Counting suits in Thulla: how to know who is out of what
Every Thulla game turns on one question: who can throw a thulla on this suit? A player who is out of a suit is dangerous when you lead it, and a gift when somebody else does. You cannot see their hand, but you can work a surprising amount out. This guide teaches the three things to track, then plays through three tricks with the notes written down.
The three things to track
- How many cards of each suit are still unseen. There are 13 of each suit. Subtract the cards in your hand, and the cards that have been played in finished tricks. What is left is hidden in your opponents' hands. The smaller the number compared with the number of opponents, the more likely someone is already out of the suit.
- Who is known to be out of which suit. A player admits it in two ways: they throw a thulla on a suit, or on the very first trick they play a non-spade because they have no spade. Write it down: Sara: no spades.
- Which cards a player must be holding. When somebody picks up a pile, everyone sees every card in it. Those cards are now in that player's hand, and you know exactly what they are.
What you track is public. Everything on this list can be seen by every player at the table, and it is exactly what the Hard bot tracks, too.
A worked example, three tricks
You are Bilal. The players sit in the order Ahmed, Sara, Bilal, Hina. Your hand includes ♠7, ♠9 and ♠J, among others.
Trick 1: spades
Ahmed opens with the ♠A, as the rules demand. Sara has no spade and plays ♦3, a dead card. You play ♠7. Hina plays ♠K. Ahmed's ♠A wins, and he leads next.
- Voids: Sara has no spades. She could not have played ♦3 if she had one.
- Spades unseen: 13 − 2 in your hand (♠9, ♠J) − 3 played (♠A, ♠K, ♠7) = 8, held by Ahmed and Hina only, since Sara has none.
Trick 2: hearts
Ahmed leads ♥9. Sara plays ♥J. You play ♥4. Hina plays ♥2. Everyone followed suit, so it is a clean trick, and Sara's ♥J is the highest heart. Sara wins and leads next.
- Hearts unseen: 13 − your hearts (say 3 more in your hand) − 4 played = 6, among three opponents. No voids yet, and nobody is likely to be out of hearts soon.
Trick 3: diamonds and a thulla
Sara leads ♦8. You follow with ♦5. Hina has no diamond and throws ♣K: a thulla. The trick ends at once. The highest diamond on the table is Sara's own ♦8, so Sara picks up ♦8, ♦5 and ♣K and leads next.
- New void: Hina has no diamonds.
- Known holdings: Sara now holds the ♣K, the ♦5 and the ♦8, exactly as you watched. You also know the ♣K is no longer in Hina's hand.
- Voids so far: Sara: spades. Hina: diamonds.
What the notes tell you
| Suit | Who is out | Meaning for your next lead |
|---|---|---|
| ♠ Spades | Sara | Do not lead a spade you cannot afford to pick up: Sara can throw a thulla. |
| ♦ Diamonds | Hina | Same for diamonds: Hina can throw a thulla. |
| ♥ Hearts | Nobody known | The safest suit to lead right now. |
| ♣ Clubs | Nobody known | Nobody is known to be out, and you know Sara holds the ♣K, so she is the one to beat in clubs. |
That is all counting is. You are not memorising 52 cards; you are keeping four short notes, one per suit, and updating them when something is thrown.
How to use what you know
- Lead the suit nobody is out of. If your lead is highest and somebody throws a thulla, you pick up the pile. Leading a suit nobody lacks gives them no way to hurt you.
- Throw your most dangerous card when you are out of the led suit. A thrower never picks up, so it is the cheapest time to get rid of a high card you could never lead safely.
- Spend high cards while thullas are unlikely. Early in a round, with all suits unseen in many hands, a high lead is cheap. Late, when your tracker says someone is out of the suit, it is expensive.
- Watch what a picker holds. A player who just took a big pile has a lot of known cards. If you know they hold the high clubs, you know whether your club is safe.
- Count again when someone goes out. Fewer opponents means fewer places for the unseen cards to hide, and your counts get sharper. With one opponent left you know their whole hand exactly.
Common counting mistakes
- Forgetting to count the cards in your own hand when you work out what is unseen.
- Forgetting that cards in a picked-up pile are not gone from the game: they are in somebody's hand.
- Assuming a player has a suit because they followed it once. They may have run out by the next round of it.
- Counting dead cards on the first trick as thullas. They are not: they only tell you that the player has no spade.
Practise it
Try it against the Easy bots first, keeping your four notes on paper: the bots play without a plan, so the information is easy to read. When you can do it without paper, move up to Medium, and then Hard. A Hard bot loses about 1 game in 100 against three Easy ones, and counting is most of the reason why.
More: strategy tips · common mistakes · the endgame · practise now
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to count cards to win at Thulla?
You do not need to count every card, but tracking three things (how many of each suit are unseen, who is out of which suit, and which cards players picked up) is the main difference between a strong and a weak player.
How do I know someone is out of a suit?
You only know for sure when they throw a thulla on that suit, or on the first trick when they play a non-spade instead of a spade. Nobody can hide it then.
What is the easiest suit to track?
Spades at the start of a round: the first trick shows you immediately who has none.
What do I do with the information?
Avoid leading a suit that someone is out of unless you hold a safe low card, and throw your most dangerous card when you are out of the led suit yourself.
More guides
How to play Thulla (Bhabhi)
The full rules, step by step.
A Thulla round, trick by trick
A worked example: a clean trick, a thulla, and how a round ends.
Thulla, Bhabhi or Bhabi? The names and every term
The names of the game, where house rules differ, and every word explained.
Thulla strategy tips
Habits that keep you from being the Bhabhi.