). If he estimates it valuable, he can add it to his hand; otherwise he discards it face down and takes the next card from the top of the stock, which he must keep. If he chose to keep the first card, he must discard the second card face down, having looked at it. Now the other player draws from the stock, choosing to keep the first or second card in the same way. This continues, the players taking turns to draw, until the stock is exhausted. At this point, each player should have 13 cards in hand.
The decision whether to take the first card or wait for the second brings a lot of excitement to the game. Sometimes you miss a valuable card because you have picked the first card. Your opponent must not see any of your discarded cards.
Play
Hâkem leads to the first trick. The other player must follow suit. If he holds no cards of the suit led, he may play any card (including any trump card). The highest card in the trump suit always wins the trick. If no trump cards are played, the trick goes to the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads to the next.
Scoring
- The first player to take 7 tricks wins the hand and scores 1 point.
- If Hâkem wins the first 7 tricks he scores 2 points instead of 1. If Hâkem's opponent wins by taking the first 7 tricks, he scores 3 points instead of 1.
- The first player to reach 7 points wins the game.
- If Hâkem won the hand, he remains Hâkem. If not, he deals and the other player becomes Hâkem.
Glossary
- Kot
- Winning the hand by taking all the first seven tricks is called Kot which is worth 2 points.
- Hâkem Koti
- If you or your team could Kot the Hâkem player or team (impossible mission) then it's called Hâkem Koti which is worth 3 points.
- Hokm Lâzem
- To lead a trump card which obliges other players to play a trump card.
- Boridan
- (literally 'to cut' - cf. French 'couper') To win a trick by playing a trump card when you are void of the suit led.
- Rad Kardan
- (literally 'to bypass') Not to play a trump card when you are void of the suit led, because you are quite sure that your partner will win the trick.
- Pâyin Âmadan
- (literally 'to lay low') To play a low card because you are quite sure that your opponent will win the trick.
- Bâlâ Âmadan
- (literally 'to lay high') To play a high card in order to make the next player play a higher card if he can.
Other Hokm web pages
Here is an archive copy of Ali Jahânshiri's Hokm page.
Software and Online Games
At the Varagh site you can play Hokm online against live players.
The Varaq site offers Hokm apps for Android and iOS.
At Hokm Buzz you can play Hokm online against live opponents.
With the app OnlineHokm for Android you can play online against live opponents.
| Origin | Iran (also popular in South Asia, Suriname, Netherlands) |
|---|---|
| Players | 2×2 |
| Cards | 52 |
| Deck | French |
| Play | Counter-clockwise (mostly) |
| Card rank (highest first) | A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 |
| Related games | |
| Whist, Shelem | |
Court Piece (also known as Hokm (Persian: حکم), Rung and Rang)[1] is an Iranian trick-taking card game similar to the card game whist in which eldest hand makes trumps after the first five cards have been dealt, and trick-play is typically stopped after one party has won seven tricks. A bonus is awarded if one party wins the first seven tricks, or even all tricks. The game is played by four players in two teams, but there are also adaptations for two or three players.
Derived games have removed the special role of eldest hand or have added features such as the 2 of hearts as the highest trump (satat), the need to win two consecutive tricks in order to pick up tricks (double sar), or counting tens rather than tricks (dehla pakad).
The game appears to originate from Iran. In the Indian subcontinent, it is sometimes spelled Coat Peace, Kot Pees, Chokri, Chakri, Rung or Rang. Alternative names include Seven Hands (Iran), t'rup Chaal, and Hok (Israel). In the Dutch-speaking world, a similar game (and likely derivative) is known as Troefcall (Suriname and the Netherlands). In English the game is sometimes referred to simply as Trumps. As Satat, it is the most popular card game of Mauritius.
Basic rules[edit]
The game is played with a full standard deck of 52 cards by four players in fixed partnerships, sitting crosswise. Cards are dealt in batches of 5–3–3–2 or 5–4–4 .[2][3][4]
The player who sits after the dealer in the direction of play (which is typically counter-clockwise) is known as trump-caller. Having received the first five cards, this player announces the trump suit (usually called rang of the game - 'rang' meaning 'color' in Persian). The other players are not allowed to look at their cards before the trump suit has been announced. The trump-caller leads to the first trick. In trick-play the normal whist rules apply: Players must follow suit if possible, and the highest trump, or the highest card of the suit led, takes the trick. To choose the highest card, the cards must be 10 and below. The winner of a trick leads to the next trick.[2][3][4]
The party that wins seven or more tricks wins the hand[5] and will usually stop the game at this point. Winning seven tricks in one go is a special achievement known as kot or kap. Player have to call first for Continuing afterwards and winning all tricks is a rare achievement known as a bavney or baunie.[2][3][4] The Under-ten rule, if the trump-caller not holding any face card may call for re-deal.
The first trump-caller (and by implication the first dealer) is determined at random. The role of the trump-caller only passes on to the next player if the trump-caller's party did not win the hand.[2][3][4]
No talking/communication between the team members is allowed in this game. If a player talks to his teammate then that suite belongs to opponent.
There is a variation played only in North India, specially Delhi, where the only way one team member can communicate with the other, is by tapping the table (or any surface) called a 'thaap' intended to indicate to the team member to repeat the colour just played. This variation should be clarified before starting the game.
Scoring[edit]
In a simple scoring variant used in Iran, the winning party scores 1 point if the other team also won a trick, or 2 points for kot, or 3 points for hâkem koti (also known as 'gès kot' in kashmiri), i.e. a kot achieved by the opponents of trump-caller.[3]
A scoring variant used in the Netherlands assigns 2 points to a simple win, 5 points to a kap and 15 points to a baunie. To score the 5 points for kap, the player who wins the seventh trick (but not his or her partner) must stop the game at that point. If a party goes for baunie but loses a later trick, then it is only a single win of 2 points.[4]
A scoring variant popular in India and Pakistan counts kots. Winning seven consecutive hands (none of which is a kot) is equivalent to a kot. A single bavney counts as 52 kots. Each time the trump-caller's party scores a kot, the trump-caller's partner becomes trump-caller.[2]
Minor variations and common games of Rang[edit]
Sometimes the direction of play is clockwise.[4][6]
Instead of fixed partnerships, the partnerships may also be determined randomly. In this case the seating arrangement may have to be adjusted so that the players sit crosswise.[3]
After all cards have been dealt, it may happen that trump-caller does not hold a single court card. In this case trump-caller may be allowed to announce a redeal.[4] In another variation, trump-caller may call for a redeal if there is not court card among his or her first five cards, but may not do so more than twice in a row.[6] Trump-caller's partner may also be allowed to announce that they do not hold a trump and suggest a redeal. The redeal only happens if trump-caller agrees.[6]
Instead of making trumps, the trump-caller may be allowed to opt for a different procedure. In this case, trump-caller or dealer will turn up one of the remaining eight cards dealt to trump-caller for trumps, without looking at it first.[2][6]
A party that fails to stop the play of the hand after winning the first seven tricks, but does not win all tricks, may score only a simple win of the hand rather than a kot. In this case, only the player who wins the seventh trick may have the right to stop the hand. The person showing his trumps should have the greatest card of Rang to win the trick.[4]
In Pakistan and India, Rang is played with a lot of variations, all of them are based on rang, but categorized from simple to complex in the following order:
Single Sar[edit]
Single Sar is the easiest game of the Rang. Basic rules of the Rang are applied to this game as well, i.e., 52 cards deck, four players in fixed partnership, etc. (Only beginners play this). The cards are dealt in batches of 5-4-4, the trump-caller announces the Rang (trump suit) and starts the game with first trick. All of the players have to follow the suit (if possible), one with the highest-ranked card takes the trick (One trick is called one sar, (Urdu: سر)). If any of the player does not have the suit of the trick, he can play card from trump-suit (rang), often referred to as kaat lagana (Urdu: کاٹ لگانا). This word kaat lagana is Urdu and/or Hindi translation of cutting something, which herein implies cutting of running trick. The player/team with the highest Kaat takes the trick.
At the end, the team with more winning tricks wins the game. If trump-caller's team remains the winner, the same dealer deals the cards again. On the other hand, if the dealing team takes more tricks, the deal is forwarded to the next player (counter clock-wise), that is, the trump-caller in previous game.
Double Sar[edit]
Double sar or double siri, also referred to as double rang or double rung, is the most commonly played game in India and Pakistan. It is a variant of Single Sar in which tricks are not automatically collected by their winner's party. Instead they form a heap in the middle between the players until one player (not one partnership) wins two consecutive tricks, thereby winning the entire heap for his or her partnership. Basic rules of the Rang are applied to Double Sar as well. The winner of the last trick always picks up whatever remains in the heap at that point. Usually, the first collection of heap requires three tricks or five tricks must have been played already. Some variations of double sar forbid collecting the heap when a certain common game situation occurs, such as winning the first two tricks or winning two consecutive tricks with aces.[2]
Scoring is by kots and grand-kots. In this game a kot is defined as collecting all tricks by trump-caller team, which unlike bavney in standard court piece is realistically achievable. A grand-kot or goon-kot is defined as collection of all tricks (sars, (Urdu: سریں )) by the dealing team. A goon-kot counts triple (or ten-fold).
The decision of dealer for the first time is chosen randomly or toss using the deck. For every next turn, the result of the current game decides the dealer as well. In case of kot the next dealer is the opposite player of losing team. In case of grand-kot, the next dealer is the trump-caller. In all other cases, the team with less tricks (sars) deals the cards. The same player deals if the dealing team remains unable to win seven or more sars. The dealing is termed as pees, and considered to be hard work.
Winning seven hands in a row by collecting the majority of tricks is sometimes equivalent to a kot. The game is popular in India and Pakistan.[2]Sar literally means head, but in this context refers to a trick.
Dummy Rang[edit]
Dummy Rang, mostly referred to as Dummy only, is a variant of Double Sir, which is played between three players instead of four as in common rang games. The fourth player is a dummy player, that is why this game is termed as Dummy. In every game, the dummy player is set to be the partner of one player, rotated counter clock-wise. The cards of the fourth player are placed face-up position, and partner of the dummy player is responsible of dummy's turn.
Scoring is based on number of sars (tricks), it is counted for each individual player. One match ends when score reaches to 104.
Dab Rang[edit]
Dab Rang is the most complex, logical and interesting game of the rang. Unlike 'khula rung' (open rung), each player announces the number of 'sars' (rounds) he would pick or win, the trump or 'rung' suit is not revealed rather a card from that suit is placed face down somewhere by the player who announces the highest number of sars, the rest of the game is the same except no one wins a sar unless the trump suit is revealed by the elimination of a suit from the other team's hand and their insisting upon that they want to 'kat lagana' or cut the ongoing round and thus must know the trump suit. Thus the primary objective of the other team is to reveal the trump suite asap and that of the boss team is to keep it concealed. If the number of sars previously declared is picked up, the game is won. Some players like to allow the rule of using two aces at same time to get the declared number of 'Sars'.
Closely related games[edit]
Satat[edit]
Satat, the most popular game of Mauritius, differs from court piece only in the special role assigned to the 2 of hearts and the existence of a system of signals for the exchange of information between partners.[6]
In this game the 2 of hearts is the highest trump. It may always be used to trump a trick, even if its owner still holds cards of the suit led. A player who holds the 2 of hearts but no other trumps need not follow suit when trumps is led.[6]
There is no fixed scoring system. Once all cards have been dealt again after a kot, each of the losing partners must pass a trump (or if they do not hold a trump their highest-ranking card) to their right neighbour, who simultaneously passes them an unwanted card. However, the 2 of hearts need not be passed, and neither of the players who won the kot may use this opportunity to rid themselves entirely of a plain suit. The same principle applies after a bavney, except that in that case each player passes on two cards.[6]
Trup kasiet[edit]
Trup kasiet is a satat variant in which the trump-caller makes trumps secretly by putting a card face down. Until it is clear which suit is trumps, trump-caller must announce after each trick who won it. When the 2 of hearts is played before the trump suit is known, players may play any card. Since kot and bavney are more common in this variant, no cards are passed in the following hand.[6]
Dehla Pakad or Mindi[edit]
Dehla pakad is double sar with the further variation that tens are counted instead of tricks. A kot is achieved when a party wins all four tens in tricks or if it wins seven consecutive hands by collecting three tens in each.If a team takes all 4 tens in a hand, they win one Kot. The turn to deal passes to the right if the dealing team won and to the dealer's partner if the non-dealing team won.If non dealer's team takes 1, 2 or 3 tens, they win the hand and the same dealer deals again.If the dealer's team took 4 tens, they win the hand and the turn to deal passes to the right and the kot is removed.[7]
Court piece variants with no trump-caller[edit]
Double sar and dehla pakad have developed variants which lack the special role of the trump-caller – otherwise a defining feature of court piece and its variants. The game begins without trumps, and the first player who cannot follow suit determines the trump suit with the card he or she plays. The heap cannot be picked up before the trump suit has been determined.[2][7]
In a variant described for dehla pakad, trick-play begins after the first five cards have been dealt. The first player who cannot follow suit determines the trump suit with the card played. This is the earliest chance to pick up the heap. At this point the remaining cards are dealt, potentially making it unverifiable that the player was in fact unable to follow suit. Therefore, this game requires honest players. In the event that all players were able to follow suit in the first five tricks, a random card is drawn from the heap.[7]
In be-ranga double sar, the game begins after all cards have been dealt. The heap cannot be picked up before the subsequent trick after the trump suit has been determined.[2]
Adaptations for fewer than four players[edit]
In Iran, two- and three-player variants of this popular game are documented. For the three-player game, one of the 2s is removed, resulting in a pack of 51 cards. The cards are dealt in batches of 5–4–4–4. A round is stopped as soon as one player has won more tricks than any of the opponents would have if they won all the remaining tricks. (For example, the game is over at 7–4–4 tricks, but not at 8–3–1.) If a player wins the first 7 tricks, the round is also stopped and the player wins 2 points (eldest hand) or 3 points (opposing player).[3]
In the two-player game, only 5 cards are dealt to each player. After eldest hand has declared trumps, each player discards 3 cards face down. Players then alternate drawing single cards from the stock until they have 13 cards each. Any card drawn may be discarded face down and replaced by the next card from the stock, which must then be kept.[3]
Terminology[edit]
- rang, rung, hokm, troef
- Trumps..
- trump-caller, caller, hâkem
- Eldest hand, i.e. the player who sits after the dealer and leads to the first trick. This player also determines the trump suit.
- kot, court, coat, kap
- Winning the first seven tricks in a hand. In some scoring variants winning seven hands in a row is also a kot.
- t'rup chaal
- Leading a trump to the first trick.
- rafeh koti
- Playing a high card to the first trick in an attempt to prevent the opponents from scoring a kot.
- goolah kot, goon kot, hâkem koti
- A kot won against trump-caller's party.
- Teerwah, bavney, baunie
- When all 13 hands are won by a single team only. It is done by Calling the First Kot, then giving a First kot and then winning team can see each others cards, and they decide whether they can give teerwah or not .
Geographical distribution and naming[edit]
The game appears to originate in Iran, India and Pakistan,[8] where it is known under several names.[9]Court, coat or kot apparently stands for the achievement in the game, and pees is a Hindi word for to deal. In the alternative name seven hands, hands is Indian English for tricks.
The game is popular amongst the Gujarati diaspora, particularly in East Africa, the UK and Canada who refer to the game as chokri or chakri (of which a six player variation is also played).
Immigrants from the Indian subcontinent brought the game to Suriname and Guyana, where it is known as troefcall ('trumps call', a mixture of Dutch and English) and t'rup chaal.[8][10][11][12] From Suriname it found its way to the Netherlands. Under the name hokm (Persian: حُکْم, trumps) it is very popular in Iran.[13]
Satat is the most popular game in Mauritius, a group of islands whose majority population is of Indian descent. The name of the game is derived from saat hant, Hindi for seven hands.[6]
Hokmet Odenis Portali
References[edit]
- ^'Rule of Card Games: Court Piece and Double Sir'. www.pagat.com. Retrieved 2016-07-07.
- ^ abcdefghijMcLeod, John, ed., Court Piece / Rang, Card Games Website.
- ^ abcdefghMcLeod, John, ed., Hokm, Card Games Website.
- ^ abcdefghTroefcallspelregels en bepalingen van de Troefcall Sport Bond NederlandArchived 2011-08-31 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^In Indian English, the card term hand can refer to a trick. However, in this article the term is used with its normal meaning and refers to the set of cards which a player is dealt at the beginning of a game round, as well as to the entire game round played with those cards.
- ^ abcdefghiMcLeod, John, ed., Satat, Card Games Website.
- ^ abcMcLeod, John, ed., Dehla Pakad, Card Games Website.
- ^ abGeschiedenis troefcallArchived 2011-08-31 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^McLeod, John, ed., Card games in India, Card Games Website, McLeod, John, ed., Card games in Pakistan, Card Games Website.
- ^McLeod, John, ed., Card games in Surinam, Card Games Website.
- ^Troefcallspel NoSpang.com weer te downloaden, Suriname Network Online, 2010-02-07.
- ^Parlett, David (2008), The Penguin Book of Card Games (3rd ed.), Penguin Books, p. 24, ISBN978-0-14-103787-5
- ^McLeod, John, ed., Card games in Iran, Card Games Website.