Bid whist rules

Whist with an auction, a kitty, and one thing no other whist has: you may declare that the low cards win. Four players in partnerships, popular in African American card-playing tradition for over a century.

The deck

54 cards — a full deck with both jokers. The jokers are the two highest trumps, big joker above little joker.

The deal

Twelve cards each and six face down as the kitty.

The bidding

Bid a number of tricks above six, from three to seven, along with uptown, downtown or no-trump.

Uptown means aces are high in the trump suit, as normal. Downtown means the trump suit runs the other way — the two is the highest trump and the ace is the lowest. The other suits are unaffected.

No-trump is bid as high or low and uses no jokers.

The winner takes the kitty, discards six, and names the trump suit.

The kitty is a book

The six cards thrown away count as the first book won by the bidding side. Twelve tricks are played, so there are thirteen books in the hand, and six of them are the line nobody scores for.

So a bid of four needs ten books: the kitty and nine of the twelve tricks.

The play

Follow suit if you can. Highest trump wins, otherwise the highest card of the suit led — remembering that in a downtown contract highest means lowest.

Scoring

The declaring side scores 1 point per book above six, and loses the amount bid if they fall short. The defenders never score: the whole scoresheet is the bidding side's, which is why the auction is the game.

No-trump contracts count double, both ways — a four no-trump that fails takes eight off.

Game is 7 points. A side that reaches minus 7 has lost.

Boston

A bid of seven is a Boston: every book in the hand, with the other side taking nothing at all. It is worth a bonus agreed beforehand, and at many tables it settles the whole game.

Playing well

Count your jokers and your length, not your aces — a hand with four small trumps and no picture in it is a downtown bid, and it is the hand most new players throw away. And remember the kitty before you bid: you are one book up before a card is led.