How to Play the Card Game Hola

Hola is a unique game which contains features of trick taking games but also has some similarities to certain shedding type games such as Durak or Palace. The end goal of each player is to capture the most points at the end of the hand, with only a few cards actually worth points. Despite the game's name, it is not of Spanish descent. Hola actually appears to be a Ukrainian game, but is currently most commonly played in western Canada.

Hola uses one standard 52 card deck. Although a sort of trick taking game, the actual cards do not have any meaningful relative ranking to other cards in the deck as will be seen shortly. The standard version of Hola is played by four players in two partnerships of two players each, but two player and six player variants are described below.

Determination of partnerships can be performed using a variety of methods, with cutting of cards commonly done. In this method, each player draws a card from the shuffled, face-down deck. The two players drawing the two highest cards play as partners against the two player drawing the two lowest. Each player should sit directly across the table from his partner. The player drawing the highest card of all should be set as the first dealer.

Point scoring cards in Hola Once the dealer is determined, this player will then thoroughly shuffle the cards and offer it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, the dealer will then begin dealing the cards in a clockwise direction around the table, one by one and face-down, starting with the player at his immediate left. He continues dealing until each player has a total of four cards. He then places the remainder of the deck, face down in the middle of the table as the stock.

As mentioned the object of each partnership is to earn a maximum number of points during the hand. Each Ace and 10 captured during the hand earns the player 10 points. All other cards earn no points if captured. The player winning the last trick of the hand also earns 10 points for his partnership.

The player to the immediate right of the left of the dealer plays the first card to the first trick and play continues in a clockwise direction. This player plays any card of his choice to start the trick.

Each other subsequent player in a clockwise direction then also plays a card to that same trick. He may play any card of his choice to the trick. However, in order to be considered the current winner of the trick he must play specific cards to the trick. The leader of each trick is considered the initial winner of the trick. However, if any subsequent player to the trick plays a card of the exact same denomination as first led to that trick, that player is then considered the new winner of the trick. Additionally, if a player plays a seven or two to the trick, the player of that card then becomes the current winner of the trick. Any other card played to the trick cannot win the trick.  Thus, the trick is thus considered to be won by the player who last played a seven, two or card of the same denomination as first played to the trick.

One trick in Hola After each player has played one card to the trick, the turn then returns to the leader of that trick. If he is still currently the winner of said trick, he may simply take the cards from that trick and add them to his partnership's win pile. However, if another player is currently considered the winner of that trick (by virtue of playing a card of the same rank as originally played to the trick, or having played a seven or two), the original leader may either concede the trick to the current winner of the trick or decide to "fight" for the trick. If he concedes the trick, the current winner of that trick takes the cards from that trick and adds them to his partnership's won pile. In order to fight for the trick, the original leader must play another card of the same denomination as that originally led to the trick or a seven or two. If he does this, each player in turn then plays any card remaining from his hand to the trick.

If, after each player has again played a card to the trick, the leader is still considered the winner of the trick, he may then take the trick into his partnership's win pile. However, if another player managed to play a card which would win the trick (a card of the same denomination as first led, a seven or a two), the leader to the trick again has the option to concede or fight (if willing and able). This continues until either the leader wins the trick, concedes the trick or the players run out of cards in hand. In any of these events, the winner of the trick then takes all the cards from the trick and adds them to his partnership's win pile. After a trick is won, each player, starting with the winner of the trick and moving in a clockwise direction, draws enough cards from the stock pile to replenish his hand to four cards. If there are not enough cards remaining in the deck for each player to draw a full four cards, each player should draw such cards such each player will draw the same number. The winner of a trick then leads the first card to the next trick. Once the stock pile is exhausted, the players continue with the remaining cards in their hands until all cards have been played to tricks. Once all the cards have been played, the teams each examine the cards in their won cards pile to determine the scoring for the hand.

As mentioned previously, the winner of the final trick of every hand earns 10 points. In addition, each Ace captured earns that team 10 points and each card of denomination 10 captured during the hand earns that team 10 points. If one team manages to capture every point scoring card in the game as well as the last trick, that team is said to have earned an "Hola" and earns double the score for each Ace and 10 captured during the hand (the final trick still earns the usual 10 points).

The points earned by each partnership during the hand are added to that partnership's accumulated total at the end of each hand. If, after the completion of any hand, one team has managed to earn an accumulation of 250 points or more, that team is declared the winner of the entire game. If both teams have accumulated 250 or more points, the team with the higher total score is declared the game winner.

If the team which did not include the dealer on the last hand scores 50 or less points on any particular hand, the same dealer should also deal the next hand. However, if that player managed to earn over 50 points, the deal rotates to the next player in turn in a clockwise direction.

       

Variations, Optional Rules and Similar Games




Six Player Hola: Hola can also be played by six players in two partnerships of three players each.

The game is played identically to the standard game with the following exceptions: In all other aspects this version is played identically to the standard four player partnership variant of the game.

Two Player Hola: Hola can also be played with just two players. Other than the obvious difference in that there are no partnerships and each player plays and earns a score independently, the rules are exactly the same as in the standard four player variant of Hola.

Sedma: Sedma is a game which is played similarly to Hola and from which it appears Hola was derived from. Sedma (which translates to the word Seven) was developed in Czechoslovakia and is most popularly played there, but it, or variants of this game are played in many other parts of Eastern Europe as well.

Sedma is traditionally played with the 32 card German deck. However, if players do not have such a deck, they can play also with the Skat deck, consisting of 32 cards. This deck can be created by retaining the following denominations from a standard 52 card deck, Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7. In Sedma, the cards do not normally have a relative ranking amongst themselves. The most common version of the game is the four player partnership version, so that version will be described first. However, variants for 2 and 3 players are described further below.

A number of different methods can be used to determine the partnerships for the game. One common such method is for each player to draw one card from a shuffled face-down deck. The players drawing the two highest cards play as partners against the two players drawing the two lowest. Each player should be seated directly across the table from his partner. The player who drew the highest card of all is set as the first dealer.

The dealer should thoroughly shuffle the deck and offer it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, the dealer than proceeds to begin dealing the cards, to each player in a clockwise direction around the table, starting with the player at his immediate left. He usually deals the cards in small packets of two cards. He continues dealing until each player has a total of four cards. He then places the remainder of the deck face-down in the middle of the table as the stock pile.

The player to the immediate left of the dealer leads the first card to the first trick. The leader to a trick may play any card of choice from his current hand to start the trick. Each other player, in a clockwise direction, then also plays a card to the trick, in his proper turn. A player may play any card to the trick, however, only specific cards can win the trick, and other cards will earn the winner of said trick 10 points each.

Challenging a trick in Sedma If a player manages to play to the trick a card of the same denomination as that first led to the trick, that player becomes the current "winner" of the trick. A player can also be the current winner by playing any seven to the trick. After all four players have played one card to the trick, it is determined who the winner of the trick might be. If no other player played a card of the same denomination as first led to the trick or a seven to the trick, the leader to the trick wins the trick. However, if one or more players played a card of the same denomination originally led to the trick or a seven, the most recent of such cards played to the trick wins it. However, if the leader is not currently winning the trick, he can optionally choose to continue the trick in an attempt to win that trick. To do so, he could play another card of the same denomination as he first led to the trick or a seven. Each additional player in turn, then plays another card to the trick. After each player has again played an additional card to the trick, the trick would again be won by the most recent card of the original denomination as led to the suit or seven played to it. If the leader of the trick is the winner of the trick he may take the trick, however if he is not, he may again attempt to win the trick by playing another applicable card (a card of the original denomination or any seven). This can continue for a maximum of four times, when each player will have run out of cards in his hand.

The winner of a trick, takes all the cards from the trick and places them in a special won-tricks pile which will be examined at the end of the hand for determination of points earned during the hand. The winner of the trick then draws enough cards from the deck to replenish his hand to four cards and after this player has draw his cards, each other player draws an equal number of cards into their hand. When drawing, if the deck does not contain enough remaining cards, each player should only draw enough so that each player can draw the same number. Once the deck runs out, the players continue playing with the remaining cards in hand. The winner of each trick leads the first card to start the next trick.

After all cards in the player's hands have been played, each partnership examines their won-tricks pile to determine scoring for the hand. The team that managed to win the last trick of the hand wins 10 points, and each Ace or 10 captured in tricks during the hand earns that team 10 points. The game itself is usually calculated in accumulated Game Points which are calculated for each team at the end of each hand. These Game Points are earned at the end of a hand for a team as follows: The first team to accumulate 10 or more Game Points at the end of a hand is declared the overall game winner.

The next hand is normally dealt by one of the players on the team who earned fewer Game Points on the last hand. It should also normally not be the same player who dealt the previous hand.

Two Player Sedma: Sedma can also be played by two individual players. The game is played identically to standard Sedma with the only difference being that there are no partnerships, and thus each player plays and scores independently.

Three Player Sedma: A variant of Sedma for three players is also sometimes played. Other than the fact that there are no partnerships in this version, there are a few other differences in the game to make it compatible for three players: In all other aspects, the three player variant is played identically to the standard game Sedma.

Passing the last hand in Sedmice Sedmice: Sedmice is a game which is played very similarly to Sedma and is the version which is played in Herzegovina, Bosnia and Serbia. In fact Sedmice is identical to Sedma with just a few minor differences as described below:
Croatian Sedmice: The version of Sedmice which is normally played in Croatia is identical to the standard version of Sedmice played in other surrounding areas, with a few exceptions. Firstly, the last trick of each hand does not earn the 10 point bonus as described for standard Sedmice. In addition, this game is decided on Game Points rather than on a cumulative score. The team which manages to win more card points during each hand earns one Game Point. However, if a team manages to win all the point scoring cards in the hand (but do not win every card in the hand) that team earns 2 Game Points. If a team manages to win every trick (and thus every card in the deck) during a hand they earn 3 Game Points. If both teams score exactly 40 points during the hand, the team which won the last trick of the hand earns 1 Game Point for the hand. The first team to accumulate 12 or more game points is declared the winner.

Ristikontra: Ristikontra is a Finnish card game with play mechanics similar to Hola and Sedma. Ristikontra appears to be the game from which most of the other games of this type have been derived.

Similar to the other games of this type, Ristikontra is designed to be played by four players playing in two partnerships of two players each. The game uses one standard 52 card deck. While the cards in this deck do not have a relative ranking amongst themselves, many of the cards in the deck do have a point scoring value when captured in tricks.

Determination of partnerships can be performed in any manner, with drawing of cards a common method. Using this method, each player draws one card from the shuffled deck, with the two players drawing the highest cards playing as partners against the two players drawing the two lowest. Each player should be seated directly across the table from his partner in play. The player drawing the highest card of all is set as the first dealer.

After the players are seated, the designated dealer thoroughly shuffles the cards and offers it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut the dealer begins dealing the cards in a clockwise direction around the table, one by one and face-down. He starts the deal with the player at his immediate right and continues until each player, including himself, has a total of six cards. The remainder of the deck is then placed face-down in a pile in the center of the table as the stock pile. The player to the immediate left of the dealer has the first turn, the turn to play rotates around the table in a clockwise direction.

The leader to a trick may play any card of his choice from his hand. Each other player in turn, contributes one card to this trick. A player, on his turn to play to the trick, may play any card, but only certain cards played to a trick have the opportunity to win the trick. After all four players have played one card to the trick, the trick is examined to determine the winner of that trick. The last player to have played a card of the same exact denomination as originally led to the trick wins the trick. If no other player played a card of the same denomination as that first played to the trick, the leader of the trick wins that trick.

The same player may not lead the same ranked card in four consecutive tricks, but other than that restriction, the leader to a trick may play any card of his choice to begin a trick. One other unique feature of this game, is that any player, on his turn to play to a trick, has the option to "play in the dark". This indicates that rather than play a card from his hand, he may instead take the top, face-down card from the stock and use that card as his play to the trick. Thus, the player will simply take the top, unseen card from the stock and play it face up to the trick.

The winner of the trick then takes the cards and places them to the side in a face-down won tricks pile for determination of scores at the end of the hand. After each trick, the winner of the trick draws one card from the deck and each other player in a clockwise direction from this player also draws a card to replenish the hand to six cards. If a player opted to "play in the dark" on a particular turn, he would, of course, not draw a card into his hand on that turn. Once the stock is exhausted, no additional cards are drawn, and the players play out the remaining cards in the hand. The leader of each trick leads the first card to the next trick.

After all tricks have been played and won the partnerships each review all cards won by that partnership to calculate the scores earned for the hand. Each card captured in a trick has a corresponding point score, as per the following chart:
CardPoint Value
Ace11
Ten10
King4
Queen3
Jack2
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 90
            Card point values in Ristikontra
If one partnership manages to score 61 or more points at the end of the hand, that team scores 1 Game Point. If a team scores all 120 card points during the hand, that team scores 2 Game Points. If each team scores exactly 60 card points, no Game Points are awarded for the hand, however, one additional Game Point is awarded on the next hand. The first team to reach 7 or more game points at the end of a hand is declared the winner.

Ristiklappi: Ristiklappi is a variant of Ristikontra which is sometimes played in a small section of Europe around Lapland and Hungary. This version of the game is also known by the names Lappi or Cross-clap. The game is played identically to Ristikontra, with the following exceptions:
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