Koz Maça means “spades are trump”, and that phrase is the whole difference from ordinary Batak. Nobody bids, nobody picks a suit, and nobody can go down. Spades are trumps in every hand, and each trick you win is simply one point on your total. It is the version people play when they want Batak’s tricky follow-suit rules without the risk of a big negative score. Four players, each on their own; you are at the bottom and the computer plays Right, Top and Left.
How to play
Each hand uses the full 52-card deck, 13 cards to each seat, aces high. Turns move to the right (counterclockwise) and the deal rotates one seat after every hand; the D marker shows the current dealer.
Opening lead. Because there is no auction, play starts at once. The seat on the dealer’s right leads the first trick, and the centre of the table shows the label “Trump” with the spade symbol.
Card play. One card from each player makes a trick. The best card of the led suit wins, but any spade beats every card of the other suits, and among spades the highest wins. The trick winner leads the next one. The game raises only the cards you are allowed to play, following the standard Batak obligations:
- Holding the led suit, you must follow it, and you must top the highest card of that suit already played if you are able to. Once somebody has ruffed with a spade, plain following is enough.
- Out of the led suit? Then a spade is compulsory, and if a spade is already on the trick you have to overtake it when you can.
- With no card of the led suit and no spades, discard whatever you like.
- Spades may not be led until a spade has fallen on an earlier trick, unless spades are all you have left.
That fourth rule matters more here than in auction Batak. The first few tricks are always played in hearts, diamonds and clubs, and spades only come out when someone runs short of a side suit.
Scoring
Each trick is worth one point to the player who took it. The 13 points of every hand are split among the four seats, so totals always grow; there are no minus scores in Koz Maça. The summary after each hand lists each seat’s tricks, points and match total.
A match runs for 10 hands unless you choose 5 with the Hands buttons at the top. The highest total at the end wins; a tie at the top is a shared win.
How it differs from auction Batak
| Batak | Koz Maça | |
|---|---|---|
| Bidding | yes, from 4 tricks | none |
| Trump suit | chosen by the auction winner | always spades |
| First lead | the auction winner | the dealer’s right |
| Failing a bid | minus the bid | not possible |
Without a contract, there is no declarer to gang up on. Every trick counts equally for everyone, and the hand becomes a straight race.
Strategy
Count your spades first. There are 13 spades, so a typical hand holds three or four. With five or more you can expect to take tricks late in the hand, when other players are void and forced to ruff with smaller spades, or simply run out.
Cash side-suit aces early. In the first rounds most players still hold every suit, so an ace or a protected king wins before anyone can ruff. Wait too long and the same ace may get trumped by a two of spades.
Make a void on purpose. If you hold a singleton in a side suit, play it early. Next time that suit is led you are out of it and must ruff, which in this game is usually a trick for you.
Think before you are forced to go over. The overtake rule means a jack on the table forces your queen if you have both the queen and the three. Lead suits where that rule hurts your opponents, not you.
Track the high spades. Once the ace, king and queen of spades are gone, your jack becomes the master trump. The computer players lead spades when they hold four or more, so a run of spade leads usually means somebody is long.
Play for the match, not one hand. Over ten hands, points add up slowly. Taking four tricks every hand is better than one big hand and several empty ones.
If you enjoy Koz Maça, try Maça Kızı or Papaz Kaçtı next.
