Dehla Pakad Rules: How to Play Step by Step
Reviewed by Kishan Modi, App Safety Researcher
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Dehla Pakad ("catch the tens") is a four-player partnership trick-taking game played with a 52-card deck and Aces high. The aim is to capture the four tens. Its twist is that tricks aren't collected one at a time: won tricks pile up in the middle, and a player only takes the pile when they win two tricks in a row. The winner of the last trick takes whatever is left. The team with three of the four tens wins the hand (a two-two split goes to the team that didn't deal), and taking all four tens is a kot.
Dehla Pakad Rules at a Glance
| Rule | |
|---|---|
| Players | 4, two teams, partners opposite |
| Deck | 52 cards, A high to 2 low |
| Deal | 5 cards each, trump set, then the rest in fours (13 each) |
| Trump | Chosen from 5 cards, or set by the first player who can't follow suit |
| Collecting | Only when one player wins 2 tricks in a row |
| Win the hand | Take the majority of the four tens |
| Kot | All four tens, or seven hands won in a row |
Dealing and Choosing Trump
Deal and play go anticlockwise. The dealer gives five cards to each player. Before you start, agree which of these two ways you're using to set trump:
- Called trump: the player on the dealer's right looks at their five cards and names trump. The rest of the cards are dealt, and that player leads the first trick.
- Cut trump: play the first five tricks with no trump. The suit of the first card played by someone who can't follow suit becomes trump. Then the rest of the cards are dealt. Pagat points out this depends on everyone honestly following suit when they can.
The Two-in-a-Row Rule
Follow suit if you can; if not, play anything, including a trump. The highest trump wins the trick, or the highest card of the led suit. So far it's ordinary whist play. The difference is what happens to the cards.
A won trick isn't taken. It goes face down in the middle. Tricks keep piling up until the same player wins two in a row; then that player takes the whole pile for their team. Two wins in a row by partners don't count, it has to be the same player. Whoever wins the 13th trick takes it and anything still in the middle.
Example: tricks 1 to 4 are won by four different players, so four tricks (16 cards) sit in the middle with two tens in them. Your partner wins trick 5, then wins trick 6 as well, and takes all 24 cards, tens included.
Winning a Hand and a Kot
When the hand ends, each team counts the tens it holds. The team with three tens wins the hand; if the tens split two each, the team that didn't deal wins. Taking all four tens is a kot (or coat). Pagat also counts it as a kot when a team wins seven hands in a row.
Who deals next depends on the result: if the team that didn't deal wins the hand, the same dealer deals again; if the dealer's team wins, the deal moves on. There's no points table. Most groups play for a set time or to an agreed number of kots.
Dehla Pakad vs Mendicot
Both are four-player team games where the tens decide the hand. In Mendicot every trick is collected as soon as it's won. In Dehla Pakad tricks build up in the middle until someone wins two in a row, so a single late double can swing several tens at once. If your family knows one, the other takes five minutes to learn. Both are classic Indian card games for four.
Rules checked against Pagat's Dehla Pakad reference page.
Dehla Pakad: FAQ
What does Dehla Pakad mean?
"Catch the tens". Dehla means ten and pakad means catch or grab, and capturing the four tens is the aim of the game.
When do you collect tricks in Dehla Pakad?
Only when the same player wins two tricks in a row. Until then, won tricks pile up in the middle. The winner of the last trick takes whatever is left.
What is a kot in Dehla Pakad?
Taking all four tens in one hand. Some groups also count seven hands won in a row as a kot.
How is trump chosen in Dehla Pakad?
Either the player on the dealer's right picks it from their first five cards, or it's set by the first card played by someone who can't follow suit.
Is Dehla Pakad the same as Mendicot?
They're close relatives. Both are about capturing the tens, but Dehla Pakad only gives you the tricks when one player wins two in a row.