How to Play Barbu: Rules, Contracts & Scoring

The basics

Barbu uses a standard 52-card deck, with 13 cards dealt to each player. Cards rank from Ace (high) to 2 (low). The player choosing the contract (the type of game played) is called the declarer (also known as the dealer). After looking at their cards, the declarer chooses a contract they have not yet declared during the match. There is no fixed order: choosing the right contract for your hand is part of the game. After each hand, the declarer moves clockwise.

How to play trick-taking games

A trick is a round in which each player plays one card. One player wins the trick and takes all four cards. Whether winning a trick is good or bad depends on the contract.

Leading and following suit

The declarer plays the first card of the first trick. This is called leading. The other players then play one card each, going clockwise. The first card determines the suit led. You must follow suit if you can—that is, play a card of that suit if you have one. For example, if a club is led and you hold any clubs, you must play a club—even if you would rather get rid of a heart or a queen. If you have no cards of the suit led, you may play a card from another suit. This is called discarding. In Trumps, additional rules apply, as explained below.

In a contract with no trumps (B, M, NQ, NH, NL2), the highest card of the suit led wins. Cards from other suits cannot win, regardless of their rank. For example, suppose the cards are played in this order:

Q♣ → 4♣ → 2♠ → 9♣

The Q♣ wins because clubs were led and it is the highest club played. The player who played 2♠ must have had no clubs. In Trumps, any trump beats every card of another suit. If several trumps are played, the highest trump wins. If no trump is played, the highest card of the suit led wins. In the same example, if spades are trumps, the 2♠ wins.

The same cards. Two different winners.

Clubs led

Play order: South Q♣ → West 4♣ → North 2♠ → East 9♣. North has no clubs in hand.

The winner of each trick leads the next one.

When a card carries a penalty, the penalty goes to whoever wins the trick containing it, not to whoever played it. For example, in No Queens, discarding a queen onto someone else’s winning trick gives them the queen’s penalty.

Special rules for Trumps.

Following suit always comes first. You cannot play trump instead of following the suit led. When you cannot follow a non-trump suit:

If nobody has trumped yet, you must play a trump if you have one.
If someone has already trumped, you must beat the highest trump played if you can. This is called overtrumping. If you cannot overtrump, you may play any card; you do not have to play a lower trump.
When trumps themselves are led, you must follow with a trump and beat the highest trump already played if possible. If you cannot beat it, you must still follow with a lower trump if you have one.

Example: Spades are trumps. Clubs are led, you have no clubs, and someone has already played 9♠. If you hold J♠, you must overtrump. If your only trump is 6♠, you may discard another card instead.

Special restrictions in Barbu and No Hearts.

In Barbu and No Hearts, you cannot lead a heart while you still hold any non-heart card. This remains true even after hearts have appeared in an earlier trick: there is no “hearts have been broken” exception.

The seven contracts at a glance:

Six of the seven contracts are trick-taking games. New to trick-taking? See How to play trick-taking games. Dominoes uses different rules, explained after the other contracts.

Barbu

B · No trump suit.

Avoid taking the King of Hearts. Hearts cannot be led unless you have only hearts left.

−20 for taking K♥.

Misere

M · No trump suit.

Take as few tricks as possible.

−2 per trick.

No Queens

NQ · No trump suit.

Avoid taking the queens.

−6 per queen taken.

No Hearts

NH · No trump suit.

Avoid taking hearts. Hearts cannot be led unless you have only hearts left.

−2 for each heart, except A♥, which is −6.

No Last Two

NL2 · No trump suit.

Avoid the final two tricks.

−10 for the 12th trick; −20 for the 13th.

Trumps

Win as many tricks as possible. One suit is declared the trump suit by the declarer. Following suit and trumping obligations apply. See Special rules for Trumps for further rules.

+5 for each trick won.

Dominoes

D · No tricks

Dominoes does not use tricks. Instead, everyone builds four sequences, one for each suit, on the table.

First: +45.
Second: +20.
Third: +5.
Fourth: −5.

The declarer chooses a starting rank from 2 to Ace; the declarer may choose a starting rank they do not hold. Every suit must begin with that rank. As in the trick-taking games, players take turns clockwise, playing one card per turn. A legal card either starts a suit at the chosen rank or extends an existing sequence by adding the next higher rank on the right or the next lower rank on the left.

The declarer takes the first turn. If they do not hold any card of the chosen starting rank, they begin by passing. If you have a legal card to play, you must play it; otherwise, you pass. The goal is to empty your hand, and when you do, you no longer take a turn. The hand ends when everyone has emptied their hands.

Finishing order determines the basic score: First: +45. Second: +20. Third: +5. Fourth: −5.

Three turns, one shared board

Starting rank: 7

Gold borders mark legal cards. Boards and hands are shown before each turn. South chooses 8♣ before West’s turn; West passes, leaving the board unchanged for North.

Doubling

After the declarer declares a game, doubling begins with the player to the left of the declarer and continues clockwise, with the declarer doubling last. Each player has one turn to choose their doubles or pass.

In a negative contract (B, NH, NQ, M, NL2), a non-declarer may double any combination of the other players.
In Trumps or Dominoes, a non-declarer may double only the declarer.
The declarer may double back (redouble) only players who have already doubled them.

Doubling a player is essentially a bet that you will score better than that player. If you do better, you gain extra points; if you do worse, you lose extra points. If your basic scores are equal, the double changes neither score.

In order to determine the points added and lost, first calculate everyone’s basic score for the deal, according to the scoring above. For each pair of players with a double between them, compare their basic scores. The player who did better receives an extra amount equal to the difference; the other player loses that same amount. If both players doubled each other (redouble), that extra adjustment is done twice, or simply twice the difference. If their basic scores are equal, no points change hands between them.

Doubling everyone else at the table is called a max double or just “max”.

If no doubles are made at all in a negative contract, the deal is passed out rather than played. The contract still counts as used. Each non-declarer receives the same penalty. The declarer scores 0, or +1 where needed to preserve the contract’s total points.

Contract	Declarer	Everyone else
Barbu	+1	-7
Misere	+1	-9
No Queens	0	-8
No Hearts and No Last Two	0	-10

Compulsory doubles

Over the match, you must double each other player as declarer at least twice, across that player’s seven declarations. Doubles in Trumps and Dominoes count too. Doubling someone who is not the declarer does not fulfil this requirement. Nor does another player doubling you. The obligation concerns doubles you make against the declarer only.

Keep an eye on your doubles owed. If a player has two declarations left and you still owe them two doubles, you must double them on both. Forced doubling means that you will sometimes have to double the declarer even if you suspect your hand is worse than theirs.

Doubling examples

Example 1: A double and a redouble in Misere

You take two tricks, giving a basic score of −4. North takes five tricks, giving a basic score of −10. You have scored 6 points better than North. If one of you doubles the other, you get an additional +6 for +2 total, while North loses an additional −6 for −16 total. If you both doubled each other, then you get an additional +12 for +8 total, while North loses an additional −12 for −22 total.

Between you and North	You	North
Basic score	−4	−10
One double: +6 / −6	+2	−16
Both double: +12 / −12	+8	−22

Fair play

Play to maximize your own points—not to influence who wins the match. The ladder and rating are based on points, not match wins. You must not favor or target another player because of their identity or their position in the match or standings.

Doubles create different scoring interests between players. This is sometimes called business: you have no business with an opponent if neither of you doubled the other, one double’s worth if only one of you doubled, and two if you doubled each other.

You may make decisions that improve your own score, including taking account of those doubles. But you must not deliberately favor or target one opponent over another when you have equal business with them, merely because of who they are.

Example: North maxes

For instance, you are the declarer, hold the K♥ and decide to call Barbu. North maxes, doubling the three other players, including you. You stand to gain the most points if North wins the K♥ (+20); you get 0 points if West or East wins the K♥, and lose 40 points if you win the K♥. Ideally, you manage to give the K♥ to North. In fact, if you have the opportunity to give the K♥ to North you must do so. If you have the opportunity to throw the K♥ off to East or West, you may do so, or may choose to wait, hoping to catch North.

Example: equal business

In another example, North declared Barbu, and you maxed while holding the K♥, while no other player doubled. You must throw off the K♥ at the first opportunity, because you have equal business with each other player, and you gain the same number of points no matter who gets the K♥.

How to Play