Projects and Baloot

What is a project in Baloot?

A project is a scoring combination found in a player’s original eight-card hand after dealing is complete. Sequence projects use consecutive ranks from one suit. Quartet projects use four cards of the same rank.

Project sequence order is A → K → Q → J → 10 → 9 → 8 → 7. A-K-Q is a Sira. A-10-K is not consecutive.

Complete Baloot project table

A maximal sequence of five cards or more is one One Hundred in the selected profile. It is not split into overlapping smaller projects.

The same card cannot support two regular projects

• Every regular project must use its own physical cards.
• All declarations from one hand must fit one legal non-overlapping allocation.
• An eight-card hand can therefore score at most two regular projects.
• Baloot follows its separate overlap treatment.

For example, A-K-Q-J of one suit is a Fifty. You cannot reuse K-Q-J from that same four-card run as a second Sira.

The first accepted Reveal locks regular-project priority

In the current ElBlot gameplay profile, the first accepted project Reveal locks the scoring team. Additional valid, separately declared, revealed, and non-overlapping projects from that team may score. A later opposing Reveal remains in the public audit record, but it has wrong priority, scores zero, and cannot replace the locked team merely because its category or rank is higher.

If a successful Takweesh ends the deal before any Reveal is accepted, the remaining timely lawful declarations are compared once using category, project kind, rank, and dealer-right seat order. The winning team’s eligible units count and the other team’s regular projects score zero.

Baloot does not join this priority contest. It may score for either team.

Comparing projects in the same category

1. For One Hundred, a five-card sequence outranks a four-of-a-kind One Hundred.
2. Within the same sequence category, the project with the higher top rank wins.
3. Hukum quartet priority is A, K, Q, J, then 10.
4. In Sun, four Aces are Four Hundred. Hundred quartets rank K, Q, J, then 10.
5. If value, type and rank are identical, the earlier seat in dealer-right order wins.

How Declare, Speak and Reveal work on ElBlot

1. Declare: On the owner’s turn in trick one, declare every physical project separately before playing the first card.
2. Compare category: A stronger category automatically beats a weaker category.
3. Speak: Use Speak only when contenders have the same project category.
4. Response window: The first Speak opens one fixed 10-second response period; replies do not restart it.
5. Limited public information: Speak identifies category or kind and the top rank/type, not the suit or exact cards.
6. Reveal: A player selects the exact project cards before playing on a lawful turn. The first accepted Reveal locks that player’s team for regular-project scoring.
7. Before the lock: If a higher candidate forfeits without revealing, the opportunity may descend to the next lawful declaration. Controls close after trick eight.
8. After the lock: Later opposing Reveals remain auditable evidence but have wrong priority and score zero.
9. Scoring gate: Only eligible Reveals from the locked team enter normal regular-project scoring.

A missing or late Declare does not support Takweesh on its own. A false or late Speak does not reopen comparison and likewise does not support Takweesh on its own. Failure to Reveal removes that project from ordinary scoring. An incorrect, overlapping, mismatched, or unauthorized Reveal can be challenged; a successful INVALID_PROJECT ruling removes the convicted Reveal before priority and points are recalculated.

Baloot: King and Queen of trump

• Baloot exists only in Hukum.
• One player must hold both the King and Queen of the trump suit.
• It is worth exactly 2 game points.
• Call Baloot while playing the second of those two cards, before that card settles on the table, unless it is recognized automatically inside a qualifying sequential project.
• A late call does not count.
• Baloot is not multiplied by Double, Three or Four.
• It may score for either team, independent of regular-project priority.

Under the selected Saudi baseline, trump K-Q exposed inside a sequential Sira, Fifty or One Hundred can count automatically. It does not auto-count from a quartet of Kings or Queens.

How projects affect the deal result

Eligible projects are added to converted card points when comparing the teams. In a normal deal, if the buyer succeeds, the regular-project priority team keeps its eligible pool and Baloot remains with its owner; if the buyer fails, the winning nonbuyer receives the full card pool and all eligible add-ons.

At Double, Three or Four, success by the latest escalation side adds only that team’s eligible add-ons and the losing side’s add-ons are lost. If the latest escalation side fails, the winner receives all eligible add-ons.

At Double, regular projects are multiplied by two. Under the selected Saudi baseline they return to ×1 at Three and Four. Baloot remains ×1 at every level. See Baloot scoring with worked examples.

Quick project examples

Project rules that vary

Common differences include quartet-versus-sequence Hundred priority, trump-suit priority in an equal sequence, handling of long sequences, whether Baloot must always be spoken, and project multipliers after Three and Four. ElBlot publishes the selected rule and preserves it for the whole Sakka.