point-trick capture (partnership trick-taking) · West India (especially Gujarat and Maharashtra); popular across India and the South-Asian diaspora

Kaali Teeri (Black Three)

Also known as Black Three · Kali Teeri · Kaali Ki Teeggi · Kali Ni Teeri · Kali Ni Tidi · 3 of Spades · Three of Spades · Dehla · काली तीरी

Kaali Teeri (literally "Black Three," also called 3 of Spades, Kaali Ki Teeggi, Kali Ni Tidi or Dehla) is a fast, strategic 4-player partnership card game from West India — especially Gujarat and Maharashtra — that blends bidding, a trump suit, and point-card capture. Unlike most trick-takers, the goal is not to win the most tricks but to capture the highest-scoring cards, and the star of the deck is the 3 of spades — the kaali teeri — which alone is worth a massive 30 points and ranks as the highest trump in the game. Play Kaali Teeri online free here, learn the bidding and scoring, team up 2-versus-2 with a secret partner, and chase the black three to victory — no real money, just virtual chips and bragging rights.

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How to play Kaali Teeri (Black Three)

Sit in fixed 2-versus-2 partnerships (or play with a secret called-card partner) and deal all the cards out — 13 each for four players.
Bid in turn for the points your team will capture: raise higher or pass; the highest bidder wins the contract.
As the winning bidder, choose the trump suit, and if your version uses it, call a card to pick your hidden partner.
Remember what scores: the 3 of spades is worth 30, every A/K/Q/J/10 is worth 10, and every 5 is worth 5 — everything else is zero.
Play tricks clockwise, always following the led suit if you can; otherwise trump to win or throw away a junk card.
Win tricks that contain point cards — and especially fight to capture the kaali teeri, the highest trump and biggest single prize.
Add up captured points: if the bidding team reached its bid it scores the bid, otherwise the defenders score it; then deal again.

Kaali Teeri (Black Three) rules

Objective

Kaali Teeri is a point-capture trick-taking game, not a most-tricks game. Each deal one team commits to a bid — a target number of points they promise to capture — and then tries to win tricks that contain the valuable point cards. Of the 250 points in the deck, the single most important card is the 3 of spades (the kaali teeri itself), worth 30 points. Your team's aim is simply to gather, across all the tricks you win, at least as many points as your side bid. The defending team's aim is to stop them, holding the bidders below their target so the points go to the defenders instead.

Players, deck and the deal

Kaali Teeri is best known as a 4-player game played in two fixed partnerships (2 versus 2), using one standard 52-card deck. All 52 cards are dealt out clockwise, giving each of the four players 13 cards. Five- and six-player variants also exist: to keep the deal even, two of the 2s are removed for five players (50 cards, 10 each), and all four 2s are removed for six players (48 cards, 8 each). Within each suit the cards rank in the normal order, Ace high down to 2 low — with the crucial exception of the 3 of spades, which is pulled out of the spade suit's normal order and treated as the highest trump of all.

Bidding for the points

After the deal, players bid in turn for how many points their side will capture. Each player may either raise the bid higher or pass; once you pass you are out of the auction. Bidding climbs until everyone but one player has passed, and that highest bidder wins the contract for their team. In the standard single-deck game the bid range runs from a minimum floor (commonly around 150) up to a maximum of 250 — the total number of points in the deck. A higher bid is riskier but more rewarding, because the bid amount is exactly what the team scores (or loses) at the end of the deal.

Choosing trump and a secret partner

Winning the bid earns two privileges. First, the high bidder chooses the trump suit (the hukum or rung) for the deal — and once chosen it cannot be changed. Second, in many versions the bidder names a specific card (for example 'the ace of hearts') to choose a partner: whoever holds that exact card becomes the bidder's teammate, but their identity stays secret until the called card is actually played. This hidden-partner mechanic adds bluff and suspense — for a while, nobody but the bidder and the called player knows who is really on which side. In the simplest fixed-partnership form, partners are just the players sitting opposite each other.

The point cards and the all-important black three

Only certain cards carry points. In the standard scoring, the 3 of spades — the kaali teeri — is worth 30 points and is the highest single card in the game; every Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten is worth 10 points each; and every 5 is worth 5 points. All other cards (2, 3 except the black three, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9) are worth zero — they are useful only for winning tricks and steering play. That adds up to 250 points in a single deck: 30 for the black three, 200 from the twenty 10-point honours (four suits of A, K, Q, J, 10), and 20 from the four 5s. Exact values can vary slightly between regional and app rule-sets, so confirm them before a serious game.

Playing the tricks

Play proceeds clockwise, one card per player per trick. You must follow the suit that was led if you can. If you cannot follow suit, you may play a trump to try to win the trick, or discard a worthless card if you would rather not. A trick is won by the highest trump played in it, or — if no trumps are played — by the highest card of the suit that was led. Remember that the 3 of spades counts as a trump (the highest one) regardless of which suit is named trump, so it can swoop in and steal a fat trick. The winner of each trick leads the next, and all the point cards captured in won tricks are set aside for that team's score.

Scoring and winning the deal

When all tricks are played, each team totals the point value of the cards it captured. If the bidding team captured at least as many points as it bid, it succeeds: that side scores the bid amount and the defenders score nothing. If the bidding team fell even one point short, it fails: the bidders score nothing and the defending team scores the bid amount instead. (Some house rules instead award each side the points it actually captured.) Deals are repeated and team totals accumulate over a session; the partnership with the most points when you finish wins. Because this is a free, social game, you play only for virtual chips and bragging rights — never real money.

Strategy tips

Hunt the 3 of spades above all — at 30 points it can swing a whole deal, so capture it early if you hold strong trumps, or hoard a top trump to grab it when it appears.
Bid for what your hand can actually deliver: count your likely point captures (honours and the black three you can win) before promising a high number, because falling one point short hands the entire bid to the opponents.
Track the honours — twenty cards are worth 10 points each, so leading out high trumps to draw and capture A/K/Q/J/10 cards is usually worth more than chasing trick count.
Use the hidden-partner mechanic: as a defender, watch which card the bidder called and time your play so you don't accidentally hand points to the bidder's secret ally before they are revealed.
Hold a guard for the black three. If an opponent might still have the kaali teeri, keep a higher trump in reserve rather than wasting it early, so you can capture or block that 30-point card.
Save worthless low cards to discard on tricks you cannot win, and dump your point cards (honours and 5s) only into tricks your own side is winning.

Variants

4-player fixed partnerships (players opposite each other are teammates) · Hidden-partner version (the bidder calls a card to choose a secret teammate) · 5-player variant (remove two 2s, 50-card deck, 10 cards each) · 6-player variant (remove all four 2s, 48-card deck, 8 cards each) · Double-deck version (104 cards, bid range roughly 300-500 points) · Score-the-bid version vs. score-the-actual-points-captured house rules · Regional point-value tweaks for the honours and the 5s

Kaali Teeri (Black Three) — frequently asked questions

How do you play Kaali Teeri (Black Three)?

Kaali Teeri is a 4-player partnership game where you bid for a target number of points, choose a trump suit, and then play tricks to capture point cards. The deck has 250 points: the 3 of spades is worth 30, every Ace/King/Queen/Jack/Ten is worth 10, and every 5 is worth 5. If your team captures at least the points it bid, you score the bid; otherwise the other team does.

Why is the 3 of spades so important in Kaali Teeri?

The 3 of spades — the kaali teeri the game is named after — is worth 30 points, far more than any other single card, and it is treated as the highest trump in the game no matter which suit is named trump. Capturing it is often the difference between making and missing your bid, so much of the play revolves around winning the trick that contains it.

How many players can play Kaali Teeri?

Kaali Teeri is most popular as a 4-player game in two teams of two. There are also 5- and 6-player variants: for five players two of the 2s are removed (50 cards, 10 each), and for six players all four 2s are removed (48 cards, 8 each), so the cards deal out evenly.

How does bidding and scoring work in Kaali Teeri?

Players bid in turn for how many of the 250 points their side will capture, each raising or passing until one bidder remains. That high bidder picks trump (and often a partner). If the bidding team captures at least its bid in point cards, it scores the bid and the defenders score zero; if it falls short, the defenders score the bid instead.

What are the card point values in Kaali Teeri?

In the standard scoring the 3 of spades is worth 30 points; each Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten is worth 10 points; each 5 is worth 5 points; and all other cards are worth nothing. That totals 250 points in a single 52-card deck. Some regional and app versions tweak these values, so agree on them before you start.

Is Kaali Teeri the same as Court Piece or Spades?

They are related trick-taking games but not the same. Kaali Teeri is a point-capture game — you win by gathering high-value cards, not by counting tricks — and the 3 of spades is its signature card. Court Piece (Rang/Coat Piece) is about winning the most tricks, and Western Spades is a trick-bidding game; Kaali Teeri's bidding-for-points and the 30-point black three set it apart.