How to play Hokm
4 players · 2 teams · 13 cards each
Hokm is the most played card game in Iran. It is trick-taking with one twist that changes everything: instead of turning a card up to decide trump, one player sees only five of their thirteen cards and names the suit out loud. That player is the hakem, and the scoring exists to punish them for choosing badly.
Objective
Win seven of the thirteen tricks with your partner and the hand is yours. Partners sit opposite each other, so players 1 & 3 are Team A and players 2 & 4 are Team B. The first team to 7 points wins the match.
Card rankings
Trump beats every other suit. The 2 of trump beats the Ace of anything else.
The deal, and naming trump
The deal happens in two halves, and the pause in the middle is the whole point of it.
Five cards, to the hakem only
The deal stops there. Nobody else is holding anything yet, so nobody can hint at what they have while the hakem is thinking.
The hakem names the trump suit
Out loud, from those five cards alone. Everyone hears it, including the other team, and it stays trump for the whole hand.
Then the rest of the deal
Five to each of the other three players, then four at a time around the table until the deck is empty. Everyone ends up with 13 cards, the hakem included.
The hakem leads
They play the first card of the first trick, and play moves anticlockwise from there.
Playing a trick
Everyone plays one card. Follow the suit that was led if you hold it. If you are void in that suit you may play anything, trump included — nothing forces you to trump, and nothing stops you.
The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins it. Whoever wins leads the next one.
The hand ends at seven tricks
The moment a team takes its seventh trick, the hand is over and the remaining cards are never played. Seven of thirteen cannot be beaten, so there is nothing left to decide. A close hand can still run all thirteen tricks, because getting to 7–6 means playing every one of them.
Scoring
| Result | Points |
|---|---|
| Win the hand (7 tricks) | 1 |
| Kot — win it 7–0 | 2 |
| Hakem koti — win it 7–0 against the team that named trump | 3 |
That asymmetry is the game. Sweeping is worth double, and sweeping the player who chose the trump suit is worth triple.
Who is hakem next
The hakem keeps the role for as long as their team keeps winning hands. The first time their team loses one, it passes to the next player in play order. A hakem on a good run can name trump many hands in a row — which is exactly why taking a hand off them is worth so much.
Strategy tips
- 💡As hakem, count length before honours. Five small hearts will win you more tricks than the Ace and King of a suit you only hold twice.
- 💡You are naming trump off five cards out of thirteen. The other eight are still coming, so a suit you hold four of is likely to grow.
- 💡Everyone knows the trump suit from the first trick, so opponents will be counting how many are gone. So should you.
- 💡Leading a long side suit drains the table. Once opponents are void they have to choose between trumping and throwing away.
- 💡Watch the seventh trick, not the thirteenth. Once your side has six, one more ends the hand and nothing else matters.
- 💡If you are already losing badly, play to take one trick. Losing 7–1 costs a point; losing 7–0 costs two, or three if your team named trump.
About Hokm
Hokm is the most played card game in Iran. It belongs to the Whist family — four players, fixed partners sitting opposite, thirteen tricks to divide — alongside Bridge and Spades. What separates it from the rest of that family is that nobody turns a card over to settle trump. One player decides, out loud, having seen five cards.
The game is named after that decision. Hokm literally means command or order; in card language it simply means the trump suit. The player who gets to name it is the hakem, from the word for a ruler or governor — the one who orders up the trump. Two words for the same moment, which tells you which moment the game thinks matters.
The same game travels under other names. In English it is often called Court Piece; in Urdu, Rang or Rung. It is played across India and Pakistan, and it followed the Hindustani diaspora as far as Suriname and the Netherlands. The core is the same wherever you find it: five cards, name the trump, stop at seven tricks. The scoring is what changes locally, and the Iranian version is the one here — a sweep is worth double, and a sweep against the hakem's own team is worth triple.
It is played seriously enough to have its own shorthand for tactics. Hokm lâzem is leading a trump to force everyone else to spend one. Rad kardan, literally "to bypass", is choosing not to trump when you could — throwing a card away because this trick is not the one worth taking. Pâyin âmadan, "to lay low", is playing a small card on purpose. None of those are rules; they are the things partners learn to read in each other.
PlayTash runs Hokm online for players who cannot get four people around one table.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does hokm mean?
Hokm is the Persian word for command, and in card terms it means trump. The player who gets to name it is the hakem, the ruler. Both words describe the same privilege: one player decides which suit outranks the other three for the whole hand.
Why do I only get five cards at the start?
Because the hakem has to name trump before anyone else has seen anything. The deal stops after five cards to the hakem alone, they name a suit, and only then does the rest of the deal complete: five to each of the other three, then four at a time until everyone holds 13. If partners were already holding cards, they could hint at what they have while the hakem was deciding.
Is the trump suit a secret?
No, the opposite. The hakem says it out loud and everyone hears it, including the other team. It is public from the first trick. That is the difference from Twenty-Six, where the trump card is chosen face-down and stays hidden until somebody is forced to reveal it.
How does a hand end?
The moment one team takes its seventh trick. Seven of thirteen cannot be beaten, so the rest of the cards are simply never played. A close hand can still run all thirteen tricks, because 7-6 needs every trick played to get there.
What is a kot?
A kot is winning the hand seven tricks to nil, and it is worth 2 points instead of 1. If you do it to the team that named trump, it is a hakem koti and worth 3. Naming trump is an advantage, so being swept while holding it is punished harder.
Can I play a trump card whenever I want?
Only when you cannot follow the suit that was led. Follow suit if you hold it; if you are void, you may play anything, and that includes trump. There is no rule forcing you to trump and no rule stopping you.
Does the hakem change every hand?
No. The hakem keeps the role for as long as their team keeps winning hands. The first time their team loses one, it passes to the next player in play order. A hakem on a run can name trump many hands in a row.
How long is a match?
First team to 7 points. With most hands worth 1 point, that is usually eight to thirteen hands, though a kot or a hakem koti can move the score two or three at a time.