TO play the game, first the two through six cards are removed from the deck and are not used. This leaves 32 cards in the playing deck.
The seven, eight and nine cards have no point value, but can be used to win cards if other players place cards of lesser face value. The suit cards have higher point values, as do twos- threes- and fours-of-a-kind and straights (when a player has sequential cards of the same suit).
The overall strategy is for players to accumulate points; the team that gets to 152 points first wins.
The game starts with each player being dealt five cards. And the top card of the remaining 12 cards is placed face up in the middle. The player to the right of the dealer begins the round, and can take the card or pass.
The game doesn’t begin until a player takes that card, after which the dealer distributes the rest of the cards to the players. The game begins when all 32 cards have been dealt to the players, eight apiece. If no one takes a card, then the cards are collected and re-dealt. When a player takes the card in the middle that everyone can see, the player also calls “sunn” or “hukum.” The “sunn” is considered a stronger play, which puts 26 points at stake. Each player takes turns placing cards on the table face up. The person who lays the highest card in the round gets all four cards and the points they represent.
Calling “hukum” puts 16 points at stake. When more than one type is called in a round, “sunn” overrides the “hukum.” The player also names the suit of preference — which means that suit breaks any ties in a round. For example, if you call clubs, then the nine of clubs beats the nine of hearts during the playing round (if there are no higher cards played in the round). This process continues until a player is out of cards. If the total point value for a team has not yet reached 152, the cards are re-dealt. Confused? If so, there are plenty of Saudi Belut fanatics more than happy to show you how to play, but they night not be extremely eager for you to be on their team.
