How to Play Batak

The table and the deal#

Batak is played by four players with a standard 52-card deck. Each player is dealt 13 cards and exactly 13 tricks are played. The deal rotates anticlockwise (to the right) every round.

Play runs anticlockwise: the turn always passes to the player on the current player's right. The player sitting across from you (second seat) is your partner's seat — that matters in the partners variant, but first, the auction.

The auction: declaring your tricks#

After the deal, every player simultaneously declares a bid using declaration-style rules: you state how many tricks you will win. Bids are 0 or between 3 and 13; there is no pass — everyone must name a number.

The four bids can add up to more than 13; that is normal in declaration style. Since keeping your word scores points and failing it loses them, the real skill is naming the right number: an ordinary bid starts at 3 — the lone exception, 0, is below.

The exception is the zero bid: declare 0 and finish the round without a single trick for +50 points; take even one trick and −50 goes on the ledger. With no spades, aces or kings it is a brave escape hatch. If your pair surrenders, a zero bid on the surrendering side books as failed (−50).

Spades are always trump#

Unlike many trick-taking games, Batak has no trump call: spades (♠) are the permanent trump in every round. A spade beats any card from the other three suits. The count and quality of your spades directly set your bid — five or more spades is the backbone of a strong declaration.

Trick flow and the follow-suit rule#

The player to the dealer's right leads the first card. Each following player must follow the led suit if they hold a card in it; if they have none, they may throw anything — including a trump.

The highest card of the led suit wins the trick — unless a trump was played, in which case the highest trump takes it. The winner leads the next trick. After thirteen tricks the round ends and the score is settled.

Scoring: make your bid, extras are worth nothing#

The maths is clean: make your bid and you score ten times the number you declared (bid 7 → +70). Fall short — go batak — and the same amount comes off (bid 7 → −70). Overtricks score nothing.

That makes Batak a game of exactness: declaring 10 when you could take 9 is needless risk, declaring 8 is free points. Extra tricks are only good for bragging rights until the next deal.

Round end and rematch#

At the end of a round everyone's bid, tricks taken and score change are shown in a summary. Choose "Play Again" for a fresh deal at the same table; seats are kept. Players who leave are replaced by automatic fillers.

You can leave a table any time — if you go mid-round, a bot takes over your seat to finish the deal, but that round is excluded from rating. For zero friction, waiting for the round to end is the cleanest exit.