Leekha

How to play

1. The full 52-card pack, 13 cards each. Highest first: ace, king, queen, jack, then ten down to two. There is no trump, and play goes anticlockwise.
2. After the deal each player passes three cards face down: in the first hand to the player on their right, in the next to the player on their left, and so on in turn.
3. The player on the dealer's right leads any card. Follow the suit led while you can; the highest card of that suit takes the trick, and its winner leads next.
4. Leekha: if you cannot follow suit and hold the Q♠ or the 10♦, you must play one of them. Without them, play anything.
5. All 13 tricks are played every hand.

Scoring and winning

• Penalties for what you take in tricks: the Q♠ 13 points, the 10♦ 10, each heart 1. A hand holds 36 points.
• Each player's points add up on their own, and never go below zero.
• When a player reaches 101 or more at the end of a hand, their team loses.
• If players on both teams reach it in the same hand, the team with the lower total wins; equal totals play another hand.

Related: Bint al-Sbeet