Hokm

Hokm is an old trick-taking card game from Iran usually played with four players in fixed partnerships; however there are 2 and 3-player variants. It is part of the Whist family of card games and similar to spades, but there is no bidding, and trump is declared every hand.

The object of Hokm is to be the first team or player to win 7 points. It's the most popular card game in Iran. Deal and play are anticlockwise.

The word Hokm literally means "command, order" but in card game jargon, it's Persian for trump suit.

Hâkem

At the beginning of each hand, one of the players becomes Hâkem. Hâkem literally means "ruler, governor" and in card game jargon, it refers to a player having certain privileges in the game. In Hokm, these privileges are:

- To be the player who receives the first cards dealt.

- To be the player who makes trump (i.e. chooses and declares what suit will be trump) for the current hand.

- To be the player who leads to the first trick of the hand.

Players and Cards

Hokm can be played with 2, 3 or 4 players. If with four players, two players normally team up against the other two.

The game uses a standard 52-card deck. Within each suit, the cards are ranked from highest to lowest: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2