Armenian Blot Online for Telegram Stars
Eight-card belote duel — non-dealer calls trump.
Armenian Blot is the most distinctive of the three belote variants on Stario: eight cards dealt up front, no draw phase, the non-dealer chooses the trump suit before play begins. It rewards reading hand strength fast, calling trump from a thin advantage, and squeezing every point from a 162-pt round. On Stario you queue against another human (or, after a 10–30 s wait, a five-tier bot) and play for real Telegram Stars (XTR).
Armenian Blot rules at a glance
A 32-card deck (7 through Ace, four suits) is shuffled and dealt eight to each player. There is no kitty, no draw, no widow — every card is in someone's hand from the first trick.
The non-dealer (whoever did NOT shuffle / deal this round) declares the trump suit before any card is played. The choice can be one of the four suits or "no trump" in some Armenian house rules; Stario currently supports the four-suit variant. Once trump is set, the dealer leads the first trick and play follows standard belote rules:
— Follow suit if you can. If you cannot, you must trump. If you cannot trump either, you discard. — A higher trump beats a lower trump. Within trump, the rank order is J > 9 > A > 10 > K > Q > 8 > 7. Outside trump, A > 10 > K > Q > J > 9 > 8 > 7. — Card values: in trump J=20, 9=14, A=11, 10=10, K=4, Q=3; off-trump A=11, 10=10, K=4, Q=3, J=2, 9=0, 8/7=0.
After all eight tricks, points are tallied. Belote (K + Q of trump in the same hand) auto-credits +20 to that player. Last-trick winner gets +10. Highest score takes the round; on Stario one round equals one match (no first-to-501 series yet).
Armenian Blot on Stario
Stario was built by an Armenian gaming community, so Armenian Blot is treated as a first-class game with full rule fidelity. Match length is one round (~5–8 minutes), pots are paid in Stars on the spot, and a five-tier bot opponent fills empty seats after a brief queue wait so practice and casual play stay viable. The trump-choosing screen highlights the suit-strength of your hand to help newer players make a sane call without giving veterans a tell.
Tips for the trump call
- Count high trumps before suits. A hand with J and 9 of any suit is a viable trump call regardless of side cards.
- Bellote (K + Q of one suit) is a free 20 points if you call that suit as trump — and only counts if you announce it.
- Off-suit Aces and Tens hold their value regardless of trump; an A + 10 in two suits is rarely worth a thin trump call.
- Watch what the dealer plays first. A pawned A in trump on the first trick is a tell that they are short on trump strength.
- Defend the last trick more aggressively than the first. The +10 last-trick bonus often decides the round.
Armenian Blot FAQ
How is Armenian Blot different from regular belote?
Two main differences: (1) all eight cards are dealt up front — no draw phase or kitty — and (2) the non-dealer chooses trump rather than the trump being flipped from the deck top. The trick-taking rules and card values are otherwise identical to French belote.
Is the Armenian Blot bot strong?
There are five bot tiers (rank 1 = predator, rank 5 = feeder). Default queue rank for Armenian Blot is 3 (neutral), tuneable per stake tier in admin config. The bot follows legal play strictly and trump-calls based on combined trump-value, but does not card-count as aggressively as a strong human.
Are there contract bids like in tournament belote?
Not in v1. The trump-call is the only declaration phase. Bidding contracts (blot, capot, declared 81+, tierce / quart / quint) are on the roadmap but not yet shipped. Belote (K + Q of trump in hand) does auto-credit +20.
Can I play first-to-501 matches?
Not yet — every match on Stario is a single round of ~162 base points + bonuses. Multi-round series matches are planned for a later release.