This guide summarises the rules used on public tables in Batak Sultan. The rules are enforced automatically and equally for everyone by our server; an illegal card cannot be played, the app only lets you play cards that are allowed. The game is for entertainment only: virtual chips have no monetary value and nothing of real-world value can be won. Batak Sultan uses the same Sultan account as 101 Okey: Sultan; for the 101 Okey rules see the Game Guide. The Turkish version of this guide is Batak Rehberi.
1. Cards, players and the deal
- Batak is played by 4 players with a standard 52-card deck. Suits: spades (maça), hearts (kupa), diamonds (karo), clubs (sinek).
- Cards rank from high to low in every suit: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
- Each player is dealt 13 cards. Cards are shuffled and dealt randomly on the server; each player sees only their own cards.
- Play passes from seat to seat around the table. The dealer moves on one seat every deal; the player after the dealer speaks first.
- In this guide a round in which each of the four players plays one card is a trick, and the 13 tricks played with one set of cards are a deal.
2. Game modes
Public tables offer three modes; you choose the mode in the lobby:
| Mode | In short |
|---|---|
| İhaleli (auction, default) | Everyone plays for themselves. There is an auction; the winner of the auction names trumps and tries to take at least as many tricks as they bid. |
| Koz Maça (spades trump) | Spades are always trumps; there is no auction. Each player bids once, in turn, the number of tricks they will take. |
| Eşli (partners) | Players sitting opposite each other are partners. The auction is on the partnership's combined tricks; the winner of the auction names trumps. |
In private salons set up with friends, the mode and match length may differ according to the options shown in the salon.
3. Auction (İhaleli and Eşli)
- On your turn you either bid a number or pass. A bid must be higher than the highest bid so far.
- The minimum bid is 4 in İhaleli and 7 in Eşli; the maximum is 13.
- A player who passes cannot speak again in that deal.
- Once a bid has been made and the other three players have passed, the auction ends and the highest bidder wins the contract. A bid of 13 ends the auction at once.
- If the first three players pass and the dealer also passes, the dealer is forced to take the contract at the minimum bid (4 in İhaleli, 7 in Eşli).
- The winner of the contract chooses one of the four suits as trumps and leads to the first trick.
4. Bidding (Koz Maça)
- Spades are always trumps; there is no auction and no passing.
- Starting with the player after the dealer, each player bids once the number of tricks they expect to take in this deal (at least 1, at most 13).
- The player after the dealer leads to the first trick.
5. Playing the cards (all modes)
The leader plays any card (subject to the trump-lead rule); the others each play one card in turn. Which cards you may play follows these rules:
- Follow suit: if you have a card of the suit led, you must play that suit.
- Overtake obligation: when following suit, if you hold a card higher than the highest card of that suit on the table, you must play a higher card (which one is up to you). If a non-trump suit was led and a trump has already been played, this obligation falls away, because you cannot win the trick with that suit. If trumps were led, you must overtake with trumps too.
- Must trump: if you have no card of the suit led but you have a trump, you must play a trump.
- Overtrump: if there is a trump on the table and you hold a higher trump, you must play a higher trump; if you have no higher trump you still play a trump.
- Free discard: if you have neither the suit led nor a trump, you may play any card.
- Leading trumps: trumps may not be led until they are "broken", i.e. until a trump has been played in that deal. If you hold only trumps you may lead one.
- Winning the trick: the highest trump wins the trick; if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner leads to the next trick.
After 13 tricks the deal ends and the scores are written.
6. Scoring
The basic rule: a bid made = 10 × bid + overtricks; a bid failed = −10 × bid. A player or team that does not reach their bid has "gone down" (battı).
| Mode | Who | Score |
|---|---|---|
| İhaleli | contract winner, if made | +(10 × bid) + (tricks taken − bid) |
| İhaleli | contract winner, if failed | −(10 × bid) |
| İhaleli | other players | + number of tricks taken |
| İhaleli | a player who did not win the contract and took no tricks at all ("batak") | −(10 × bid) |
| Eşli | contracting team (partners' combined tricks) | if made +(10 × bid) + overtricks; if failed −(10 × bid) |
| Eşli | defending team | + total tricks taken; if the two of them take no tricks at all, −(10 × bid) |
| Koz Maça | every player | if they took at least their bid +(10 × bid) + overtricks; if fewer, −(10 × bid) |
In Eşli mode each partner receives their team's score.
Examples:
- İhaleli, bid 5: if the contract winner takes 7 tricks, +52 (50 + 2 overtricks); with 4 tricks, −50.
- İhaleli, bid 6: the contract winner takes 8 tricks (+62); if the other three players take 3, 2 and 0 tricks they score +3, +2 and — as the player with no tricks is "batak" — −60.
- Eşli, bid 8: if the contracting team takes 9 tricks in total, both partners score +81; if the defending team took 4 tricks, both of them score +4.
- Koz Maça: bid 3 and take 3 → +30; bid 4 and take 2 → −40; bid 2 and take 5 → +23.
7. The match
- On public tables a match lasts 11 deals.
- At the end of the match the player with the highest total (in Eşli, both players of the highest-scoring team) wins; in a tie the winnings are shared.
- On staked tables the pot (virtual chips) goes to the winner(s) after the table fee (5% for regular members, 3% for VIP members) is deducted. Virtual chips have no monetary value and cannot be transferred between players.
- Batak matches count towards Batak Sultan's own statistics, Sultan Points (SP), weekly league and tournaments; level/XP is shared on your Sultan account.
8. Time limits and auto-play
- You have 25 seconds for each decision (bid, trump choice, card).
- If you are actively handling your cards when time runs out, extra time may be added automatically in 15-second steps, up to 60 seconds in total per match.
- If time runs out, a move is made for you: in İhaleli and Eşli mode you automatically pass during the auction (a contract is never taken on your behalf). Other decisions — choosing trumps, the Koz Maça bid and playing a card — are made by the computer within the rules so that the game can continue.
- If you lose your connection your seat is held for a while (about 45 seconds); if you do not come back in time or you leave the table, a bot takes your seat and finishes the match in your place.
9. Bots
- On public tables, empty seats may be filled with computer-controlled players ("bots") so that players do not have to wait long. If a player leaves a match, a bot may also take their seat.
- To keep the atmosphere of the table, bots are not individually labelled.
- Bots play by the same rules; they cannot see or influence the deal and do not know other players' cards. They use only their own cards and the cards openly played on the table.
- Bots never win anything of real value; chips won by a bot are not transferred to any real person but leave the game. Bots are not used to push players towards purchases.
- In private salons set up with friends, empty seats are filled with bots only if you choose so.
10. Chat, voice chat and cosmetics
- Table chat is relayed only to the players at that table. Everyone in voice chat can listen; speaking is a VIP feature; voice chat is never recorded. Rules: Community Guidelines.
- Cosmetic items such as Batak card backs, and the frames and table felts shared by both games, only change appearance; they do not affect the deal or the odds of winning.
11. Fair play
Cards are shuffled and dealt randomly on the server; no player or member of staff can influence the outcome of a deal. Cheating, collusion (e.g. players passing card information to each other via chat or other means — partners in Eşli mode included) and chip dumping are prohibited: Terms of Use, Community Guidelines.
Questions: [email protected] · Support