How To Play Kout Bo

Kout Bo is a Middle Eastern card game which has, in recent years, become very popular in Kuwait and the surrounding area. There are various versions of this game for differing number of players. The six player (Kout Bo 6) version will first be described with variants for differing numbers of players described in the variants section below.

Higher and lower Joker in Kout Bo

Kout Bo 6 is designed for six players playing two partnerships of three players each. The game is played using one standard 52 card deck along with two Jokers. The two Jokers should be distinguishable amongst each other, as the Jokers also have a relative ranking. Most card decks are packaged with two Jokers, one in color (or red) and one not colored (black and white). If they are not so distinguishable, the Jokers should be marked in such a way such that one is the higher Joker and the other the lower Joker. The ranking of the cards as used in the game Kout Bo are as follows (from highest to lowest): Color Joker, Black and White Joker, Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The one exception to this rule is that the Ace of the designated trump suit during a hand, is considered the second highest card in the deck during that hand and will beat every other card in the deck except the colored Joker.

If not already predetermined, selection of partnerships can be performed using a variety of methods, with a draw for high cards commonly used. Once the partnerships have been determined, the players should be seated at the table such that a member of the opposing team is on both sides (to his right and to his left). Another draw for high cards can also be used to determine the first dealer for the game. After each hand, the role of dealer rotates in a counter-clockwise direction around the table.

Once the dealer has been determined this player should thoroughly shuffle the deck and offer it to the player as his left to cut. After the cut he begins dealing the cards around the table in a counter-clockwise rotation, starting with the player at his immediate right. He deals the cards, face-down one at a time around the table, until each player has a total of nine cards which form the hands.

After the cards have been dealt, each player picks up his hand and round of bidding occurs. The player to the immediate right of the current dealer has the first opportunity to bid with the bids proceeding in a counter-clockwise direction around the table. The lowest permissible bid is five (called Bab) and the highest is nine (Bawan). A player's bid is the number of tricks his team will attempt to win during the hand. A player is never required to bid and may elect to pass rather than bid. Each player has exactly one opportunity to bid. In order to be considered a valid bid, a player's bid must be higher than any previously made bid on this hand.

If the first five players all pass, the last player (the dealer) is required to make a bid of at least five. If this last, required bid, is for the minimum five, this is called Malzom.

The high bidder during the hand is called the maker and indicates one of the four suits (spades, hearts, clubs, or diamonds) to be used as the trump suit for the hand (called the Hokm suit). After declaring the trump suit, this player then plays any card of choice from his hand to start the first trick. The high bidder and his team is called he Hokm team.

Play, bidding, and dealing are all in a counter-clockwise direction in Kout Bo

Play, bidding, and dealing are all in a counter-clockwise direction in Kout Bo

After the lead, each other player, in a counter-clockwise direction then adds one card from his hand to that same trick. If a player has a card of the suit originally led to the trick, he must play it. However, if he does not have such a card he may play any card from his hand, including a card of the trump suit. Although there are certain restrictions to the play of a Joker to lead to a trick, there are normally no such restrictions to playing a Joker to an existing trick, thus a player having the Joker may play this card to any existing trick if preferred, on his usual turn.

The Jokers are normally not allowed to be led to a trick, except in one of the following specific circumstances:

The leader of that card is a member of a team which bid eight or nine on this hand, and the bid was the highest bid for the hand. If his team's high bid was eight, he may lead with the color Joker, and if his team's high bid was nine, he may lead with either Joker.
If, during this hand, the Ace, King, Queen and Jack of the trump have already been played by this or other players.

If a Joker is thusly led to a trick, it is considered a trump card and all other players must play a card of the trump suit if able. However, if a Joker is led and the conditions for leading it have not been met, the Joker can never win the hand, and the next player in turn may play any card from his hand. The suit of this second card played to that trick determines the suit for which that trick must be played.

Once each player has played one card to the trick, it is examined to determine the winner of the trick. The highest card in the trump suit (which includes the Jokers) played to the trick wins that trick. If the trick contains no cards from the trump suit, the trick is won by the highest card of the suit originally led to that trick. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick.

After all nine tricks have been played and won, the Hokm team checks to determine if they were able to win at least the number of tricks as bid. The following chart shows the number of points that team will win if they manage to win at least as many tricks bid and the number of points they will lose if they fail to win at least as many tricks as bid:

Bid	Points Won by Team if Bid Made	Points Earned by Opposing Team if Bid Not Made
Malzolm (5)	5	5
Bab (5)	5	10
Six	6	12
Seven	7	14
Eight	8	16
Bawan (9)	36	18

The game is won in one of three conditions:

If Bawan is bid and made by a team on the first hand, that team is automatically declared the winner of the game.
One team reaches an accumulated score of 51 or higher and the other team still has a total accumulated score of 0, the scoring team is declared the winner.
One team reaches an accumulated score of 101 or more points, this team is declared the game winner.

Game Variations and Optional Rules

Joker Rules: Other than the rules given above regarding the use of the Jokers, there are also deviations of these rules for the play of a Joker which are sometimes adopted in this game:

In some variants, the rules allowing the lead of a Joker after the Ace, King, Queen, and Jack of the trump suit is removed, and the only condition for which a Joker may legally be played is if that team had bid eight or nine on the hand.
In other variants, the rule is modified such that all cards from the trump suit must have already been played before allowing a Joker to be led to a trick (or the player of the Joker is a member of a team which bid eight or nine).
In some variants, the rule is relaxed somewhat such that only the Ace of the trump suit need have been previously before the Joker can be led to any trick. However if the player who declared the Hokm (trump suit) does not have the Ace in hand, that player may play a Joker at any time.

Kout Bo 4: Although the six player variant is the most popular version of Kout Bo, a four player variation is also often played. As evidenced by the game's name, it is designed for play by four participants. These players are arranged into two partnerships of two players each. Each player should sit directly across the table from his partner during the game.

Kout Bo 4 also uses a modified deck which can be created by removing all cards of denomination 5 and lower from the standard deck. In addition, the two Jokers (which should be distinguishable in some manner) are also added to the deck. The following is the normal ranking of the cards as used in Kout Bo 4 (shown from highest to lowest); Color Joker, Black and White Joker, Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. One exception to this normal ranking is that the Ace of the designated trump suit is always set as the second highest card in the deck, immediately after the colored Joker in ranking.

As in the standard game, the dealer distributes the cards, in a counter-clockwise direction, such that each player receives a hand of nine face-down cards. After the deal, the players then pick up the hands for examination and a round of bidding. Each player may either pass or make a bid which is higher than any previous bid on this hand. The lowest allowable bid is five (Bab) and the highest nine (Bawan). If the first three bidders, the last bidder (the dealer) must make a bid. If he elects to bid the lowest bid (5) this is called Malzom. A bid is a player's estimate of the minimum number of tricks his team can win during the hand.

The highest bidder (Hokm) declares his choice of trump suit for the hand and leads the first card to start the trick. The leader to each trick may lead any card of choice from his hand (except a Joker, see below) to start the trick. Each other player must then, if they have a card of the suit led to the trick, play a card of that suit to the trick. If the player has no such card, he may play any card from his hand, including a card of the trump suit. However, one exception to the requirement to follow suit to an existing trick, is that a player may play a Joker any time to an existing trick started by another player.

As in the six player version of the game, a player may not lead with a Joker to a trick unless either his team has bid eight or nine, or all the face cards and the Ace of the trump suit have already been played during this hand. Leading a Joker legally to a trick is considered a card in the trump suit, and the other players must play a card of the trump suit (or another Joker if preferable) to that trick if able. If a Joker is played to a trick and the conditions have not been met for so playing that card, the Joker can never win that trick, and the card played by the next player determines the suit for which that trick should be played in.

Scoring of each hand and winning conditions for the game are identical to those in the parent version of the game.