Determination of partnerships and the first dealer can be performed using a variety of methods, with drawing for high cards a common method. The players drawing the two highest cards play as partners against the players drawing the two lowest. The player drawing the highest card of all becomes the first dealer.
The dealer thoroughly shuffles the deck and offers it to the player at his left to cut. After the cut, the dealer begins dealing in a counter-clockwise direction, starting with the player to his immediate right. He continues dealing until each player has a total of four face-down cards. After the deal each player picks up his hand for examination.
If, after the deal, the player to the immediate right of the dealer examines his hand and finds that the total value in cards (as described below) of that hand is less than 15 he may (but is not required to), request a new deal. In that case, all the cards are thrown in and a new deal is performed by the same dealer. This player must make this request, however, before any player bids or passes. After the players each examines his hand, the bidding phase of the game begins, starting with the player to the immediate right of the dealer. A bid is a players estimate of the number of points his partnership can capture during the hand if the player is allowed to select the trump suit. The minimum bid is 160, and all bids must be in multiples of 10 and to be valid, must be higher than any previous bid during this bidding phase. A player is never obligated to bid and may pass on his turn to bid. Although the lowest allowable bid is 160, on a player's second turn to bid his bid may not be lower than 200 (or a pass) regardless of the current value of the bidding. Similarly, if a player's partner currently has the high bid, he may not make a bid lower than 200, but he may also pass. The bidding rotates around the table in a counterclockwise direction, until a bid is followed by three successive passes. A player may also request that his partner bid in his place, bound by the normal rules of the bidding. If all four players pass, with no bid made, the cards are all thrown in and a new hand dealt by the next dealer in turn. The player making the ultimate high bid in the round is known as the Trump Maker. This player should then select one card from his hand and place it face-down in front of himself. This card is called the Trump Indicator card and the suit of this card will identify the trump suit for the hand but it should not yet be exposed. Although the card is on the table in front of the player, it is considered to be one of his cards.
After the trump card has been selected and placed on the table, the dealer continues dealing the remainder of the deck, dealing another four face-down cards to each player (with each player having a total of 8 cards). After each player has the remainder of his cards, a second round of bidding occurs, again starting with the player to the dealer's immediate right. As in the first round, a player may bid or pass but the bid must be higher than 250 AND higher than the highest bid from the first bidding round. In this second round of bidding, each player has one opportunity to bid or pass. In this round, a player may never ask his partner to bid for him. If a player's partner currently has the high bid during the current round, a player must pass on his turn to bid.
The highest bid made is then considered the contract for this hand. However if all four players pass during this second bidding round, the high bid from the first bidding round is set as the contract for the hand. The partnership who made the high bid for the hand are then set as the contractors. If the high bid was made during the second bidding round, the player who originally set the Trump Indicator card places the card back into his hand and the new high bidder places any card from his hand face-down on the table as the new Trump Indicator Card. If no bids were made during the second bidding round, the original trump card remains. If the high bidder during the second round is the same as the high bidder in the first round, he is entitled to take the original Trump Indicator Card back into his hand and place another card from his hand in it's place on the table. During this round there is also one special bid, called Partner Close Caps. This is the highest allowable bid and indicates that a player intends to win every trick without the aid of his partner.
After the bidding has concluded and the high bidders team is determined, play of the hand can begin. Before play of the hand starts, the trump maker elects if he intends to play a Closed Trump or Open Trump game. If he elects to play an Open Trump game, he turns over the exposed trump card on the table such that all players can see it. After this he adds the card to his hand, and play begins. However, in many cases, he will elect to play a Closed Trump game. In this case, the Trump Indicator Card remains face-down on the table and is unknown to three of the players until played.
The rules of trick play during the hand are slightly different depending on whether the game is being played as an Open Trump Game or a Closed Trump Game.
Open Trump Game: The player to the immediate right of the dealer plays the first card to the first trick. Each other player, in a counter-clockwise direction then plays one card from his hand to the trick. If a player has a card of the same suit as led to the trick he must play it. If not, he may play any card from his hand, including a card of the trump suit. After each player has played one card to the trick, it is examined to determine the winner. The player of the highest card of the trump suit played to the trick wins it. If no cards of the trump suit have been played to the trick, the player of the highest card of the suit originally led to the trick wins it. All won tricks are set aside, out of play. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick. All cards played to the trick are played face-up.
Closed Trump Game: In a Closed Trump game, play begins in the same manner. The player to the dealer's immediate right plays the first card to the trick and each other player, in a counter-clockwise direction plays a card of his own to the trick. If the player has a card of the same suit as originally played to the trick he must play it to the trick. If however, he does not have any cards of the suit led, and the trump card has not yet been exposed, he then plays any other card of his choice to the trick, playing the card face-down. After all players have played to the trick, the Trump Maker examines the trick and declares if any of the cards played to the trick were in the trump suit. If not, the face-down cards are left face-down and the highest card of the suit originally led to the trick wins the trick. However, if any of the cards played to the trick were of the trump suit, the dealer reveals all those face-down cards as well as the face-down Trump Indicator Card. The highest card of the trump suit played to that trick wins it. If the Trump Indicator was not one of the cards played to that trick, the Trump Maker adds the Trump Indicator into his hand after all other players have viewed it. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick. After the trump suit has been exposed the game continues as in an Open Trump game.
There are also a few restrictions on the play of the actual Trump Indicator Card by the Trump Maker in a Closed Trump game. He can only play this card to a trick in two specific occasions:
- Playing a card to a trick led by another player in which he does not have a card of that suit in his hand.
- The Trump Indicator Card is that player's only remaining card (which would occur on the eighth trick of the hand).
Note also, that if a trump suit is led by another player, the Trump Maker may not play this Trump Indicator Card unless it is his last card. Also, if the winning bid was 250 or higher, in a Closed game, the Trump Indicator is automatically exposed after the first trick, shown to the players and then added to the Trump Maker's hand. After this, the remainder of the hand is played as at Open Trump.
If the Trump Maker leads a card of the trump suit and all other players play a card not of the trump suit (called Exhausted Trumps), the Trump Maker must continue to lead trumps each trick until he also has no cards of the trump suit remaining. This rule applies even if the Trump Indicator Card is still face-down on the table, with it's suit unknown to the other players. The Trump Indicator Card itself, however, is still bound by the rules as stipulated above.
If the opposing team to the Trump Maker's team discover that neither of the players in that team had, during the hand, any cards of the trump suit, they may declare Spoilt Trumps. This call must be made by that team before the eighth trick of the hand is played. If this call is made, play of the hand immediately halts, all the cards are thrown in no score is calculated for this hand. The same dealer then deals a new hand.
If the high bid was "Partner Close Caps", the partner of the player who made this call simply places his hand face-down on the table, the player and his cards will take no further part in the hand. The player making the call will then play the hand solo against the two members of the opposing team. This is considered the highest bid, and successfully winning all eight tricks when making this bid entitles his team to bonus game points (see below). During play of the hand on a Partner Close Caps call, the Exhausted Trump rule and the Calling Caps rules do not apply.
Caps: The winning of all eight tricks in the hand by one team is called Caps. At any time a player on the high bidding team believes that his team is guaranteed to win every trick during the hand if that player's cards were played in a certain order, he is required to call "Caps". A player should make this call anytime during the hand, particularly once he player believes that his team will win every remaining trick (and his team has so far won every previous trick on the same hand). The call should be made anytime before the lead to the Seventh trick has begun. If correct, the call of Caps may entitle that team to bonus Game Points at the end of the hand. After a player calls "Caps", he immediately places the remainder of his hand face-up on the table. He then states the exact order in which his cards would be played which would guarantee winning every remaining trick. If he can show, based on the cards from the other hands, that his team would win every hand, his partnership is entitled to bonus points at the end of the game. However, if it can be shown that his team would lose one or more tricks, he would lose a number of Game Points. In fact, if a player could have called Caps but failed to do so, or makes the Caps call much later than he could have, or calls "Caps" too early, he is instead in violation of Caps, called Wrong Caps, which will incur a penalty for his team. In this case, the hands might be examined after the last trick is played to determine if the player could have called Caps but did not. Successfully calling Caps on a hand earns a player 1 bonus Game Point at the end of the hand. Wrong Caps causes the player to lose two Game Points in addition to any lost if not making the bid. No Game Points are earned during a Wrong Caps call even if the bid was successful. If a player calls "Caps", but is found that his partnership would lose one or more of the remaining tricks in the hand, five points are subtracted from the total Game Points of his team. In addition, if a team intentionally loses one or more tricks to avoid a Wrong Caps call, and a member of the opposing team notices and points this out, the team who should have called Caps still loses two tokens. Also, although indicated that Caps is not called after the seventh trick is started, this simply indicates that the bonus points are not earned for doing so. However, a player or team must still declare "Caps" if they believe they will win all eight tricks, and will still incur the penalty if they fail to do so and proceed to win all eight tricks.
Once every trick in the hand has been played and won, the High Bidder's team checks the cards won in tricks to determine if they managed to win at least as many points as bid. The following chart shows the value of each card in the deck:
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If the high bidding partnership managed to capture at least as many points as the high bid, they are said to win the game and win a number of game points for the feat. However if they scored less than the amount of the high bid they instead lose a number of game points. If the final high bid on the hand was less than 200, the high bidders win 1 Game Point if they manage to win at least that many points or lose 2 Game Points if they do not manage to. If the high bid was over 200 but less than 250, the high bidders win 2 or lost 3 respectively, and if the bid was 250 or higher (and not a Caps bid), the team wins 3 or loses 4.
If the winning high bid was a Partner Close Caps bid, and the player managed to win every trick, his partnership earns 4 Game Points. However, if unable to win every trick, his partnership loses 5 Game Points instead.
Final Scoring: 304 is usually played over the course of several games. As such, the number of Game Points each team currently has is used to determine the session winners (the team with the most Game Points at the completion of the play session
being considered the winners). Commonly, these Game Points are
represented by the use of tokens. When this is the case, there are a few methods by which the winning team can be determined:
- Each team is provided 11 tokens at the start of the game session. After each hand, a team that wins Game Points collects an equal number of such tokens from the opposing team. Similarly, if the team loses tokens, that team must give the indicated number of tokens to the other team. The first team to collect all 22 tokens is declared the winner of the game.
- Another method is similar to this first version but can more for a somewhat faster game. In this method, each team is also provided 11 tokens. However, in this variant, tokens are never collected, but the losing team, which would normally have to give tokens to the other team, places the tokens in a central pile of tokens. The first team to lost it's last token is the loser and the opposing team declared the winners.
Variations and Optional Rules
Six and Eight Player 304: A variant of 304 has also been developed which allows play by additional players. In the six player variant, there are two teams consisting of three player each and in the eight player version there are two teams of four players each. In these variants, the players should be seated at the table in such a way that to the left and right of each player is a player from the opposing team, such that gameplay will alternate between players of each team.
In these variants the deck used is also modified. In these variants a further reduced 24 card deck is used. This deck consists of the following denominations from a standard deck; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9. The ranking of the cards in this deck are similar to that used in the standard variant, shown from high to low: Jack, 9, Ace, 10, King, Queen.
In the first round of dealing each player is dealt three total cards. The bidding during this phase is the same as in the standard game, however, the lowest allowable minimum bid is 200. After the first round of bidding, one additional card is dealt to each player, such that each player has a total of four cards, after which, similar to the standard variant, an additional round of bidding occurs.
In all other aspects, save the greater number of players and fewer cards in each player's hand, the game is played identically to the standard variant of 304 as described above.
External Caps: External Caps is an optional rule that is rarely played in most modern games, but in original versions of the game was quite common.
External Caps is a call which is made by the opponents to the trump maker and indicates that they believe they will win all eight tricks. As in a regular Caps call, this call should be made immediately upon the defending team realizing they will win all eight tricks. As in the standard Caps call, an incorrect call of Caps or a call of Caps too early or late will incur the same penalty as in any call of Caps. If the Defenders do call Caps and manage to win all eight tricks, however, they earn a total of eight Game points for the hand.
Alternate Scoring Variant: In some locales, the scoring value of each of the cards in the deck is reduced. Essentially the card values are reduced by an order of 10. The following chart shows the point values for the cards in the deck:
| Card | Alternate Scoring Point Value |
|---|---|
| Jack | 3.0 |
| Nine | 2.0 |
| Ace | 1.1 |
| Ten | 1.0 |
| King | 0.3 |
| Queen | 0.2 |
| Eight, Seven | 0.0 |
Maharashtrian 304: A game with the same name, 304, and with very similar rules is commonly played in Maharashtra, South India. The Maharashtrian version uses the same deck as does standard 304, and the ranking of these cards is the same as in the standard game listed again for convenience as, (from high to low): Jack 9, Ace, 10, King, Queen, 8, 7. The game is played identically to the standard game, with the following key differences:
- After the first four cards are dealt, there is no initial bidding, however each player starting with the player to the dealer's right and continuing counter-clockwise around the table may elect to declare he intends to play at "Half Court" (also called Half Coat). Once any of the players makes this call, the bidding ends and no more cards are dealt, with the hand consisting of only four cards dealt to each player. The half-court call indicates that the player who makes this bid will undertake to win all four of the tricks comprising the hand. After making this bid, the player lays down a card, as in the normal variant which will be the trump suit for the hand. When playing a Half Court game, the player who called "Half Court" leads to every trick during the hand, regardless of which player wins the trick.
- There are no set partnerships in this game, but rather, after the high bidder is determined, this high bidder calls any card he does not possess in his hand. Whichever player has this card in their hand becomes the partner of this player. However, this player should make no indication that he has the card or is the partner of the high bidder, although this will become apparent once the called card is played. A player who calls Half-Court may also call for a card, but, since not all the cards have been dealt, there is no guarantee the card will be in play. If this is the case, he will play without a partner during the hand.
- If no player opts to play Half court, the dealer then deals out the remaining cards from the deck such that each player has a hand consisting of 8 total cards. After the remainder of the cards are dealt, the bidding begins starting with the player to the dealer's right. The minimum bid is 160. The bidding rotates around the table in a clockwise direction, from player to player until a legal bid is followed by three consecutive passes. In order to be considered to be a legal bid, a bid must be in multiples of 10 and higher than the previous high bid. A player may opt to Pass on one of his turn's to bid, but once a player passes, he must continue to pass on each subsequent bid during the same hand.
- If a player believes he can earn all 304 points in the deck, he can make a special bid (the highest allowable in the game) called a Full Court (or Full Coat).
- The player who eventually makes the highest bid becomes the High bidder for the hand. He then places a card face-down on the table in front of himself as the eventual trump suit, as in the standard game. As mentioned previously, he also calls for a card which he does not have in hand, the holder of this card becoming his unknown partner for the hand.
- After winning at least one trick a player may also show a King and Queen of the same suit which still remains in his hand (called a Marriage). If the partnerships are apparent (the called card having been already played during the hand), either member of a partnership can also declare and show the Marriage even if that particular player has not yet won a trick. After the cards forming the Marriage are shown, the player replaces the cards forming the Marriage back into his hand. If the High bidding side shows the Marriage, the card points required to win the hand is reduced by 40 points for a Marriage in the trump suit and 20 for a Marriage in any other suit. However, if the opposing team declares and shows the Marriage, the number of points to win the hand is increased for the bidding side by 40 for a Marriage in the trump suit and 20 for a Marriage in any other suit.
- The winner of the last trick earns 10 bonus card points, while the opposing team must subtract 10 points from their own score.
- If the High Bidder and his partner manage to earn at least the number of points as bid during the hand, they are said to win the hand. However, if the high bidder and his partner do not manage to score at least as many card points as required for the high bid, they lose the hand.
- This game does not include the "Caps" call or the "Partner Close Caps" call.
- To be considered the winners of a Half court hand, the player or his partner (if applicable) must, in combination, win all four tricks played during the hand. To win a Full Court game, the Full Court bidder or his partner must, in combination, win all the point scoring cards in tricks (a total of 304 card points).
Other then these noted differences, in all other ways this game is played identically to the standard game 304 as described above.