Four-Hand Bezique

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. How a hand works
5. Phase 1: playing a trick
6. Melds
7. The 7 of trumps
8. The end of the stock
9. Phase 2: two duels
10. Scoring a hand
11. Winning the game
12. Tips for beginners
13. Variants

Overview

Four-Hand Bezique is the partnership version of Bezique: two teams of two play with four decks shuffled together. You score points by winning Aces and 10s in tricks and, above all, by showing card combinations called melds – such as King and Queen of the same suit, or the bezique: the Queen of Spades with the Jack of Diamonds. Partners share one score and can build melds together. The first team to reach 2000 points wins.

• Players: exactly 4, in two teams. Partners sit opposite each other, so the turn always alternates between the teams.
• You need: four standard 52-card decks of the same size (ideally the same back design) and paper and pen for scoring.

The cards

From each of the four decks, take out all 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 6s and the jokers. Shuffle the rest together: 128 cards – A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7 in each suit, and every card exists four times.

In every suit the cards rank from high to low:

A – 10 – K – Q – J – 9 – 8 – 7

Note the 10: it ranks below the Ace but above the King.

Aces and 10s are called brisques. Each brisque your team wins in a trick is worth 10 points at the end of the hand – 32 brisques, 320 points in all.

Setup

1. Teams and first dealer: agree on teams (or cut: the two highest cards play together). Anyone may deal first; after that the deal passes to the left.
2. Deal: the dealer shuffles and deals 8 cards face down to each player, clockwise, starting with the player on the left: packets of 3, then 2, then 3. These cards are your hand – keep them hidden, also from your partner.
3. Trump: the dealer turns up the next card. Its suit is trumps for this hand: any trump beats any card of another suit. If this card is a 7, the dealer's team scores 10 points at once.
4. Stock: the remaining 95 cards go face down in the middle as the stock (draw pile). The trump card lies half underneath it, face up.

How a hand works

• Phase 1 – while there are cards in the stock: tricks are played loosely, the winning team may meld, and everybody draws a card after each trick.
• Phase 2 – the last 8 cards in each hand, once the stock is empty: strict rules, no melding, played as two duels.

Phase 1: playing a trick

A trick is one round in which each player plays one card face up; the best card wins all four.

1. The player to the dealer's left leads (plays the first card) to the first trick. After that, the winner of each trick leads to the next.
2. The others follow clockwise, one card each. In phase 1 you may play any card – you don't have to play the same suit or try to win.
3. Who wins the trick: - If any trumps were played, the highest trump wins. - Otherwise the highest card of the suit that was led wins. Cards of other suits never win. - If two identical cards tie for best (e.g. two A♣), the one played first wins.
4. The winning team keeps the cards face down in a shared pile. Only the Aces and 10s in it will count later.
5. The winning team may declare one meld (see below).
6. Then everyone draws one card from the stock: the trick winner first, then the others clockwise. Everyone is back to 8 cards.

Melds

A meld is a scoring combination. To declare it, lay the cards face up on the table in front of you and announce it.

• Only the team that won the trick may meld: either the winner or the winner's partner may declare.
• The team scores one meld per trick won, before anyone draws. Melding is never compulsory.

For "four of a kind" the suits don't matter.

Cards on the table still belong to your hand. You may play them to a trick at any time; everyone simply sees them. Your hand plus your table cards always make 8.

Building melds with your partner

Partners may combine their cards on the table. When your team wins a trick, you may add cards from your hand to the cards your partner has already laid out, and score the new meld.

Example: Hearts are trump. Earlier, Anna laid out K♥ Q♥ as a royal marriage (40). Now her partner Carla wins a trick. She adds A♥ 10♥ J♥ from her hand to Anna's marriage and scores the sequence for 250.

Double and triple beziques can be formed the same way from the cards of both partners. All the cards of a double or triple bezique must be on the table at the same time, not yet played to a trick.

Using a card again

A card on the table can be used again in a different kind of meld, but never in a second meld of the same kind. Every new meld needs at least one card that has not been declared before.

• A King from four Kings may later marry a Queen – a different kind of meld.
• A marriage can grow into a sequence (40, then +250), but a marriage taken out of a sequence scores nothing.
• A bezique can grow into a double bezique (+500) and then a triple (+1500).

The 7 of trumps

There are four 7s of trump. After your team wins a trick, the player holding one may, in addition to the team's meld:

• show it and score 10 points, or
• exchange it for the face-up trump card under the stock (take that card, put the 7 in its place) and score 10 points.

The end of the stock

The last round of drawing takes the last face-down cards and finally the face-up trump card (or the 7 exchanged for it): whoever draws last in that round gets it. Melds may still be declared before this last draw.

Now everyone picks up their table cards into their hand, and phase 2 begins.

Phase 2: two duels

The last cards are not played by all four together, but as two separate duels of 8 tricks:

1. The winner of the last trick of phase 1 plays against the opponent on their left. They play all 8 tricks, one card each per trick, while the other two wait. The winner of the last trick leads to the first; after that, the winner of each trick leads.
2. Then the other two play their 8 tricks against each other in the same way. (Traditional rules don't say who leads this duel; agree beforehand – for example, the player whose partner led the first duel. Afterwards the winner of each trick leads.)

In both duels the strict rules apply:

• You must follow suit if you can.
• If you can, you must win the trick – with a higher card of that suit, or with a trump if you have none of the suit.
• No more melds. Two identical cards: the one played first wins.

Brisques won in the duels count for the winner's team as usual. The winner of the very last trick of the hand scores 10 points for their team.

Scoring a hand

Melds are scored the moment they are declared – write them down at once. At the end of the hand each team counts the brisques in its tricks: 10 points each.

Example: During the hand, Anna and Carla scored a royal marriage (40), a sequence (250) and four Kings (80) = 370. Ben and Dan scored a bezique (40), a double bezique (500) and a trump 7 (10) = 550, and they also won the very last trick (+10). Brisques: Anna and Carla 18 (180 points), Ben and Dan 14 (140 points). Hand total: Anna and Carla 550, Ben and Dan 700.

Winning the game

Keep adding up the scores. The first team to reach 2000 points wins. If both teams pass 2000 in the same hand, the higher total wins.

Tips for beginners

• Show your melds. Cards on the table can be built on by your partner – a marriage you lay out today may become your partner's sequence tomorrow.
• Hoard Q♠ and J♦. With four decks there are four of each; a triple bezique is worth 1500 – almost the whole game.
• Feed brisques to your partner. If your partner is sure to win a trick, add an Ace or 10; if the opponents will win, play a 7, 8 or 9.
• Save trumps for the duels. In phase 2 you must win if you can, and trumps decide the duels.
• Win tricks when your team has a meld ready. Only the winning team may meld.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Four players, each for themselves: the same game without partnerships; each player scores alone and may only use their own cards for melds.
• Consultation game: two against two with only two decks (64 cards), each pair playing one hand together and discussing every move – played exactly like two-handed Bezique.
• 7 as the meld: at some tables, showing or exchanging a 7 of trumps counts as the team's one meld for that trick.
• Scoring brisques at once: score each Ace and 10 as soon as it is won in a trick instead of counting at the end.