Hokm

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Choosing the Hakem and the teams
4. The deal and the trump
5. Playing the tricks
6. Scoring
7. The next hand
8. Winning the game
9. Tips for beginners
10. Variants

Overview

Hokm is the most popular card game in Iran: a quick trick-taking game for four players in two teams. In every hand one player is the Hakem ("ruler"), who chooses the trump suit after seeing only their first five cards. The first team to win 7 tricks wins the hand and scores a point – more if the other team didn't win a single trick. The first team to 7 points wins the game.

• Players: 4, in two teams of two, partners opposite each other. (Versions for 2 and 3 players are under Variants.)
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, and something to keep score.

The cards

In every suit the cards rank from high to low: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. The cards have no point values – only tricks count.

A trick is one round in which every player plays one card, face up; the best card wins all four. The trump suit (hokm in Persian) is the strongest suit in a hand: any trump beats any card of another suit.

Choosing the Hakem and the teams

Deal and play go anticlockwise (to the right).

1. One player deals cards face up, one to each player in turn to the right, until someone gets an Ace. That player is the first Hakem.
2. Keep dealing (skipping the Hakem) until another player gets an Ace. That player is the Hakem's partner. Change seats if necessary so that partners sit opposite each other.
3. The player to the Hakem's left is the first dealer.

The deal and the trump

1. The dealer shuffles and the Hakem's partner (to the dealer's left) may cut.
2. The dealer deals 5 cards to each player, starting with the Hakem and going to the right.
3. Stop after the Hakem's five cards. The Hakem looks at them and announces the trump suit. Only then does the dealer give out the other first packets – that way the partner can't give any hints.
4. The dealer then deals 4 cards to each player, twice, so that everyone has 13 cards.

Playing the tricks

1. The Hakem leads – plays the first card – to the first trick.
2. The others each play one card in turn to the right. You must follow suit – play a card of the suit that was led – if you can.
3. If you have no card of the suit led, you may play any card, including a trump.
4. Who wins: the highest trump in the trick; if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led.
5. The winner of the trick takes it, lays it face down in front of them and leads to the next trick.

The hand ends as soon as one team has won 7 tricks – the remaining cards are not played.

Example: Spades are trump. North leads the Q♦. West plays the K♦, South has no diamonds and plays the 4♠, East plays the 7♦. South wins the trick with the trump and leads to the next one.

Scoring

The team that wins 7 tricks first wins the hand:

A kot is a hand won 7–0: the losing team didn't win a single trick.

The next hand

• Hakem's team won: the same player stays Hakem and the same dealer deals again.
• Opponents won: the turn passes to the right. The old Hakem becomes the dealer, and the player to their right – an opponent – becomes the new Hakem.

Example: Anna is Hakem, Ben (to her left) deals. Anna's team loses the hand. Now Anna deals, and Dan, to Anna's right, is the new Hakem.

Winning the game

The first team to reach 7 points wins the game.

Tips for beginners

• As Hakem, choose the suit you hold most of in your five cards – ideally with high cards. With two equal suits, pick the one with the Ace or King.
• Lead trumps early if your team has many; once the opponents' trumps are gone, your Aces are safe.
• Short suits are useful: as soon as you have no cards of a suit, you can win tricks in it with a trump.
• Don't trump your partner's winner. If your partner's card will surely win the trick, throw away a low card instead of wasting a trump.
• Remember which cards are gone, especially trumps and Aces.

Variants

Hokm for 3 players

Remove one 2 (51 cards). Deal face-up cards until someone gets an Ace – that player is Hakem, and the player to their left deals. The dealer deals 5 cards each, pauses for the Hakem to name trumps, and then deals 4, 4 and 4, so everyone has 17 cards. Everyone plays for themselves; the Hakem leads.

• Whoever wins the first 7 tricks wins the hand at once: 2 points for the Hakem, 3 for another player.
• Otherwise the hand is won by the first player whose number of tricks no one else can equal: e.g. 7–4–4 is a win (no one else can reach 7), 7–4–3 is not yet. If two players end with the same number of tricks, the third player wins (e.g. 7–7–3). Such a win scores 1 point.
• First to 7 points wins. If the Hakem loses, the Hakem deals and the player to their right becomes Hakem.

Hokm for 2 players

Deal face-up cards until someone gets an Ace – that player is Hakem, the other deals. The dealer gives each player 5 cards; the rest is the stock (face down). The Hakem names trumps and discards 3 cards face down; the dealer discards 2.

Then, starting with the Hakem, the players take turns drawing from the stock: look at the top card and either keep it – then look at the next card and discard it face down – or discard it face down and keep the next card. When the stock is used up, each player has 13 cards. The first player to win 7 tricks scores 1 point; winning the first 7 tricks scores 2 (Hakem) or 3 (the other player). First to 7 points wins. If the Hakem loses a hand, the other player becomes Hakem.