How to play Batak
Batak comes down to two questions: how many tricks do you say you'll take, and can you keep your word? Here is the full flow, from the deal to the score.
Step by step
- 1
Deal
The 52 cards are shuffled and dealt thirteen each to four players. No jokers.
- 2
Bid
Each player says how many tricks they will take. Bidding opens at five and rises around the table. Anyone unwilling to go higher passes.
- 3
The winning bidder leads
The highest bidder takes the contract and plays the first card. Spades are trump; in the Koz Maça variant the bidder names trump instead.
- 4
Follow suit, or trump
If you hold the suit that was led you must play it. If you don't and you hold a trump, you must play the trump. Only when you have neither may you play anything.
- 5
Count the tricks
The highest trump takes the trick; with no trump played, the highest card of the led suit takes it. After thirteen tricks, everyone counts what they took.
How the auction works
Bidding opens at five tricks. Going around the table, each player either raises or passes. A player who passes is out of the auction for that hand.
The winning bidder must take at least the number they said. Extra tricks earn extra; falling short costs them the whole bid.
Bidding all thirteen is the sharpest move on the table. It ends the game if it holds, and buries the bidder if it doesn't.
Following suit and the trump obligation
This is the rule that separates a serious table from a casual one: if you hold the suit that was led, playing it is COMPULSORY. If you don't hold it but you do hold a trump, playing the trump is compulsory too.
So you cannot sit on your trumps. Holding spades, you may not throw another suit — which is why trumps drain fast and the last few tricks become a different game entirely.
Only when you hold neither may you discard freely. That is your one chance to dump a dangerous high card.
Going under
Fall short of your bid and you go under: nothing you took that hand counts, and you take a penalty equal to what you bid.
So playing Batak well is not about taking many tricks — it is about naming the RIGHT number. Bidding seven on a nine-trick hand beats bidding nine and taking eight at most tables.
Sinking someone else's contract is a strategy of its own: stealing a single trick from the bidder, even at the cost of your own hand, moves the whole scoreboard.
Variants
İhaleli Batak: the form described above, and the most widely played. Spades are trump.
Koz Maça: the winning bidder names trump. Being able to make your long suit trump changes the game noticeably.
Eşli Batak: players sitting opposite each other are partners, and bids and tricks are counted per team. It plays almost like a different game.
Gönül Batağı: the reverse form, where taking tricks is bad and the aim is to take as few as possible.
Common questions
Which suit is trump in Batak?
In classic Batak spades are always trump. In the Koz Maça variant the winning bidder chooses the trump suit.
What is the minimum bid?
The auction usually opens at five. A lower bid doesn't count as a contract; if nobody bids five the hand is redealt.
Can I hold back my trumps?
No. If you cannot follow the led suit and you hold a trump, you must play it. Sitting on trumps is not allowed.
What does 'going under' mean?
Failing to reach the number of tricks you bid. You score nothing for the hand and take a penalty equal to your bid.
When will it be playable?
No date. It becomes playable from this page when it's ready.