varaq
Learn Hokm, step by step
Varaq teaches Hokm at a real table, one idea at a time. Each step sets up a hand, asks you to make one move, and shows you why it works; Show me plays it for you if you get stuck. The main stages end in a checkpoint, and a strategy stage is offered once you know the rules. The lessons are free, need no account, and run in English and Persian.
Stage 1: First touch
3 steps, then a checkpoint.
- Who is Hâkem?: Before the first hand, cards go face up around the table until an Ace: whoever gets it is Hâkem.
- Lead the first trick: The Hâkem leads the first trick; then each player plays one card in turn.
- Win a trick: The highest card of the suit led wins the trick, and the winner leads the next one.
- Checkpoint: Win your first hand: The first side to win seven tricks wins the hand.
Stage 2: The rules
8 steps, then a checkpoint.
- Follow suit and win: Follow the led suit when you can, even if you hold Hokm. You choose which card of that suit; the highest one wins.
- No suit? Cut with Hokm: Without the led suit, any card is legal. Cutting with Hokm is a choice, never a duty.
- Can’t win? Throw low: Only the led suit or Hokm can win. A high card of another suit is wasted.
- When Hokm is led: A Hokm lead is followed like any suit. Ranks run A, K, Q, J, 10 … 2.
- Declare and discard: Which cards you discard is your choice. Whoever discards three draws first and sees both cards on their final draw.
- Keep the face-up card: Each draw adds exactly one card to your hand: the visible one, or the next one.
- Pass, then take the next card: Passing is a gamble: you can’t see the next card, and you can’t reject it too.
- The final draw: both cards up: Varaq house rule: only the player who discarded three gets this open final choice.
- Checkpoint: Put the rules together: Follow the suit led when you can. When you can’t, Hokm wins; any other suit never does.
Stage 3: Scoring
4 steps, then a checkpoint.
- Win a hand: Seven tricks win a hand; seven match points win the match. A plain win scores 1, Kot by the Hâkem’s side 2, Kot against the Hâkem 3.
- Kot as Hâkem
- Kot against the Hâkem
- A new Hâkem: The Hâkem stays while their side wins hands. When it loses, the next player becomes Hâkem.
- Checkpoint: Win the match: The first side to 7 match points wins the match. Only a Kot scores more than 1 in a hand.
Stage 4: Strategy
8 steps, then a checkpoint. Offered once the earlier stages are done; it never blocks finishing.
- Choose Hokm: Choose the suit in which you hold the most cards, and break ties in favour of the suit with the higher cards. Length in Hokm matters more than a single high card, because every Hokm card beats every card of the other suits.
- Discard two or three: Discard 3 when only 2 of your 5 cards are worth keeping, and discard 2 when 3 of them are strong. Discarding 3 buys you the first draw, one extra draw and a face-up choice on your final draw, but a known good card is usually worth more than one more unknown one.
- Keep or pass: Keep the top card when it is better than an average unknown card: any Hokm card, any Ace or King, or a card that lengthens your Hokm or strongest side suit. Reject low cards of weak side suits, remembering that you must then take the next card whatever it is.
- Remember the draw: Remember every card you discarded or rejected, because none of them can be in your opponent's hand. Half the deck never reaches a hand in two-player Hokm, so knowing which high cards and Hokm cards are out of play is a real advantage.
- Count the Hokm cards: Start from 13 Hokm cards, subtract the ones in your hand, the ones you saw go out of play and the ones already played; your opponent can hold at most what is left. Watch for a failure to follow suit, which proves your opponent has no more cards of that suit.
- What to lead: Lead Hokm cards early when you hold more of them, to strip your opponent's Hokm cards before cashing side-suit winners. When you are short in Hokm, cash your sure side-suit winners while your opponent still has to follow suit.
- Hokm or throw: When you cannot follow suit, play a Hokm card if winning that trick matters and you can spare the Hokm card, using the lowest Hokm card that wins. Otherwise throw a low card from your weakest side suit and keep your Hokm cards for tricks that count more.
- Stop a kot: A kot requires winning the first 7 tricks, so a single trick for the losing side stops it. When a kot looks possible against you, take the first sure trick you can; when you are the one sweeping, keep the lead and remove your opponent's Hokm cards.
- Checkpoint: Count out the end: A hand ends the moment someone wins 7 tricks, so count how many tricks each player still needs and how many sure winners you hold. If your sure winners reach 7, cash them immediately; if not, spend your Hokm cards where they decide the hand.
Stage 5: Playing with a partner
2 steps. Offered once the earlier stages are done; it never blocks finishing.
- Trust your partner: Partners sit opposite and share every trick. When your partner already wins, save strength.
- The Hâkem chooses: With four players the Hâkem sees only five cards before choosing. The rest are dealt after, and partners sit opposite.
Last updated: