How to Play Coinche
Description
Belote with a full bidding phase — and the option to double the stakes. Bid well and you score. Bid badly and you hand the points to your opponents.
Objective
Team up with the player across from you and be first to reach the match target, mainly through card values won in tricks.
Setup
Four players in fixed partnerships, using a 32-card deck — just 7 through Ace in each suit.
Deal five cards each. The remaining cards form the kitty — turn the top kitty card face up as a proposed trump suit.
Rules
Instead of simply accepting or declining the proposed trump, players bid — naming a suit and a point target their side is confident of reaching, each bid higher than the last.
Any opponent of the current highest bidder can "coinche" — doubling the stakes if they believe that bid will fail. The bidding side can then "surcoinche" back, doubling again.
Once bidding settles, cards are dealt out to eight each and play proceeds exactly as in Belote: trump ranks Jack, 9, Ace, 10, King, Queen, 8, 7; other suits rank normally; follow suit or trump if you can't, overtrumping unless your partner already leads the trick.
A King and Queen of trump held together (a Belote) scores a bonus when declared.
Winning
The bidding side must reach or beat their bid's point target from tricks and melds combined — succeed, and points count normally (doubled or quadrupled if coinched); fail, and the defenders score everything instead, at the same multiplier.
First side to the agreed match target wins.