Playcard games

Tarneeb: questions and answers

Short answers to the questions people ask most about Tarneeb. Everything else is in the full rules.

How many players is Tarneeb, and which way does it go?
Four, in two partnerships with partners sitting opposite. The whole 52-card deck is dealt, thirteen each. Tarneeb is traditionally played anticlockwise: the deal, the bidding and the play all pass to the right.
How does the bidding work in Tarneeb?
Starting to the dealer's right, each player bids a number of tricks from seven to thirteen, or passes. Every bid must be higher than the last, and a player who passes is out of the bidding for that hand. When three players have passed, the highest bidder has won the auction.
Why is the lowest bid seven?
Because a contract is a promise to take most of the thirteen tricks, not some of them. The side that wins the auction plays the hand and the other side defends it.
Who chooses trumps in Tarneeb?
The player who won the auction. They name the trump suit — the tarneeb the game is named after — and lead to the first trick.
Do you have to trump if you cannot follow suit?
No. You must follow the suit led if you can; if you cannot, you may play anything, a trump or another suit. The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led.
How is Tarneeb scored?
If the bidding side makes its contract, it scores the number of tricks it actually took — bid eight, take ten, score ten. If it fails, it loses the amount it bid. That makes bidding high almost worthless and very expensive.
Do the defenders score their tricks?
Traditionally only when they beat the contract: then they score the tricks they took. Many tables let the defenders score their tricks every hand instead, which makes games much shorter. At the table here the host chooses.
How long is a game, and what does a bid of thirteen do?
Games go to 31 or 41 points. A bid of thirteen that is made wins the whole game at once, whatever the score. Tarneeb 41 is a different variant, played to exactly 41 with bids in points.