“Contrée” in english

“Contrée” (to be pronounced with a strong French South accent), or “Belote Contrée”, or even “Coinche” or “Belote Coinchée” (term used in the North of France, which means, from a southern-French point of view, everything above Avignon), is a game of cards derivated from belote - no surprise up to that point. More interesting than belote for it replaces the random choice of the colour by a bidding system, “Contrée” stands right between Tarot and Bridge: subtler than the the first one (game’s control is far more important) and less formal than the second one (whose declarations are, usually speaking, a bit tiresome, aren’t they?), “Contrée” is the ideal cards’ game no matter the time, no matter the season, the weather, and so on… A tournament of “Contrée” is a delicious dish of tension, subtlety, mistakes and strokes of genius …!!! Ready to play?

Well, before starting reading the rules (sorry, there’s no escaping this step…), it seems useful to me to remind that “Contrée” is a game, hence its main goal isn’t bothering you, but on the contrary giving you a way to have a good time: once you’ve assimilated all the rules (and remember that practice makes perfect, so… just practice!), you will discover all the subtleties of the game, which will then prove to be a GREAT game!!!

• The novice’s section
• For beloters and (ex-)novices who have already assimilated the last section
• Everything you should know to become a real player of “Contrée”…