How To Play Whist

Whist is the primary predecessor to the game of Contract Bridge. While Bridge has surpassed the Whist games in popularity, these games still command a large following. Many of the features of Contract Bridge can also be found in this game and much of the strategy for Bridge applies equally well here.

The basic game of Whist is played with the regular 52 card deck. The cards rank as follows (in order from highest to lowest): Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. As in bridge, the game is played by four players, of whom two play in partnership against the other two. Unlike Bridge, however, the suits of the cards in Whist have no specific order of ranking.

If the partnerships are not pre-arranged in advance the following method may be used to determine the partnerships and the first dealer: The deck is shuffled and cut by any player and the entire deck is then fanned out face down on the table. Each player then draws one card from the spread out pack. The two highest drawn cards play as partnerships against the two lowest cards drawn. The player who draws the highest card becomes the first dealer. Although the Ace is considered high in the play of the game, for purposes of determining partnerships and the deal, it is considered low. Unlike in Bridge, where suits have a specific ranking, they do not have such a ranking in this game. However, for purposes of this draw (but not in any other aspect of this game), the suits rank as follows, in descending order: spades (♠) highest, then hearts (♥), diamonds (♦) and clubs (♣).

As in Contract Bridge, each player sits at the table directly opposite their designated partner such that the play of cards to each trick will alternate between members of a partnership.

The last card of the deal is turned over to establish Trump in the game of Whist

The last card of the deal is turned over to establish Trump in the game of Whist

The individual who is to be the first dealer then begins the hand by dealing the cards, face down and one at time, clockwise around the table, starting at the player to his immediate left. However, the very last card, which would be the last card dealt to the dealer himself, is instead placed face up in the center of the table. This card indicates the trump suit, with this and all other cards of this same suit designated as "trump" for this hand. Once it is the dealer's turn to play to the first trick, he picks up this card and adds it to his hand. After each hand, the right to deal rotates clockwise around the table to each player in turn.

There is no bidding in the standard game of Whist, thus each partnership has one goal and this goal is to attempt to win as many tricks as possible during each hand. Scoring is based on the number of odd tricks (tricks won in excess of 6) taken by a partnership. Each of these odd tricks is worth one point. Thus, if a partnership combined to win 10 tricks in a particular hand, they would earn 4 points in the hand.

Play of the Hand

If no trumps are played to the trick, it is won by the highest card of the suit led.

To begin the play of the hand, the player to the dealers left plays the first card (leads) to the first trick. Each trick consists of four cards, one played by each player in a clockwise direction. Thus, each subsequent player must then play a card of the same suit as that of the lead card. If he does not have a card of the same suit as the lead card, he may play any card in his hand (including a card of the trump suit). The trick is won by the highest ranked card of the suit led unless anyone played a trump card to the trick. In that case, the trick is won by the player who played the highest trump.

Trick in the card game Whist

The highest trump card played to a trick wins that trick. Thus, if hearts were trump, the eight of hearts would win this trick even though it was not the suit led.

The winner of the trick should gather in the four cards of the trick and place it face down in front of himself.

In this same way, all 13 tricks should be played, with one card played to the trick by each player. The winner of a trick leads the first card for the next trick (which can be any card of his choice remaining in that players hand). Once all the tricks are played, each partnership should total their tricks won for determination of scoring.

Scoring

The first partnership to score 7 total points (during the play of one hand or accumulated across multiple hands) wins a game. A rubber consists of three games, and thus the rubber is won by the first partnership to win two such games. The entire match is then won by the partnership who has the highest total points over the rubber. The final match score will be the difference between the number of points the non-winning partnership did win and seven. If this score of seven is reached while a hand is still in progress, the hand is continued to its conclusion and the scores are added to the partnerships final scores.

Whist Variations and Optional Rules

Some of the more common variations of Whist that are played are as follows:

Five Point Whist: This variation, popular in England, is similar to the standard game of Whist described above except for with regards to the scoring. Five Point Whist is also commonly and historically known as Short Whist, due to the fewer number of points required to win a game. In this Whist variant, five accumulated points wins the game. In addition to the score of 1 point per odd trick won in each hand as above, scores are also gained for the following: Possible Whist Honors

All Honour cards: If one partnership holds all the honour cards (Ace, King, Queen and Jack of the trump suit) the partnership earns 4 points.
Three Honour cards: If a partnership holds three of the four honour cards (Three of any of the following cards of the trump suit: Ace, King, Queen, Jack) they gain 2 points.
Winning 10 or 11 tricks in a hand: If the winning partnership in a hand wins 10 or 11 of the tricks they earn an additional 1 point.
Winning 12 tricks in a hand: If the partnership winning the hand wins 12 of the tricks in that hand, they receive an additional 2 points.
Winning all tricks in a hand: If the winning partnership of a hand wins all 13 of the tricks in a hand, they score an additional 3 points. This is sometimes called a Slam.

Cycling Trumps: This version is identical to the standard version described above except as regards to the designation of the trump suit. Rather than exposing the last card of the deal as trump, the designation of trump for the hand follows a specific cycle.

Thus, the trump suit for each hand follows the following sequence:

Hand	Trump Suit
1	Hearts (♥)
2	Diamonds (♦)
3	Spades (♠)
4	Clubs (♣)
5	No Trump

- When playing this version, of course, the last card goes into the dealer's hand and is not first exposed to the center of the table as in the standard game.
- When playing a hand at No Trump, each trick is won by the highest card played of the original suit led, cards of any other suit cannot win that trick.
- After the 5th hand, the rotation begins again starting with hearts, then diamonds and continuing through the rotation as many times as necessary to complete the match.

Bid Whist: This version of the game of Whist is played with a standard 52 card deck plus two jokers. The jokers should be distinct from each other in some way such that one is designated as the "Big Joker" and the other as the "Little Joker".
Big and Little Jokers in Bid Whist

After determination of the partnerships and deal, the dealer deals 12 cards to each player, face down and one at a time. The remaining 6 cards of the deck are set, face down in the center of the table to form the kitty. Although determination of partnerships can be done as in standard Whist above, the first dealer is determined by the player who draws the first diamond from the face down fanned out deck. The specific ranking of the cards in Bid Whist will be somewhat dependent on the specific bid. See below, for the ranking of cards based on the winning bid.

After the deal, bidding begins:
Bidding - Each player, starting with the first player to the dealers left, is allowed one bid. The bidding continues around the table in a clockwise rotation. On his one turn at bidding the player may either bid or pass. When bidding, a player names a number of odd tricks (tricks over 6) that they are bidding to win. These odd tricks are also called "books". If the first three players all "pass", the dealer must make a bid. When bidding a player must also declare either "Uptown", "Downtown" or "No Trump" along with his bid. Each of these additional declarations has a distinct meaning in regards to card ranking and trump suit (if any) that may be named for the hand.
The declaration of uptown means that the bidder will, if he has the highest bid, declare the trump suit after the bidding is completed. In addition, when the winning bid contains "Uptown", the cards rank in the standard order, from high to low(Ace,King,Queen,Jack,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2).
A declaration of downtown, on the other hand, means that the bidder, if he wins the bidding, will also declare a trump suit. The ranking for "downtown" however, ranks the cards in the order from high to low (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,Jack,Queen,King,Ace).
The no trump declaration indicates that no trump suit will be named, thus the hand will be played with no designated trump suit. In addition, a player who's winning bid is declared with this "no trump" can decide which of the two (high or low) card rankings will be used for the hand.

As in other such bidding games, a bid of a higher number takes precedence over a bid of a lower number. Bids of uptown and downtown have equal rank when added to bids of the same number of odd tricks. However, a bid of no trump, outranks a bid of the same number using uptown or downtown.
Once each player has had their one opportunity to bid, the player making the highest bid wins the bidding and then names the trump suit (unless their bid also consisted of no trump). If a no trump bid is the highest, after winning the bid, the player doing so would then name either uptown or downtown to indicate the relative ranking of the cards (high to low or low to high). The winning bidder then picks up the 6 face down card kitty in the center of the table. He then peruses his hand and discards any 6 cards from his hand, face down in front of him. These 6 cards count as an actual won trick for the high bidders partnership and count towards the total needed to fulfill their bid.

The winning bidder then leads the first card to the first trick. The rules for playing and winning tricks is identical to that in the standard version of Whist, described above.

The ranking of the cards in any hand are dependent on specifics of the winning bidders declaration, as follows:

Declaration	Trump Suit	Card Ranking (From high to low)
Uptown	Spades, Hearts, Diamonds or Clubs	Big Joker, Little Joker, Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2
Downtown	Spades, Hearts, Diamonds or Clubs	Big Joker, Little Joker, Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King
Uptown	No Trump	Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2
Downtown	No Trump	Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King

Note: If the winning bid is No Trump, the Big Joker and Little Joker have no value and can never win a trick. In these circumstances, if a joker is the first card led to a trick, the next player may play any card which, if not a joker, is considered the suit for which the trick is played in. A player may play a joker to an existing trick if they do not have a card of the original suit led to the trick.
Note: If the winning bid is in any trump suit, the Big Joker and Little Joker are considered the two highest cards of the trump suit and act as members of this trump suit in all circumstances.

Scoring: When a hand is completed, the partnership making the bid will win or lose a certain number of points. If the bid making partnership wins at least as many tricks over 6 (counting the kitty trick) as they bid, they win a number of points equal to the number of tricks over 6 (again, counting the kitty trick) they have won. However, if they do not win at least 6 plus the number of tricks they bid, a number of points equal to their bid (regardless of the number they actually did win) is subtracted from their current score. Negative scores are possible in this game. The opposing, defending team does not win or lose any points on a hand. If a side bids and wins a hand on a no trump declaration, they win double the normally earned points for the hand. If they lose, they still lose just the amount of their final bid on the hand.

The first partnership to score 7 or more points at the end of a hand is declared the winner of the game. Alternatively, if a partnership reaches a score of negative 7 or below at end of a hand, the opposing team is declared the winner of the game.

Norwegian Whist: Norwegian Whist, Minnesota Whist, and Tuppi are all card games played similarly to Whist with the unique feature that players make one of two allowable bids using cards from the hand which are then revealed to indicate the specific bid by that player. For the complete instructions on playing these games, please see the rules page for Tuppi which also includes rules for playing Norwegian Whist (also commonly known as Minnesota Whist).

Solo Whist: Solo Whist is an exciting and fun filled game containing strategic elements of both Skat and Whist. Similar to standard Whist, this variation is designed to be played by 4, however in Solo Whist each plays independently (no partnerships except in special cases).

The rank of the cards and dealing procedures are the same as in the parent game, including dealing last card of the deal, which goes to the dealer himself, being dealt face up. The suit of this face-up card determines the trump suit for the hand. The dealer picks this card up and adds it to his hand once play of the actual hand begins.

Bidding: Differentiating this game from standard Whist, there is a round of bidding in Solo Whist, starting with the player to the dealers immediate left who makes the first bid. A player may either pass, accept another players proposal (see below), or make one of the following bids. These bids are listed in order from highest to lowest:

Bid Rank	Bid Name	Description	Point Value
1	Propose	When stating a proposal, the bidder is indicating a contract to win eight tricks, with the stipulation that another player will play as his partner for the hand. When a bidder declares this bid, the next player in turn may either pass, make a higher bid which overrides this bid (called overcall) or Accept the proposal. If he accepts the proposal, he becomes the bidders temporary partner for the hand, attempting to win 8 tricks between himself and the bidder. The suit of the exposed last card of the deal is set as the trump card for the deal.	1
2	Solo	A bid of Solo indicates an intention of the bidder to win at least five tricks during the hand. The player plays solo against the other 3 players and the suit of last exposed card from the deal is used as trump during the hand.	2
3	Misere	This is a bid by the player to not win any tricks. No trump suit is used for the hand.	3
4	Abundance	A player bidding Abundance is indicating an attempt to win at least 9 tricks. He plays alone against the other three players using a trump suit which he designates. The player does not declare this trump suit until before the first lead of the play.	4
5	Abundance in Trump	This bid is similar to standard Abundance in that the player indicates he will play alone against the other players and intends to win 9 or more tricks. However, the trump suit used will be the one indicated by the last exposed card of the deal.	4
6	Spread Misere	This bid indicates the player intends to play alone and win no tricks with no trump suit being used during the hand. Before the first lead to the first trick by the player to the dealers left, the bidder must expose his entire hand face up on the table.	6
7	Slam	This is the highest possible bid. A Slam bid indicates an intention to win every trick using a trump suit of the bidders selection. He will play alone against the other three opponents.	8

A player who passes must continue to pass at each turn, although he may accept a proposal from a previous bidder. Once an intervening player overcalls a proposal, it can not be accepted by another player. In order to be a valid bid, a player must declare a bid with a higher bid rank than any previous bid. If all four players pass without a bid, the cards are shuffled together and the next dealer in turn deals the next hand. If the high bid is a proposal, and no other player accepted, the player who declared the proposal must either increase their bid or the cards are also thrown in and shuffled for the next deal.

Red and White chips are usually used for scoring in Solo Whist

Red and White chips are usually used for scoring in Solo Whist

Play of the Hand and Scoring: The basic play of the hand is the same as in standard Whist. The opening lead is always made by the player to the dealers left, except when the high bid is a Slam. In that case, the high bidder declaring the slam bid leads to the first trick.

Scoring in Solo Whist is normally done using chips or tokens. At the start of the game, each player is distributed an equal number of two distinct colors of these chips (usually red and white). Each white chip is worth 1 point and each red is equivalent to 5 points. If the high bidder is able to fulfill his contract, he collects the indicated value in chips from each opponent. However, if he is unable to fulfill the requirements of the contract he must pay each opponent the indicated value. In the case of a Proposal, the bidder and his partner would both collect or pay the two opponents depending on the results of the hand. For each trick over those required for the hand that the player wins he earns one additional white chip per opponent. Similarly, for each trick under that required by his contract, he must pay one chip to each opponent. In a proposal, the partner would also collect or pay the overtrick and undertrick chips to the two opponents.

After a set number of hands, the winner of the game is the one who holds the most total value in chips.

Israeli Whist: Israeli Whist is another fun variant of standard Whist. Although this game is designed for four players, in Israeli Whist each player plays for himself (no partnerships). Israeli Whist uses the standard 52 card deck and the same card ranking as in standard Whist. As the name implies this game is commonly played in Israel.

Seating positions and the first dealer can be determined in a variety of ways, with drawing for high cards a common method. Once this is determined the dealer shuffles and offers the deck to the player to his immediate right for the cut. After the cut, the dealer then deals out the entire deck starting with the player to his left such that each player receives a 13 card hand.

Israeli Whist features two rounds of bidding. In the first round, the players vie for the privilege of naming the trump suit. In the second round the players will then attempt to call the exact number of tricks they intend to win during the hand.

The first round of bidding starts with the player to the dealer's immediate left. On his turn to bid a player may either pass or make a specific bid. During this round of bidding, when bidding a player would state a specific number of tricks they contract to win as well as a specific trump suit. For bidding purposes, the suits also have a relative ranking, as follows (from high to low); No Trump, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs. Thus, each bid must be higher than any previous bid, either in number of tricks bid, or, if bidding the same number as a previous bid, must be in a higher ranked suit. The minimum allowable bid during this phase is 5 clubs. The bidding continues around the table, with each player either passing or naming a higher bid than any previous player. Once there are three consecutive passes in a row, the player who made the highest bid during the round wins this round of bidding. The trump suit declared in the high bid is set as the trump suit for the hand (or No Trump if that was declared instead).

After the high bidder for the first round of bidding is determined, the second round of bidding begins. In this round, each player, starting with the high bidder from the first round of bidding, states the exact number of tricks they will attempt to win during the hand. The high bidder from the previous round of bidding begins by stating a number of tricks equal to or higher than his winning high bid. Each player in turn, in a clockwise rotation from this player then states their own bid, representing the number of tricks the intend to make. They may bid as few as 0 and a maximum of 13 (all the tricks). The fourth and last bidder may not make a bid which causes the total of bid tricks to equate to 13, he must either bid such that the total is over 13 (called an over game) or under 13 (called an under game). Each player gets exactly one bid during this second round and may not pass.

Israeli Whist scoring example

Once each player has declared the number of tricks they will attempt to win, the hand begins. The high bidder in the first bidding round leads the first card to the first trick. Each other player in turn then plays one card to the trick. A player must play a card of the same suit first led to the trick if they have one. If they do not have a card of that suit, they may play any card remaining in their hand, including a card of the trump suit. Each trick is won by the highest card of the trump suit played to the trick. If no cards of the trump suit have been played to the trick, the trick is won by the highest card of the suit originally led to that trick. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick.

Once every trick has been played and won during the hand, the players determine if they were able to win exactly the number as bid during the second round of bidding. The scoring is as follows:

If a player bid 0 and won no tricks, he scores 50 points if the game is played as an under game and 25 points if played in an over game.
If a player bid 0 and won one or more tricks, he loses 50 points for the first trick won and then earns 10 points for each additional trick won.
If a player manages to win exactly the number of tricks bid, he earns the amount of the square of his bid plus a bonus of 10 points.
If a player makes a bid over 0 and does not win exactly as many tricks as bid, he loses 10 points for each trick he was over or under the tricks he bid.

In the event that, during the first round of bidding, all four players pass, a round is played using special rules (called a Frish or Gulash round). When this occurs, each player takes three cards from his hand and passes them face down to the player on his immediate left. He must pass his own three cards before picking up and adding to his hand the three cards passed to him from his right. After this pass, another round of bidding then occurs, again starting with the player to the dealer's immediate left. This time, however, the minimum required bid is 6. If all players again pass, another Frisch round is played, with another three card pass. After this pass, the minimum bid is 7. If all players again pass, one more Frisch round is played, including a pass and another round of bidding. The minimum bid has now increased to 8. In the event that all pass this last Frisch round, the cards are all thrown in the same dealer shuffles and deals again with no score for the round.

German Whist: Despite the name, German Whist is actually not a German game but rather originated in Great Britain. It is a fun and challenging two player variant of Whist. German Whist uses the standard 52 card deck with the same card ranking used in regular Whist.

Determination of dealer is usually done by both players drawing a card, with the high draw becoming first dealer. The deal alternates between the two players after every completed hand. To begin, the dealer shuffles the deck and offers it to his opponent to cut. After the cut, the dealer distributes 13 cards face down to each player, one by one. He places the remainder of the deck in the center of the table as a stock pile. He then flips over the top card of the stock pile. The suit of this card designates the trump suit for the entire hand.

The dealer's opponent leads the first card to each trick and the winner of each trick leads the first card to the next. A player may lead any card of his choice to a trick. When playing a card to a trick led by the opponent, a player must play a card of the suit led if he has one. If he does not have such a card, he may play any card from his hand, including a card of the trump suit. The highest card of the trump suit wins each trick if it contains a card of that suit. If the trick contains no cards of the trump suit, the highest card of the suit originally led to that trick wins it. The cards played to the trick are set aside face down, not to be used further in the hand. The winner of the trick draws the top card of the stock pile and the loser takes the next face down card from the stock without showing its face to his opponent. After each player has taken his card from the stock pile, the next card of the stock is then flipped over and set face up on the draw pile.

Play continues in this manner for the first 13 tricks in the hand until there are no more cards remaining in the stock pile. At this stage in the game, the pace of the game changes somewhat. Instead of setting the cards won in tricks aside, the winning player retains them in front of himself (keeping them face down). After the last 13 tricks are played, the player who wins the most tricks during this phase is declared the winner of the hand.

A common variant of German Whist is for both players to retain all tricks won in front of themselves. Whichever player wins the majority of all 26 tricks is declared the winner. If each player manages to win the same number of tricks the game is considered a draw.

Ruff and Honours: The direct ancestor of Whist (and thus Contract Bridge) was the English game Ruff and Honours. Although this game is rarely played, if at all in modern times, it was widely popular in the 1700's and beyond. The following describes the generally accepted rules for this classic game.

The Ruff and determination of the trump suit

The Ruff and determination of the trump suit

Ruff and Honours is designed to be played by four players in two partnerships. It uses the standard 52 card deck with the standard expected card ranking. Each partner should sit opposite from each other at the playing table. Selection of partners, seating positions and first dealer can be done through a variety of methods, often using the method of players drawing for high card from a shuffled deck. Once determined, the dealer deals the cards, one at a time in a clockwise rotation around the table until each player has 12 face down cards in front of them. The four remaining cards are then placed face down in the center of the table. The top of these four cards is turned over to designate the trump suit for the hand. Thus, this cards and all others of this suit are considered trump for the duration of the hand. Whichever player holds the Ace of this turned up suit has the privilege of taking these four cards and adding them to his hand. He must then select any four cards from his hand and discard then face down to the side, out of play for the remainder of the hand (this is called the Ruff). If none of the four players hold this Ace, it being either the turned up card or one of the other three not dealt out, the dealer is given the privilege of taking the four cards and discarding.

The player to the dealer's immediate left leads the first card to the first trick. As in the more modern game of Whist described above, each player in turn plays one card to each trick. A player must follow suit to the suit led if able. If that player does not hold a card of the played suit, he may play any card to the trick, including a card of the trump suit. The highest ranked card of the trump suit played to the trick wins the trick. However, if no card of the trump suit was played to the trick, the highest card of the suit originally led to the trick wins. The winner of a trick leads the first card to the next trick.

A partnership scores one point per trick that partnership was able to win over six during that hand. The honor cards (or honors) during the hand are the Ace, King, Queen and Jack of the trump suit. If one partnership holds all four honors they score an additional 4 points. Having three such honor cards amongst the two players of that partnership nets the partnership 2 points. These honors are scored at the end of the play of the hand. The first partnership to score 9 points wins the game.

It should be noted that at the time, rules for Ruff and Honours as well as Ruff and Trump were listed in different publications with slightly differing rulesets. While originally thought these were rules for the same game, with some variance on the way it was played, it has also been suggested these were actually different, albeit similar, game which also have similar names. Directly below is the rules as published for the game Ruff and Trump.

Ruff and Trump: A close variant of Ruff and Honours, which is briefly described in Francis Willughby's book Volume of Plais, Ruff and Trump, is played very similarly to Ruff and Honours and is sometimes mistaken for that game. However, Ruff and Trump has some significant differences which make it a difference and distinct game.

Like most members of the Whist family of games, Ruff and Trump uses one standard 52 card deck using the normal, expected ranking, and is designed for play by four participants. There are actually two versions of this game mentioned, Double Hand and Single Hand. The Double Hand variant (the more common version) is for four players playing in two partnerships and the Single Hand version is also for play by four players, but with each player playing independently. Any method can be used for determination of seating positions and the first dealer such as a draw for high cards. If the Double Hand version is to be played, each player should be seated directly across the table from his partner.

Example of a winning Ruff in Ruff and Trump

Example of a winning Ruff in Ruff and Trump

Once the players are seated and the dealer selected, the dealer should begin the deal, dealing out the cards in a clockwise rotation around the table (in packets of four cards) until each player has a total of 12 face-down cards. He places the remaining four cards, face down in the center of the table (sometimes called the "head"). The top card of this pile is then turned over, with the suit of that card designating the trump suit to be used for that hand.

After this, each player then picks up their hand and reviews it, to determine their "Ruff". This is a numerical value equal to the total card value in points in one particular suit. Thus, the player would add these point values together in their strongest suit. For this purpose, Aces have a point value of 11 points, Kings, Queen, and Jacks each have a value of 10, and each other card has a value equal to the number of pips (or number marked) on that card. A player may include the value of the exposed trump card in his calculation if the other cards he is using from his hand to determine his ruff are of that same suit. Each player then announces the total value of their Ruff. The player who announces the highest value Ruff scores 12 points for doing so. The player does not yet show the cards forming his Ruff. If two or more players are tied for the highest Ruff, no player scores for the Ruff. A player, for strategic reasons can opt to give a value lower than their actual calculated Ruff, but may never announce a higher value.

After the winner of the Ruff is determined, the player who has, in hand, the Ace of the designated Trump suit, is entitled to "Rub". This is to take the four undealt cards (including the trump designator card) and add them to their hand, and then select any four cards from the hand and discard them to the side, out of play. If the trump designator card is the Ace, or no player has the Ace of the trump suit, the dealer is entitled to take these four cards and discard accordingly.

After the "Rub", the player who announced the highest Ruff must then show the cards forming this Ruff to prove he did indeed have a Ruff in at least the amount announced.

After the Ruff and the Rub have been completed, play of the hand can begin. The player to the immediate left of the dealer leads the first card to the first trick, and each other player, in a clockwise direction plays a card from their hand to that same trick.

The leader to a trick may play any card remaining in his hand to start the trick. Each other player in turn must then play a card of the same suit as originally led to the trick if they so have such a card. If they do not have such a card, they may play a card from any suit, including one of the trump suit. After each player has played a card to the trick in turn, it is examined to determine who has won that trick. The player of the highest card in the trump suit to that trick wins the trick. However, if the trick contains no cards from the trump suit, the player of the highest card in the suit originally led to the trick wins it. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick.

After all 12 tricks have been played and won, scoring for the hand occurs. In the double hand version, the partners combine all cards won in tricks during that hand, and that partnership scores one point for each card won over a total of 24 cards. In the single hand version of the game, each player scores one point for each card won more in excess of 12 total cards during that hand.

Each partnership (or individual player) keeps a running total of the accumulated points over a number of hands. Once one partnership (or player) reaches or exceeds a total of 52 accumulated points, that player or partnership is then declared the game (also called a set) winner.

Dealer's last card designates trump

Whisk: A game reported to be even older than Ruff and Honors and the direct ancestor of both that game and standard Whist is Whisk. Although rarely played currently, it was highly popular at one time and was played almost identically to standard Whist with a few minor variations. The major difference being in the deck used. For Whisk, a 48 card deck is used which is the standard deck with all deuces removed. Thus, the ranking of the cards in each suit is as follows (from high to low); Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. In the deal each player would receive a hand containing 12 cards. To determine the trump suit for the hand, the last card of the deal (which goes to the dealer) is turned face up on the table. This card and all others of the same suit are considered trump for the hand. After ensuring all players had an opportunity to note this trump, the dealer takes it into his hand. Player to the dealer's immediate left leads to the first trick and winner of each trick leads to the next. Each hand consists of each player playing to each of 12 tricks. In all other respects Whisk is played identically to standard Whist.

Widow Whist: Widow Whist, also known as Three-Handed Whist, is a fun variant of Whist designed for three players. It is so named because an extra widow hand is dealt during the initial deal. Widow Whist uses one standard deck of cards and the ranking of the cards in this deck are as in standard Whist.

Determination of the first dealer is usually done with a cut of cards, the player drawing the highest ranked card set as the first dealer. Thereafter, the role of dealer rotates around the table in a clockwise direction.

The designated dealer for the hand thus thoroughly shuffles the deck and offers it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins dealing the cards around the table. However, despite the fact that the game is for play by three, four actual hands are dealt. The extra hand is dealt to the immediate left of the dealer, between himself and the first player at his left. The dealer then continues dealing around the table, first to the widow hand and then to each of the three players (including himself) until the deck is exhausted. After the completion of the deal, the players then pick up their hands for examination, with the widow hand remaining face-down on the table.

The player to the immediate left of the dealer, after reviewing his hand (but not seeing the widow hand) may opt to exchange his entire hand for the widow hand. If he elects to do this, he simply places his hand face-down on the table and picks up the widow hand. After picking up the widow hand, this player has the option to exchange again, placing the widow hand back on the table, face-down and picking up his original hand.

If the player however, does not prefer to pick up the widow hand, he simply passes it (without viewing it) to the next player at his left. If he does take the widow (and opts to keep the widow hand), he passes his original hand he had exchanged for the widow to the next player at his left. This player at his left then has these same options, either retaining his originally dealt hand or exchanging his hand for the face-down hand passed to him. After all three players have had the opportunity, in order to exchange their hand for that passed to them, the face-down hand (whether the original widow or a discarded hand) is set aside, face-down, out of play.

Note that the first player to pick up the widow hand (regardless of whether he keeps the widow hand or retains his original hand) is obligating himself to win four or more tricks during this hand, while the other players are only required to attempt to win a minimum of three tricks during the hand.

After the players have had this opportunity of hand exchange, play begins. Gameplay consists of a series of tricks, in which each player contributes one card to each trick. The player to the immediate left of the dealer leads the first card to the first trick.

The leader to a trick may play any card still remaining in his hand to begin a trick. Each other player, in a clockwise rotation also plays one card to that same trick. A player must play a card of the suit originally led to the trick if he has such a card remaining in his hand. If he has no such card he may play any card remaining in his hand, including one from the trump suit. The suit of clubs is always considered the trump suit in this game.

After each player has played one card, in turn, to the trick, it is determine who has won the trick. The highest card in the trump suit (clubs) played to the trick wins the trick. If the trick has no cards of this suit played to the trick, the trick is won by the highest card contained in the trick of the suit originally led to that trick. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick.

After all the tricks in the hand have been played and won, scoring for the hand occurs. For the first player (if any) to pick-up the widow hand, that player earns one point for every trick won in excess of four. If that player wins exactly four tricks they earn 0 points for the hand, and if the player wins three or fewer tricks, they must subtract one point from their current ongoing score for each trick less than four won during that hand. For the other two players (or all three if no player picked up the widow hand), these players earn a score of 1 point for each trick won over three. If one of those players wins exactly three tricks they win 0 points, or if winning fewer than three, they must subtract one point from their ongoing score for each trick won fewer than 3. It is possible for players to have negative scores.

The game continues in this manner until one or more players, at the end of a hand, has attained a score of 15 or more points. If multiple players have reached this score threshold, the winner is the player with the highest score.

Humbug: Humbug is a basic two-player version of Whist that was played in the late 18th century, mostly in England. As mentioned, the game is designed for two players, and, since the entire deck is dealt out, the game is considered a game of complete information, in which both players know the exact cards they and their opponents have. For this reason, the game is often played with each player placing their entire hand face-up on the table in front of themselves, neatly arranged by suit.

As mentioned, Humbug is a two-player game and it uses one standard 52 card deck. The ranking of the cards in this game is the same as in the standard four player version of Whist.

First dealer can be determined by a variety of methods, with a draw for high cards a common method. The dealer should then thoroughly shuffle the deck and offer it to his opponent to cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins dealing cards one-by-one, alternating amongst the two players, starting with his opponent. He continues dealing until the entire 52 cards have been fully dealt. The last card in the deck, which is dealt to the dealer, should be placed face-up towards the center of the table. The suit of this card sets the trump suit to be used for this hand. After both players have the opportunity to review this card, the dealer adds that card to his hand.

As in other forms of Whist, the game is played in a series of tricks, with both players contributing one card to each trick. The opponent of the dealer leads the first card to the first trick, and his opponent then also plays a card to that same trick.

The leader to each trick can lead any card remaining in his hand to start the trick. His opponent then also plays a card to that trick. If he has a card of the same suit as originally played to that trick he must play it. If he has no such card, he may play any card from his hand to the trick, including a card from the trump suit.

After both players, in turn, have played a card to the trick it is determined who won the trick. The highest card in the trump suit (clubs) played to the trick wins the trick. If the trick contains no cards in the suit of clubs, the trick is won by the highest card of the suit originally played to the trick. The cards won in the trick are set aside, face-down, and the winner of the trick leads the first card to the next trick. Players may not look through the cards previously played to tricks during that hand. If a player revokes (fails to play a card of the led suit even though he still has cards of that suit in his hand) when playing to an existing trick, his opponent automatically is credited with three tricks during that hand.

Each hand is usually considered a complete game, with the player winning the most tricks during that hand considered the winner. However, a full game can also be considered to be a number of hands, with an ongoing score retained of the number of hands won by each player.

Example initial layout in Turnover Bridge

Example initial layout in Turnover Bridge

Turnover Bridge: Turnover Bridge, despite having the word "Bridge" as part of it's name is more related to a form of two-player Whist than actual Contract Bridge. This game is thus designed for two players using one standard 52 card deck. The ranking of the cards in Turnover Bridge is the same as in the standard variant of Whist.

Determination of the first dealer can be done through a variety of methods, with draw for high cards commonly used. After each hand, the role of dealer alternates between the two participants.

The designated dealer for the hand should then thoroughly shuffle the cards and offer it to his opponent to cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins dealing the cards, starting with his opponent. The dealer begins each deal by first dealing a row of 12 face-down cards in front of each player. After this, the dealer then deals 12 more cards, this time face-up. Each of these cards should be dealt directly on top of the cards in the row of face-down cards for each player. Each player can thus see these 12 face-up cards, both his and his opponent's. The dealer then deals the last four cards, two to each player, face down in a small "hand" in front of each player. The player may not look at the 12 face-down cards dealt to him, however he may pick up and view the last two face-down cards he has been dealt. At any point in the game a player's current hand is considered any of the exposed cards in his row of cards and the cards in his hand (if any remain).

The object of the game is to be the first player to win 14 tricks. Once one player thus wins 14 tricks, the hand usually immediately ends with that player declared the winner.

The opponent of the dealer leads the first card to the first trick and the dealer then also plays a card to the same trick. When leading to a trick a player may play any of his face up cards in his row, or may play one of the two cards in his hand (if any remain). In playing to an existing trick as led by his opponent, a player must, using the cards exposed in his row or those in his hand (if any), play a card of the same suit as originally led to the trick. If the player has no such cards, he may then play any of his face-up cards (or his two hand cards if he still has these), including a card from the permanent trump suit used in this game, which is spades. When a player plays a card from his row, and a face-down card is found underneath it, he then turns that face-down card, face-up, replacing the card atop it which was just played.

After both players have played a card to the trick, the trick is examined to determine the winner of that trick. The highest card in the suit of spades found in the trick is considered to win the trick. If the trick contains no cards in the suit of spades, the highest card of the suit originally led to that trick wins it. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick.

The hand continues until one player manages to win 14 tricks, at which time the hand immediately ends and that player is declared the winner. If both players each win 13 tricks, the hand ends in a tie.

Each hand is usually considered a complete game, however, some players may prefer to keep a running total of the number of hands won by each player over the course of a game session, with the player winning the most hands declared the overall game winner.

Rússi: Rússi is a Whist variant that is commonly played in Iceland. It has a number of similarities to Turnover Bridge in that it features cards that form a player's hand being unknown to that player until exposed. Rússi is designed for play by two players and uses one standard 52 card deck. The ranking of the cards in the deck are as follows (from highest to lowest): Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

Determine of the first dealer can be done using any number of methods, with draw for high cards a common method. Once the first dealer has been determined, the role of dealer than alternates amongst the two players after each hand.

Initial deal example in Russi

To start each hand the dealer thoroughly shuffles the deck and offers it to his opponent for the cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins distributing the cards, one at a time, starting with his opponent. During this deal, the dealer forms a layout in front of each layout. This layout first consists of 9 face-down cards in front of each player, in two horizontal rows. First an upper row of five cards and then a lower row of four cards. He then deals one face-up card on top of each of the face-down cards in these layouts. Lastly, he deals each player a hand of eight cards. Each player may then pick up his hand of eight cards. The cards dealt to the layout must remain in the layout until legally played. However, if a player plays one of the face-up cards from his layout, he then immediately after exposes the card beneath it. That card is then available for play by that player in subsequent tricks.

The opponent of the dealer leads the first card to the first trick. His opponent then plays a card to that same trick. The leader to a trick may play any face, either one of the cards in his hand or any face-up card from his layout. His opponent then plays to the trick. If he has at least one card, either one of his exposed cards or one from his hand, of the same suit as led to the trick, he must play such a card. If he has no card of that suit, he may play any card from his hand, or any of the exposed cards from his layout.

After each player has played one card to the trick, it is determined who won the trick. The highest card played to the trick in the suit of the card originally played to that trick wins it. The cards from the won trick are set aside, face-down and out of play. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick.

After all 26 tricks have been played and won, whichever player has managed to win the majority of tricks during the hand is declared the winner. If both players win exactly 26 tricks each, that game is considered a tie.

Contract Bridge: Whist is the predecessor to the modern game of Contract Bridge which is widely popular and played throughout the world. Click the How to Play Contract Bridge link for the rules page for Contract Bridge.