Ulti

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Bidding
5. The contracts
6. Kontra
7. Playing the tricks
8. Scoring
9. Winning the game
10. Tips for beginners
11. Variants

Overview

Ulti is the most popular card game in Hungary. Three players take part. In every deal they bid for the right to play alone against the other two; the highest bidder – the declarer – chooses trumps and must fulfil the contract they bid: win more card points, reach 100, win the last trick with the 7 of trumps (the "ulti"), lose every trick or win every trick. Contracts are built from components that are scored separately, and every contract in hearts is worth double.

• Players: 3–4; with four, the dealer sits out each deal (see Variants).
• You need: a standard 52-card deck, and paper and pencil.

Deal, bidding and play go anticlockwise (to the right).

The cards

Use 32 cards: take out all 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 6s. With trumps, each suit ranks from high to low:

A – 10 – K – Q – J – 9 – 8 – 7

With no trumps (Betli and some Durchmars), the 10 drops to its natural place: A – K – Q – J – 10 – 9 – 8 – 7.

A trick is one card from each player; the best card wins all three. Card points come only from Aces and Tens in your tricks, 10 each, plus 10 for the last trick – 90 in all. A tie is impossible.

20 and 40: a player who holds the King and Queen of one suit may announce them when playing their card to the first trick: "20", or "40" in trumps ("two 20s", "40 and 20" for more). You don't have to show them. The points count for your side, whoever later wins those cards – but only towards a 100; the parti is decided by card points alone.

Setup

1. Everyone draws a card; the lowest deals first. Afterwards the deal passes to the right.
2. The player on the dealer's left cuts.
3. First round: deal 7 cards to the player on the dealer's right and 5 to each of the others. Second round: 5 more to each. The player on the dealer's right now has 12 cards, the others 10.

Bidding

The player on the dealer's right starts: they lay 2 cards face down – the kitty – and name a contract (they can't pass).

Then, anticlockwise, each player in turn either:

• bids: picks up the kitty without showing it, lays any 2 cards face down as the new kitty and names a higher contract, or
• passes: hands the kitty on unseen. Passing doesn't stop you bidding at your next turn.

The bidding goes round as often as needed. When all three players in a row have passed, the last bidder is the declarer. You may bluff – name one contract and later switch to a different, higher one. If both other players pass after your bid, you may pick up the kitty again at your turn, discard again and name a higher contract; the others then get another chance to bid. Aces and Tens left in the final kitty count for the opponents.

The contracts

Each contract with trumps names its trump suit only if it is hearts ("heart ulti"); otherwise the declarer names trumps at the start of play.

• Parti is the simple game. It is bid on its own, or comes with Ulti (a bid of "ulti" is parti + ulti).
• 40-100 / 20-100 replace the parti. Only that one 40 or 20 may count towards the 100.
• Ulti needs trumps; if it fails (the 7 is beaten or forced out early) the declarer loses its value plus the same again. Having bid ulti, keep the 7 of trumps as long as the rules allow.
• Durchmars on its own is played with no trumps; with trumps it must be combined with ulti or a 100.
• Betli and no-trump Durchmars can't be combined with anything; heart betli is just a more expensive betli.
• A bid made of several components adds them up: "40-100 ulti" = 4 + 4.

Ranking: bids rank by their total value; the parti counts only to break a tie. So betli (5) beats ulti (1 + 4), and heart ulti (2 + 8) beats 20-100 (8). To overcall you must bid higher: bids in the same row of the table are equal, so each of them shuts out the others.

Even higher bids combine open durchmars with a 100 or an ulti; they rank the same way.

Kontra

As they play to the first trick, an opponent may say kontra to any component they expect to fail ("kontra the ulti") – it now counts double. In a trump contract a kontra counts for both opponents; in betli and no-trump durchmars each opponent kontras only for themselves. Before the second trick, the declarer may rekontra (×4), the opponents szubkontra (×8), and so on. The extra penalty for a lost ulti is not doubled.

Playing the tricks

The declarer names trumps (if not already named) and leads to the first trick; afterwards, the winner of each trick leads.

1. Follow suit if you can.
2. If you can't, you must trump.
3. Either way, you must beat the highest card in the trick if you can.
4. With neither suit nor trump, play any card.

The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led. In an open contract, the declarer lays their cards face up after the first trick; the opponents may not confer.

Scoring

Each component is won or lost separately. For every component won, each opponent pays the declarer its value; for every one lost, the declarer pays each opponent.

Unbid bonuses in trump contracts:

• Silent 100: a side that takes 100 points without bidding it doubles the parti.
• Silent ulti: winning the last trick with the 7 of trumps pays 2 (4 in hearts); if the 7 is played to the last trick and beaten, that side loses 4 (8).
• Silent durchmars: all tricks without bidding it pays 3 (6), instead of the parti.

Giving up: a declarer who bid a simple parti (not hearts) may give up before the first lead and pay just 2 to each opponent.

Example: Anna bids ulti and names clubs. Ben says kontra to the ulti. Anna takes 60 points and wins the last trick with the 7♣: parti 1 + ulti 8 – Ben and Carla each pay her 9 (Anna +18, Ben −9, Carla −9). Had her 7♣ been beaten, the last trick would go to the opponents (Anna 50 to 40, still a parti win): she would win 1 but lose 8 + 4 for the ulti: she'd pay each of them 11.

Winning the game

Play as long as you like and keep a running total; the player with the highest total at the end wins. By tradition, someone says "the Ace of Hearts deals": note who holds A♥ at the end of the next auction. When it is next their turn to deal, play one last round of three deals, starting with theirs.

Tips for beginners

• Count before you bid: with 40 in trumps you need only 60 in tricks for 40-100.
• Be careful what you discard – the next bidder picks it up.
• Ulti needs length in trumps, so the 7 can't be forced out early.
• Kontra only when you're fairly sure – it doubles your loss too.

Variants

All optional – agree before playing.

• Four players: the dealer sits out each deal and usually doesn't pay or collect.
• Four Aces: a bonus for taking all four Aces in a trump contract – 2 unbid, 4 bid (doubled in hearts).
• Tournament durchmars: at the Hungarian tournaments, a suit durchmars may be played alone, and open durchmars in a minor suit is worth only 12.
• Older rules: 20-100 was worth only 4 (8 in hearts), the same as 40-100.