Callbreak
South Asia’s favorite. Spades are trump, every call is your own, and you must beat the trick when you can. 4 players.
Also known as Call Break and Lakdi.
How to play Callbreak
- 1Four players, thirteen cards each, and spades are always trump. If anyone is dealt no spades at all, the cards are dealt again.
- 2Starting left of the dealer, everyone calls how many tricks they will take, from 1 to 8. There are no partners: each call is your own.
- 3The player left of the dealer leads. Follow suit if you can, and if you can beat the best card of that suit in the trick, you have to (once someone has trumped with a spade, any card of the suit will do).
- 4With none of the suit led, you must play a spade, and beat any spade already in the trick if you can. Only when you can't do either may you play anything you like.
- 5The highest spade wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led. The winner leads next.
- 6Take at least your call and you score it, plus a tenth of a point for each extra trick (call 3, take 5: 3.2). Fall short and you lose your call (call 4, take 3: −4).
- 7After 5 deals the highest total wins.
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