Trix is played by 4 players, each on their own. It has five contracts: four you avoid (tricks, queens, diamonds, and the king of hearts) and one positive contract, the trix, where you race to shed your cards first. A game of counting and nerve.
The kingdom owner chooses after seeing their hand. Lots of low cards? Call tricks.
Holding it with few hearts? Throw it the first time you run out of the led suit.
Track what has fallen, so you know when a trick is safe to take.
Hold the cards others need, and only open a suit when you hold what follows.
Many tables play the four negative contracts together in one hand, called the complex.
Some tables play two teams, partners opposite, pooling their points.
Known across the Levant, Iraq and the Gulf, and written Trix or Trex in English.
Exactly 4, each playing alone. Missing a fourth? Kemlet finds you a player nearby.
Tricks cost 15 each, queens 25 each, diamonds 10 each, and the king of hearts 75. In the trix contract, the finishers score 200, 150, 100 and 50.
A kingdom is five hands in which its owner calls each of the five contracts once. Four kingdoms make a full game.
In Trix everyone plays alone with no bidding, and the contracts are about avoiding cards. Tarneeb is a team game with bidding and a trump suit.
A full game is 20 hands, usually an hour and a half to two hours.
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