Call Break Vs. Poker – The Major Differences Between The Two Popular Card Games

Card games are enormously popular across the world. The sheer versatility of playing cards has led to the development of innumerable games one can play. A standard deck of cards is compact, and because of this, you can play card games just about anywhere since not much space is required.

Around the world and across diverse cultures, various card games have come into existence worldwide and across diverse cultures – often even with regional and international variations of the game. Card games are an excellent way for people to relax and unwind, compete with one another in good spirits, and even win money.

Poker and Call Break are two card games that enjoy a popular following in almost every country worldwide. Both games are popularly played across the length and breadth of India, and they can play both competitively and for monetary winnings.

But what are the significant differences between call break and poker? Read on and find out as both games are discussed in detail, one after another!

An Introduction To Call Break

Call break, also known as call break taas, Lakdi, Lakadi, Ghochi, Call Bridge, and even Racing, is a card game popularly played in South Asian countries, most notably in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The game is known by its various other names in different regions.

Even though the game’s exact origins are not clearly known – and are often debated, it is said to have originated from another hugely popular card game called Spades. In terms of gameplay, call break has similarities with other internationally played card games that involve ‘trick-taking,’ such as Spades, Hearts, Canasta, and Euchre. Likewise, each game and its variants have marginally different rules depending on where they are played, but the general concept of the game remains constant throughout. Call break is a game that is easy to pick up, and the evolution of technology has made it possible for people to play the game with friends and family members on their mobile phones and tablets. Call break is played among four players through five rounds.

Call Break: Features Of The Game And Rules

1. First and foremost, four players are required to play call break.
2. Call break is played with a standard deck of 52 playing cards, without the joker cards, and each player is dealt 13 cards.
3. One of the four players playing the game will be the dealer who distributes the card to every other player.
4. The game is played in an anti-clockwise direction, and the player sitting next to the dealer throws a card that becomes the lead suit.
5. Before the game begins, each player will be asked to quote the number of wins, i.e., tricks that they will take. The minimum required is two, and the maximum can be 12.
6. The objective of the game of call break is to collect as many tricks as one call. If a player manages to collect more minor tricks than they have called, they get negative scoring.
7. In the call break game, the trump card is always a card that belongs to the suit of spades. In other words, spades are the highest-ranked suit.
8. If players collect more tricks than they have called, 0.1 points are added to their total score for each additional trick they have collected.

An Introduction To Poker

Poker is one of the most popular betting card games of all time. The exact origin of the poker game is not known with surety. Still, many scholars and historians have indicated that the French game ‘Poque’ and the Persian game ‘As-Nas’ could be possible inspirations for the modern version of poker as we know it today. However, other scholars have disagreed with these claims, saying that poker could have emerged from ancient games or even been invented based on general card play principles. The game gained prominence in the United States, from where its popularity slowly but steadily spread to the rest of the world.

The poker game entails players betting that the value of the cards they hold is higher than those of other players in the game. Once the initial bets have been made, each subsequent player will be required to bet an amount equal to what has been bet, raise the bet, or drop out of the round. At the end of the round, when all the players show their cards, each hand is compared, and the hand with the highest rank wins the total amount that has been bet (called the pot). The development of technology has made poker a popular game to play online on mobile phones and tablets among people and their friends and family members.

Poker: Features Of The Game And Rules

1. At the beginning of each round, every player is dealt two cards.
2. The game begins with the blinds. Blinds are compulsory bets that two designated players need to make before the cards are dealt, namely the small blind and the big blind. The big blind is double the amount of the small blind.
3. Poker is played with a standard deck of 52 cards, minus the joker cards.
4. Poker is typically played in a clockwise direction, and the player sitting to the left of the dealer makes the first move.
5. As the game progresses, players will be required to ‘call,’ i.e., to equal the bet or ‘raise’ the bet, failing which they can ‘fold’ or drop out.
6. In poker, several ‘hands’ or formations of cards are categorized based on their rank and suit.
7. All suits are ranked the same in poker. In other words, cards of the same value in different suits hold the same rank.
8. Winning in poker entails having the highest-ranked hand, consisting of the two cards held combined with three of the five cards displayed at the center of the table.

The above was a comparative discussion on both call break and poker, with the salient features of both games being listed. Call break and poker are both widely enjoyed in India despite their differences. With more and more gaming platforms offering these games, suffice it to say their popularity will only grow in the years to come.