How to Play Call Break

What is Call Break?

Call Break (also written Callbreak) is the most popular card game in Nepal and a favourite across India, where it also goes by Lakdi or Lakadi; some players and apps call it Ghochi. Four players each play for themselves with an ordinary 52-card pack. Spades are always trumps.

After the deal, every player makes a call: the number of tricks they expect to win. Then thirteen tricks are played under a strict rule: you must follow suit, and you must win the trick if you can. Win at least as many tricks as you called and you score your call; fall short and you lose it. After five rounds, the highest total wins.

Rules change a little from one table to the next. This page gives the rules played at bs.fyi, which follow the Call Break of Nepal and the popular online versions, and says where other tables differ.

Bid your tricks in other games: Oh Hell (take exactly your bid) · Contract Whist (with a partner)

Call Break rules at a glance

Players

4, each for themselves

Pack

One 52-card pack, no jokers; all the cards are dealt, 13 each

Card order

A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (low) in every suit

Trumps

Spades, always. Any spade beats any card of another suit.

Call

Each player calls the tricks they will win, 1 to 8, starting left of the dealer

Play

Follow suit and beat the best card in the trick if you can. With none of the suit led, play a spade (higher than any spade in the trick if you can). Otherwise play any card.

Scoring

Made the call: the call, plus 0.1 for each extra trick (call 4, win 6: 4.2). Fell short: minus the call.

Winner

The highest total after five rounds (three in a short game)

How to play Call Break, step by step

1. 1

   Deal

   The dealer shuffles and deals the whole pack one card at a time, starting with the next player, so everyone has 13 cards. The deal moves on one seat each round. In Nepal the deal and play go anticlockwise, to the right; on screen the turn simply moves to the next seat.

2. 2

   Make your call

   Starting with the player after the dealer, each player calls once: the number of tricks they expect to win, from 1 to 8. Nobody can call zero. The calls do not have to add up to anything; there is no hook rule. Everyone sees every call.

3. 3

   Lead the first trick

   The player after the dealer leads any card. The others play one card each, in turn.

4. 4

   Follow suit and try to win

   If you have a card of the suit led, you must play one, and it must beat the best card of that suit in the trick if you can. If the trick has already been trumped with a spade, any card of the suit led will do, because it cannot win anyway.

5. 5

   No card of the suit led? Trump it

   If you have none of the suit led, you must play a spade. If someone has already played a spade, your spade must be higher if you can manage it. If you have no spades, or only spades lower than the one already played, you may play any card.

6. 6

   Win the trick

   The highest spade wins the trick. If no spade was played, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner leads the next trick.

7. 7

   Score the round

   After thirteen tricks, everyone counts their tricks. Win at least your call and you score the call, plus 0.1 for each trick over it. Win fewer and you lose points equal to your call.

8. 8

   Play five rounds

   The next player deals, and the game goes on for five rounds. Add up the scores: the highest total wins. Players who tie for the top share the win.

The must-win rule, with examples

Call Break is stricter than most trick-taking games: whenever you can win the trick, you must. This is why some cards in your hand may be greyed out at bs.fyi even though you hold the suit led. The rule works like this:

Hearts led, the K♥ winning

You hold A♥ and 4♥: you must play the A♥. Holding only the 9♥ and 4♥, either will do.

Hearts led, already trumped

Someone played a spade on the hearts. You hold A♥ and 4♥: either heart will do, since no heart can win now.

No hearts, no spade yet

You must play a spade. Any spade wins the trick for now.

No hearts, the 9♠ winning

Holding the J♠ and 3♠, you must play the J♠. Holding only the 3♠, you may play it or any other card.

No hearts and no spades

Play any card.

Call Break scoring, with examples

Making your call is what counts. Each trick over your call is worth only a tenth of a point, so calling low is safe but scores little, and calling high scores well but costs you the whole call if you fall short. Scores are written to one decimal place.

Here is one round:

Called 3, won 3

+3.0: exactly made

Called 4, won 6

+4.2: made, with two extra tricks

Called 5, won 4

−5.0: one trick short, the whole call is lost

Called 1, won 0

−1.0

Winning the game

A game is five rounds, so every player deals at least once. Add each player's five round scores; the highest total wins. At bs.fyi you can also play a short game of three rounds. If two or more players share the top total, they share the win.

The redeal rule

Many tables throw a hand in if any player has no spade at all, or no face card (no jack, queen or king); the same dealer shuffles and deals again. At bs.fyi this is an option you can switch on before a game. It is off by default, and the Daily Challenge plays without it.

Call Break and similar games

Call Break belongs to the same family as <strong>Spades</strong>, the American partnership game: spades are always trumps and every player bids a number of tricks. In Call Break there are no partners and no nil bids, and the must-win rule makes every trick a fight.

<strong>Call Bridge</strong>, played in Bangladesh, is a close cousin: calls start at 2, and a player following suit does not have to beat the trick. <strong>Oh Hell</strong> and <strong>Nomination Whist</strong> also bid tricks, but there you must take exactly your bid, and trumps change every round.

House rules you may meet

Some tables allow calls up to 13, count a call of 8 or more as worth 13 if made, play ten rounds, or let a player follow suit without beating the trick. At bs.fyi calls are 1 to 8, the must-win rule always applies, and a game is five rounds (or three), so every table and every computer player plays to the same rules.

Call Break strategy tips

• •Count your sure tricks. The A♠ is always a trick. Side aces usually are too, and a king with a small card beside it often is. Spades beyond the fourth in a long spade suit tend to win late in the round.
• •Call a little under. An extra trick is worth only 0.1, while missing your call costs the whole call. When unsure between two numbers, call the lower one.
• •Look for short suits. With few cards in a side suit and some spare spades, you will soon be out of that suit and able to trump it. Lead your short suit early to get there faster.
• •Cash your winners before they are trumped. Side aces are best played early, while everyone still has cards of that suit. Later in the round, someone will be void and trump them.
• •Use the must-win rule. When a player follows suit with a low card, they had nothing higher in that suit: the rule would have made them play it. Remember who is out of a suit and who has run out of spades.
• •Save your high spades. Once your call is made, don't spend the K♠ or Q♠ on a trick you don't need. Keep them to stop a rival from making their call.
• •Watch the other calls. If the other three players have called a lot between them, tricks will be hard to come by. If they called little, there may be spare tricks for you.

Frequently asked questions