Whist is a card game for 3-6 players played with a single deck of cards. The point of the game is to predict correct the number of tricks won in each hand. The number of cards played with in total is 8 * number of players, and the smallest numbered cards are removed until the total number of cards played with remains. If you are unsure of the terms, there is a glossary.
In each hand, players receive the number of cards in that hand, with the number of cards in each hand changing following the pattern of '1 * number of players' up to '8 * number of players' and back down to '1 * number of players'. An example number of cards in each hand is listed here. When all of the cards have been dealt for that hand, the first card of the remaining pile is turned over and represents the trump card for that hand. Note that when all 8 cards are dealt, there will be no remaining pile left over and so there will be no trump card.
After a hand is dealt, but before play is started, players take turns bidding the number of tricks that they believe they will win during that hand. This goes in order that cards were originally dealt, with the first person that the dealer dealt to going first.
Each player may bid up to the number of cards in the hand. The dealer, who is the last player to bid, may not bid the exact amount which will allow all of the player's bids to sum up to the number of cards in a hand.
For example, if there are 3 players playing a hand with 4 cards, and the first two players bid '1' and '2' tricks, respectively, the dealer may not bid '1'.
Once the bidding is complete, the first player dealt to plays the first card, starting the first trick. Each player plays a card, in order they were dealt to, with the dealer playing the last card.
The card that a player is allowed to play follows the rule of: match suit originally played if you have it, otherwise play anything else. That is, if someone played a club and you have a club and a trump, you must play the club.
When the first trick is won, the winner then gets to play the first card of the next trick, with the other players continuing to play in order of dealing. This continues with the winner of each trick playing the first card of the next trick until all of the cards for that hand have been played.
At the end of a hand, each player counts the number of tricks that they have won and compare it to their initial. Their score is then added to or subtracted from based on how close they came to their bid and what the bid number was. The complete score table is here.
To player with the highest card wins each trick. The card order is: trump ace -> lowest trump card -> first suit played ace -> lowest first suit played card -> all other cards.
For example, let's say that we have 3 players with a trump of 10 of hearts. There are 4 tricks this hand.
The first trick, the cards played, in order, are: king of clubs, ace of spades, ace of diamonds. The winner is the king of clubs.
The second trick, the cards played, in order, are: queen of spades, 9 of hearts, king of spades. The winner is the 9 of hearts.
The third trick, the cards played, in order, are: jack of hearts, queen of hearts, ace of clubs. The winner is the queen of hearts.
The fourth trick, the cards played, in order, are: 8 of diamonds, jack of spades, queen of clubs. The winner is the 8 of diamonds.
If a player bid the exact number of tricks that they ended up winning, then the score for that round is based on the number of tricks bid:
| Bid | Score gained |
|---|---|
| 0 | 5 |
| 1 | 6 |
| 2 | 8 |
| 3 | 11 |
| 4 | 15 |
| 5 | 20 |
| 6 | 26 |
| 7 | 33 |
| 8 | 41 |
| Bid off by | Score lost |
|---|---|
| -1 | -1 |
| -2 | -3 |
| -3 | -6 |
| -4 | -10 |
| -5 | -15 |
| -6 | -21 |
| -7 | -28 |
| -8 | -36 |
For a game with 3 players, the number of cards in each hand will be shown here, with one hand per line:
1
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
8
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1
1
For a game with 5 players, the number of cards in each hand will be shown here, with one hand per line:
1
1
1
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
8
8
8
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
hand - the cards that are initially dealt to a player at the beginning of each round
trick - One card from each player is played and the trick is won by the player with the highest card. See winning a trick for a description of how a trick is won