What does Dehla Pakad mean?

Dehla Pakad means "catch the tens" in Hindi. The whole game is built around capturing the four 10s in the deck, since they are the only cards that score points.

Why don't you pick up cards after every trick?

That is the game's signature rule. Cards stay face down in the centre and are only collected when the same player wins two tricks in a row. Winning two consecutive tricks lets you sweep the whole pile into your team's collection.

How do you win a Kot in Dehla Pakad?

You win a Kot by capturing all four 10s in a single hand, or by winning seven hands in a row. The team that reaches the agreed number of Kots first wins the match.

What is a whitewash in Dehla Pakad?

A whitewash happens when a team scores a Kot by taking all four 10s, which resets the opposing team's consecutive-hands counter back to zero. It wipes out their progress toward a streak-based Kot.

How is the trump suit decided?

In one common method, play begins with no trump until a player cannot follow suit, and the suit they throw becomes trump. In another, the player to the dealer's right simply names a trump from their first five cards before the rest of the deck is dealt.

How to Play Dehla Pakad: The Partnership Trick Game of the Four 10s

Dehla Pakad means "catch the tens," and that one phrase tells you almost everything about this beloved North Indian trick-taking game. Four players split into two partnerships and battle to capture the four 10s in the deck. It is fast, social, and built around a clever twist: you only collect cards when you win two tricks in a row. Here is exactly how it works, how to win a Kot, and how the dreaded whitewash happens.

What is Dehla Pakad?

Dehla Pakad (also spelled Dehlapakad or Dehla Pakkad) is a classic Indian point-trick game played across North India, often around festivals, family gatherings, and tea breaks. The name literally means "catch the tens" in Hindi, because the heart of the game is collecting the four 10s. Each 10 is the only card that scores, so the entire game revolves around making sure those four cards end up in your team's pile.

It belongs to the same family as Whist and shares DNA with other Indian partnership games like Mendikot and Court Piece. If you enjoy trick-taking, Dehla Pakad is one of the most rewarding games to learn.

Players, partnerships, and the deck

Dehla Pakad is a game for exactly four players in two fixed partnerships. Partners sit opposite each other, so the seating alternates around the table: team A, team B, team A, team B. Play normally moves anticlockwise.

You use a standard 52-card pack. Within each suit the cards rank from high to low: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The ace is the strongest card and the 2 is the weakest. Note that the 10 sits in the middle of the ranking, so it is not automatically a strong card. Capturing the 10s takes planning, not just brute force.

The deal and choosing trumps

The dealer shuffles and gives each player just 5 cards to start, dealing one batch at a time. These first five cards are used to set the trump suit. There are two common ways trumps are decided:

Play to find the trump: Players begin playing tricks with only their five cards, following suit normally and with no trump suit yet. The moment a player cannot follow the suit that was led, the suit they choose to throw becomes the trump suit for the whole hand. The dealer then deals the rest of the cards.
Pick the trump: In many home games the player to the dealer's right simply looks at their five cards and names a trump suit before the rest of the deck is dealt.

After the trump is fixed, the remaining cards are dealt out in batches (typically four at a time) until everyone holds 13 cards. The player to the dealer's right leads the first trick.

How tricks are played

Play follows the standard trick-taking pattern. The leader plays any card, and going around the table each player must follow suit if they can. If you cannot follow suit, you may play any card, including a trump.

Working out who wins a trick is simple:

If one or more trumps were played, the highest trump wins the trick.
If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit that was led wins.

Whoever wins the trick leads to the next one. So far this is familiar territory, but Dehla Pakad adds one signature rule that changes how you play.

The two-trick capture rule

This is the feature that makes Dehla Pakad unique. Cards played to tricks are not picked up after each trick. Instead, they pile up face down in the centre of the table. You only gather in those cards when the same player wins two tricks in a row.

For example, if you win a trick and your partner wins the next one, nobody collects the cards, even though both wins were for your team. The cards stay in the middle. But if you win a trick and then win the very next trick yourself, you sweep up the entire pile in the centre and add it to your team's collected pile. After that, the count resets and the chase for two consecutive wins begins again.

This rule rewards a player who can dominate several tricks in a row, and it makes the timing of when you grab the lead extremely important. A lone strong hand can scoop a huge pile of cards, including precious 10s, in a single double win.

The four 10s and scoring

At the end of the hand, what matters is the 10s your team has actually captured in its collected pile. The four 10s are the only cards that count for scoring. The team that captures the majority of the 10s wins the hand.

The big prize is a Kot. A Kot is won when a single team captures all four 10s in one hand. This is the cleanest way to win and the goal every team is chasing. Because of the two-trick capture rule, sweeping all four 10s into one pile takes real coordination and a bit of luck.

Whitewash and winning consecutive hands

There is a second route to a Kot. Because hands are also tracked, a team that wins seven consecutive hands earns a Kot through sheer persistence. However, this streak is fragile. If the opposing team scores a Kot by grabbing all four 10s, the consecutive-hand counter resets to zero. That reset is the classic whitewash: one decisive hand wipes out your opponents' progress toward a streak Kot and forces them to start counting again.

Play continues hand after hand, and the match is usually played to a pre-agreed number of Kots. Whoever reaches that target first wins the game.

Quick strategy tips

Track which 10s have appeared. Knowing where the tens are tells you when to push hard for a double win.
Time your lead. Winning two tricks back to back is far more valuable than winning two scattered ones, so try to keep the lead when the 10s are in the pile.
Use trumps to protect or steal 10s, not to win meaningless tricks.
Communicate with your partner through your card choices, since you cannot talk about your hand.

If you like Dehla Pakad, you will probably enjoy related Indian trick games like Twenty-Nine, Callbreak, and Kaali Teeri.

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