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[ARTICLE · art-101288] src=dev.to ↗ pub= topic=artificial-intelligence verified=true sentiment=↑ positive

Baloot Goes Digital: Building Saudi Arabia's Card Game with a Real RL-Trained AI

Arb'a Baloot, a free, ad-free digital version of Saudi Arabia's national card game Baloot, has been released with an AI opponent trained using reinforcement learning over millions of self-play rounds. The AI, built by a developer, bids Sun or Hokm, counts cards, and punishes mistakes, operating fully offline.

read1 min views1 publishedAug 18, 2026

Baloot is Saudi Arabia's national card game — 32 cards, 4 players, 2 teams, and a bidding system (Sun / Hokm) that rewards reading your opponents.

Most Baloot apps are either stuffed with ads or built around buying coins. Arb'a Baloot takes the opposite approach: completely free, no ads, no in-app purchases.

Instead of hard-coded rules, the AI opponent was trained with reinforcement learning over millions of self-play rounds — the same family of techniques behind AlphaGo. It bids Sun or Hokm like a strong human, counts cards, punishes mistakes, and works fully offline.

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