Hola Rules

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Hola Card Game Rules

Hola is a card game that is believed to have originated in Ukraine and is very popular in several Canadian cities where there are large numbers of people of Eastern European heritage (Polish, Ukrainian, etc).

It is best to familiarize yourself with the basics on hola in order to achieve success during the game.

Hola is a card game that involves 2 or 4 players. It is much more enjoyable if there are 4 people playing as a partner game.

The main objective of Hola is to outscore (gain more points) than your adversary. If you happen to take all of the points, you will score what is called "a Hola". Take note that there is no supplementary point significance for scoring Hola, just bragging rights.

As for the dealing, Hola utilizes a standard deck of 52 playing cards. There are 4 cards dealt to every player. The remaining cards are left in the center of the table as a stock. The player on the left of the dealer is the first one to lay down the first card. The play continues to move clockwise.

In the game proper, the 2s and the 7s are considered as the wild cards. The 10s and aces are the only cards that have a scoring value and they are worth 10 points each. The rest of the remaining cards including the wild cards are worth 0 points.

Once the leading player place down a card, the next player can choose several options such as playing a card of the same value in order to take control of the trick, play a wild card to control the trick or play any card and give up the trick. When it is the turn of the dealer, the dealer can either obtain the trick, if he has power over it to acquire or to fight in order to recover control of the trick by using a wild card or an additional card that matches the first card placed.

As for the scoring, there is a potential 80 points that is available in every deck being used since there are 4 aces and 4 10s, each of them is worth 10 points. The rest of the remaining cards are worth 0 points, including the wild cards.

In winning the game, the players the reach the predetermined score such as 500 points is the winner. It is best to use a score sheet to keep track of the score.

As a strategy tip, the leading player must not go ahead with the point cards (10s or aces) except if they are ready to play 3 or 4 rounds to take all the points. The non leading player has the advantage of playing the last card.

More Information

Sedma (similar to Hola)