Taash Khelकॉल ब्रेक बोली
Call Break bidding
The whole game is decided before a single card is played. Here is how to count what your hand is actually worth.
Count only what you are confident of. Every ace is one. A king is one if you hold a second card in that suit. Spades beyond your first two are one each.
Then call that number, not one more. An extra trick earns 0.1. A missed call costs the entire call.
What each card is actually worth
| Holding | Count it as | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ace, any suit | 1 | Nothing in the suit beats it, and only a trump can take it |
| King with one other card in that suit | 1 | The spare card lets you survive the ace being played |
| Bare king | 0 | It falls to the ace and you have nothing left in the suit |
| Third spade and beyond | 1 each | Trump length wins tricks late, once everyone else is void |
| Ace and king of spades | 2 | Counted already as aces and kings — do not count them twice |
| Queen or lower, non-trump | 0 | Too many cards beat it for it to be reliable |
Why undercalling is almost free
Look at the asymmetry in the scoring. Calling three on a hand that goes on to win four costs you exactly 0.1 — you still score 3.1 instead of 4.0.
Calling four on a hand that only wins three costs you eight — the minus four you take, plus the plus four you would have had.
That is a factor of eighty. There is no other decision in the game with that kind of imbalance, and it is why experienced players round down whenever a hand is ambiguous.
The void trap
Newcomers see a void suit and add tricks to their call, on the logic that they can trump it. In Call Break that logic is backwards.
Trumping is compulsory. When a suit you are void in is led, you must play a spade if you hold one — including on a trick nobody wanted, worth nothing to anyone. Your trumps leave your hand on the game's schedule, not yours.
A void is only worth counting if you have spare spades you were not already counting as winners. If your only three spades are already in your total, the void adds nothing and may cost you.
Listening to the calls before yours
Calls go round in turn, so unless you are first you have information. Add up what has already been called.
- Well under thirteen so far — tricks are going spare and a slightly braver call is safer than usual.
- Close to or above thirteen already — somebody at this table is going to miss. Do not volunteer to be that person.
Thirteen tricks exist. If four players call fourteen between them, the arithmetic guarantees at least one negative score.
Common questions
How many tricks should you call in Call Break?
Count your near-certain winners — aces, protected kings, and spades beyond the first two — and call that number. Call Break strategy — how to play the hand — is a separate skill. Do not add speculative tricks. Missing your call costs the full call as negative points, while an extra trick earns only 0.1 — see Call Break strategy.
Is it better to undercall or overcall in Call Break?
Undercall. Calling three on a hand that wins four costs you 0.1. Calling four on a hand that wins three costs you eight — the four you lose plus the four you would have scored.
How do you count winners in Call Break?
Every ace counts as one. A king counts if you hold another card in that suit to protect it. Spades beyond your first two count, because trump length wins tricks late in the hand. Queens and lower rarely count on their own.
What is the lowest call in Call Break?
One — see Call Break bidding. You cannot call zero, so every player is committed to winning at least one trick every round. That is why an extremely weak hand is dangerous rather than free.
Does being void in a suit help your Call Break bid?
Less than people expect — see Call Break strategy. Being void forces you to trump, so your spades leave your hand when the game decides rather than when you do. Count a void as useful only if you have spare spades to spend.
Should you change your call based on other players?
Calls are made in turn, so later players hear earlier ones. If the calls already made total close to thirteen, someone is going to miss — and that makes a conservative call from you more valuable, not less.
Three AI difficulty levels means you can test a call against opponents that punish a bad one. A free Callbreak game download for Android.
Get it on Google Play