Card games
Batak
The Turkish game like Spades
Bid high, call trumps, take your tricks
Batak is Turkey’s great trick-taking game, a close cousin of Spades. Four players bid for the right to name trumps, then play all thirteen tricks. Take at least as many tricks as you bid, or watch your score sink.
- Players
- 4 players
- Length
- 10–15 min per game
- Type
- Card games
Play Batak online with friends
Batak is a four-player game, and Masa keeps the table full: bring three friends with an invite link, or fill the gaps with bots that hand their seats over as soon as a player arrives. Every bid and every trick plays out on a real 3D table.
How to play
- 1
Each player gets 13 cards. Starting left of the dealer, players bid how many tricks they will take (5 to 13) or pass.
- 2
The highest bidder names the trump suit and leads the first trick.
- 3
Follow the led suit and play higher than the best card on the table if you can. If you cannot follow, you must play a trump.
- 4
Trumps cannot be led until a trump has been played, unless you hold nothing else.
- 5
The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the led suit. The winner leads next.
Other versions of Batak
Same table, other rules: each version is a game of its own at Masa, with its own tables, rules and stats.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if everyone passes?
The dealer must bid at least 5.
Do I really have to beat the card on the table?
Yes. When you can follow suit, you must play higher than the highest card of that suit if you have one. That rule is what makes Batak Batak.
Is Batak the same as Spades?
They are cousins. In Batak every player bids for themselves and the highest bidder names the trump suit; Spades is played in fixed partnerships with spades always trump.
Is Batak played in teams?
This page is the game where every player scores for themselves. The game of two against two, where the team makes the contract together, has a page and tables of its own.
