The Hand Call: when to ask, when to accept

By Abdul Rauf · Updated 2026-11-08

The Hand Call is a move we added to Thulla Champions. It lets a player about to lead hand their problem to someone else, or take someone else's safe finish, in one private deal. This page explains the rules exactly, then what we learned from simulating it.

The rules, exactly

• Who can ask: only the player who is about to lead a trick, and not on the very first trick of the round, where the Ace of Spades must be played.
• Who can be asked: only the next player in turn who is still in the round. Nobody else.
• If they accept: their whole hand moves to the asker, and they finish the round at once, safe. The asker, who now holds both hands, still leads the trick, and may ask the next player in the same way.
• If they refuse: nothing moves. The asker leads a card normally and cannot ask again for the rest of that trick. They may ask again on a later trick.
• Never the last opponent: once only one opponent is left holding cards, the call is not available, because taking that hand would leave the asker holding everything and ending the game on the spot.
• A person who is asked has 5 seconds to accept or refuse. Saying nothing counts as no.

An example

Four players are left in the round: Ahmed, Sara, Bilal and Hina. Hina has ♣3, ♣9 and ♦J, and she is about to lead. Clubs have been played often and Bilal, the next player, holds only two cards, ♠4 and ♥7. Hina worries that if she leads her clubs somebody out of clubs will throw a thulla and she will pick up. So she asks Bilal for his hand. He accepts. Bilal is out safe, Hina now holds five cards (♣3, ♣9, ♦J, ♠4, ♥7) and she leads. She took on two extra cards, but the cards were low ones, and she has just removed a player who could have thrown something at her.

Why anyone would ask

Taking cards sounds like a terrible idea, since you hold more and the person who gave them is safe. It is a deliberate trade. A player who expects to be exposed trick after trick, forced to reveal by thrown thullas which suits they lack, can take a small hand and keep control of what the table learns about them. The Hard bot asks only when the next player holds four cards or fewer, when it is about to be hurt on its own lead, and when its own hand is no bigger than nine.

What the simulation says

We let four Hard bots play 100,000 games with the Hand Call allowed, and another 100,000 with nobody ever asking (how we ran it).

• It is common. In 71.7% of games at least one Hand Call was made, and on average there was 1.0 per game.
• It shortens the game. A game lasts 22.0 tricks with Hand Calls and 23.4 without, because each accepted call removes a player from the table early.
• Asking is a sign of trouble. The player who made the first Hand Call of a game ended up the Bhabhi in 46.3% of those games, against a fair share of 25%. They finished safe 53.7% of the time.

When to ask

• You are about to lead and every suit you could lead looks dangerous, because other players have shown they are out of them.
• The player you would ask has very few cards, ideally four or fewer. A big hand is a heavy load to carry.
• The cards on offer are low ones you could hide behind. You cannot see them, so judge by how many cards the player has and what they have thrown.
• There are still at least three players in the round, so you are not wasting the call.

When not to ask

• You already have a big hand. Each extra card makes it harder to get out safe.
• You hold a good safe suit to lead. Use it instead.
• Only two players are left holding cards. The Hand Call is not allowed then, and a shootout may settle the game anyway.

When you are asked

Accepting makes you safe: you go out at once, and every player who is not the Bhabhi is a winner. For you it is a free finish. The asker takes your cards, which only hurts them. Unless you are at a friends table and want to help or hinder a particular player, accept. Think of refusing as a social choice, not a strategic one. Bots always accept, at every difficulty.

Note that you only get 5 seconds. If you often need longer to decide, accept: silence counts as a refusal.

A word about fairness

Two friends could agree in advance that one of them will always accept the other's Hand Call. That is a known risk of any game where players can help each other, and it is written down in the project's rules notes as something to watch rather than something already solved. Coins in the game are game items with no cash value, which limits what there is to gain.

More: how the bots decide · every way a game ends · play now

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