Indians get nostalgic when it comes to playing card games. Call Break Card Game is one of those childhood games that you enjoyed with your friends and cousins during vacations and festivals. Ideally, it’s a 4-player game in which each player makes moves to reach a target set of 300. You can play the game in multiple sets, and the player scores points for moving towards the target in each set.
The popular call break card game is known with different names across different regions, such as Call Bridge, Lakdi, Spades, and Racing. There may be little changes in rules depending on where it is played, but the core idea remains the same across all the game versions.
The setup of call break card game
It is mostly a trick-taking or, in other words, hand winning card game. In the Call Break Game, the objective is to secure as many hands as possible or at least the number that the player bids before the game begins.
The four players are required to start the game without any partnerships. In the call break game, Spade is a predefined trump. The cards’ value is based on their face value, ranking in a high to low order; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
After all the four players are seated, the dealer bears the responsibility of distributing 13 cards to each player. Before the game begins, each player should select the hand values based on their possible winning hands.
Rules of playing call break
Once the 13 cards are distributed to the players, the first player to make a move is chosen randomly. The objective is to make minimum hands similar to the call. The calls are numbers that represent the number of hands that a particular player bids to win. A player can call between 1-13, with the lowest call as 1 and the highest remains 13. Every player needs to make at least one call.
The main objective is to make hands equivalent to the call or more than the call. In case a player doesn’t get even one trump or spade, then the cards will be distributed to all the players again.
Call Break Gameplay
The player to the dealer’s right is expected to lead the first hand. After that, the winner of each hand will lead the subsequent hands. Players have to play a card of the same suit that is being played during the current hand. In case they don’t have a card belonging to the suit that is played, they can use a trump card. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean you will win the hand.
For example, the player sitting next to the dealer plays an Ace of Hearts. After that, every player will have to play a card from the same suit unless they don’t have any. In such cases, the player without a card from the same suit can choose to play a trump card. If a player throws an Ace and no player has played a trump card, the player with the Ace card will win the hand.
You must play a higher value card than the cards that have already been played during the hand if you have one. If you don’t have a card with a higher value, you can play any card.
Call Break Card Game Strategies
Set your goal
Before you make a bid at the beginning of the game, make sure to set your goal to win the exact count or even a higher number of tricks or bets. For instance, if you have opted for five calls before the game starts, you must win five or more tricks to win five points. The process seems equal to your first call. In case you end up with less than five or more tricks, you shall have a negative of the points you aimed for or lose it from your total points.
Calculate the risk
You need to calculate the risk while making a bid. You shouldn’t bid on an amount that you are not sure you can win. If you play safe, there are chances that you will have a positive score, and that seems better than opting for high risk. Be mindful of the fact that your bid will decide your score. So you need to make a bid which you can achieve. Any trick can get trapped and trumped at any point. Therefore, you need to be careful and follow the game.
Focus on the score
The scoring system of the Call Break card game is Points Based. Your score increases with the increase in the number of hands you win. But, it’s also quite dependent on the bid that you place when the game begins. At the end of the game, if you have secured fewer hands than what you bid, you will lose an equivalent number of points. In case you secure the same number of tricks, then your points will increase by the same number. With each extra hand that you win past your bid amount, you earn 0.1 points.
Conclusion
If you are a beginner or a novice to the call break card game, you can easily brush up your skills by playing the game regularly. You can also read this beginner’s guide to improve your game and beat your opponents. Hop on to the MPL app and play this entertaining game to win real cash rewards. The game is relatively easier to learn and understand than other popular card games, and when you master a few tricks, you will be unstoppable.
