Capot in belot

What capot is

A team makes capot by taking all eight tricks. It doesn’t matter who bid: the bidders or the defenders can make it. If the bidders take no trick at all, the defenders make capot and the contract has of course failed.

The capot bonus is added to the team’s raw points together with the last ten and declarations, and it counts when deciding whether the contract is made. “Валат” means the same thing – different tables use one word or the other.

How many points capot is worth

Capot is worth 90 points. In No trumps the card points and the last ten are doubled, but the capot bonus is not – it stays 90. This is what a capot deal without declarations is worth:

Declarations and belot come on top. If the bidders make capot and the defenders have a winning declaration, the defenders still record it; if the contract fails with a capot for the defenders, they record everything – their own points and the bidders’ declarations.

Capot and contra

Under contra or recontra everything is multiplied, the capot bonus included. A doubled capot in a suit contract is 252 × 2 = 504 raw points, i.e. 50 game points – a third of the game. Redoubled it is 1008 points, 101 game points. That is why doubling opponents who have a real chance of capot is one of the most expensive mistakes in the game. More on multiplying in contra and recontra.

“You can’t go out on a capot”

If a team reaches or passes 151 in a deal that ended with a capot, the game does not end – one more deal is played (in Bulgarian: „С капо не се излиза“). Example: North/South have 140, make capot in hearts and reach 165. The game continues. After the next deal the score is checked as usual – if North/South are still ahead above 151, they win then.

A deal in which everybody passed does not count as that extra deal, and if the extra deal also ends with a capot, another one is played. The rule is part of the standard Bulgarian rules and the Belot Arena table applies it automatically.

How to make capot

Capot is rarely an accident. Count the tricks you are sure to take as soon as you see all eight cards – if you count eight, play for capot from the first trick.

• Draw trumps first. A single small trump in an opponent’s hand can ruff an ace at the end. Draw them with the jack and the nine, then the ace.
• Cash your winners in the right order. Ace first, then the ten of the same suit – the ten only becomes top once the ace is gone.
• Never give the opponents the lead. Any card that can be beaten ends the capot. If you have a doubtful card, keep it until the opponents have nothing left to beat it with.
• Don’t risk the contract for the capot. If the capot depends on luck and the contract is safe, make the contract quietly.

Example: spades are trumps and South holds J♠ 9♠ A♠ 10♠ K♠, A♥, A♣ and 10♣. Whatever the opponents lead, South wins: he ruffs diamonds, has the ace of hearts and of clubs, and the jack of spades. On lead he draws J♠, 9♠ and A♠ – the opponents’ Q♠, 8♠ and 7♠ fall even if one player holds all three. Then A♥, A♣, 10♣, 10♠ and K♠. Eight tricks, capot, 252 points.

How to stop capot

As a defender your goal is sometimes not to beat the contract but to win one trick. It saves 90 bonus points, and if it is the last trick, another 10.

• Keep your stopper. An ace in a suit the opponents haven’t played yet, or a trump that will be top once the big ones are gone. Don’t throw it away to smear points.
• Discard from the suits you don’t need. When you cannot follow, throw from the suit where you have no strength.
• Watch your partner. If he has shown strength in a suit, keep your cards in it so he can lead you there, or leave it to him to guard.
• Think about the last trick. A player chasing capot often cashes everything strong and is left with a card you can beat. A ten or king kept in the right suit is a capot stopped in the eighth trick.