Kout Terms in English: A Simple Glossary for New Players

You sit down at a majlis in Kuwait, someone deals, and the table starts speaking a language you do not know: san, hakam, sira, double. The cards look familiar; the words do not. This glossary gives plain-English names for the main Kout terms, how to say them, and what each one means.

Why Kout terms need translating, not just repeating

Kout is a Kuwaiti partnership trick-taking card game, and almost all of its vocabulary is local. Repeating an Arabic word slowly does not help, because the term is tied to a situation in the game, not to an English equivalent. The practical fix is simple: give each term a short English label, explain its job in one line, and let the rest come from playing. Exact rules differ from group to group, so vocabulary is the one thing everyone can agree on before the first hand.

The core calls: San, Hakam, Kout, Double

• San (صان) — the round played with no trump suit, where raw card strength decides. Call it the no-trump round.
• Hakam (حَكَم) — the round with a trump suit that beats every other suit. Call it the trump round.
• Kout — the name of the game, and also what people say when a team takes a round clean. Call it a clean sweep.
• Double (دبل) — doubling the points of a round. Say it exactly as in English; everyone understands it.

Words you will hear at the table every session

• Sira (سرا / سرى) — a quiet call, made without showing your cards.
• Mashroo (مشروع) — a set or run of cards that earns extra points. A meld or declaration.
• Akl al-waraq (أكل الورق) — literally “eating the cards”: winning a trick.
• Sab (الصب) — dealing the cards out.
• Tagtee (التقطيع) — cutting the deck before the deal.
• Shilla (الشلة) — your regular group, the people you always sit with.

The cards themselves: Shayib, Walad, Abnat

Face cards have everyday names too. “Shayib” is the king, “walad” is the jack, and “banat” are the queens. “Abnat” are the number cards with no picture, the ones that pile up and get counted later. The quickest shortcut for someone who already plays cards: shayib is the king, walad the jack, abnat the low number cards. These labels vary a little between groups, so ask your own shilla in the first session instead of assuming.

How to teach a foreign friend, one step at a time

Do not explain everything at once. Start with the goal, then the difference between san and hakam, then how partners work together, and only then the scoring. If keeping score pulls you away from teaching, there is a simple answer: Kout Score helps you calculate and track points across your Kout sessions — free on Google Play. Your hands stay free and your eyes stay on the table.

• Session one: two teams, one goal, and let them look at their own cards only.
• Session two: san versus hakam, and let them make one call themselves.
• Session three: the partner role — when to support and when to let a trick go.
• Session four: points and melds, where everything they learned clicks together.

If you want a record of how far they have come, Kout Score helps you calculate and track points across your Kout sessions — free on Google Play, so the running total lives in the app, not in your head. After a few sessions your friend will hear “hakam” and react without translating it first. Try it in your next game and download the app free from Google Play.