What Is Bezique?
Bezique is a classic two-player game that combines trick-taking with melding — and uniquely, you score for both during the same game. You earn points by declaring combinations of cards in your hand after winning tricks, and by capturing certain high-value cards during trick play. The deck is two merged 32-card decks — two of every card from 7 through Ace in all four suits. The game that Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly favored in his final years.
What You Need
- Two 32-card decks merged together — remove all 2s through 6s from two standard decks, leaving 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace in all four suits times two copies = 64 cards total.
- Two players
- Score pad or Bezique scoring device
Card Rankings
From highest to lowest: Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8, 7. The 10 is very high — second only to the Ace.
Setting Up the Game
- Shuffle all 64 cards.
- Deal eight cards to each player.
- Place remaining cards face-down as the stock pile.
- Flip the bottom card of the stock face-up and slide it partially under the stock so it remains visible. Its suit is the trump suit for the entire game.
- If the revealed card is a 7, the dealer scores 10 points immediately.
Phase 1 — Drawing Phase (First 24 Tricks)
In this phase, players do not have to follow suit — they can play any card they want.
- The non-dealer leads any card face-up.
- The other player plays any card — no requirement to follow suit or play trump.
- The higher card of the led suit wins the trick unless trump was played, in which case the higher trump wins. If identical cards are played, the first one played wins.
- The winner of the trick draws one card from the stock (winner draws first, then the loser). The winner may then declare a meld before leading the next trick.
Declaring Melds
After winning a trick and before drawing, the trick winner may lay one meld face-up on the table and score it immediately. Meld cards stay visible but can still be used in future tricks.
Meld Point Values
- Bezique — Queen of Spades plus Jack of Diamonds: 40 points
- Double Bezique — both Queens of Spades and both Jacks of Diamonds: 500 points
- Sequence — Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack of trump: 250 points
- Any Four Aces: 100 points
- Any Four Kings: 80 points
- Any Four Queens: 60 points
- Any Four Jacks: 40 points
- Royal Marriage — King and Queen of trump: 40 points
- Common Marriage — King and Queen of any non-trump suit: 20 points
- Seven of Trump: 10 points — you may also exchange it for the face-up trump card under the stock
Scoring During Tricks
Certain cards score points when captured in tricks: each Ace = 10 points, each 10 = 10 points. Last trick of the phase = 10 bonus points.
Phase 2 — Playing Out (Final 8 Tricks)
Once the stock is exhausted, the rules change. Players must now follow suit if they can. If they cannot follow suit but have trump, they must play trump. Melds can no longer be declared. Play out the final eight tricks.
Winning
First player to reach 1,000 points wins — or agree on 1,500 or 2,000 before starting for a longer game.
Tips for New Players
- Double Bezique is worth 500 points — nearly half a game’s worth. Work toward it whenever you hold a Queen of Spades or Jack of Diamonds.
- Win tricks strategically to time your meld declarations — you can only declare after winning a trick.
- In Phase 2, follow suit strictly — mistakes in the final tricks can cost you key captured card points.