Game Objective

You and your partner are trying to win books (called tricks in most other card games) by bidding on how many you think you can win. The first team to hit the winning score (usually 7, 10, or 500 points, depending on what the players agree upon) wins the game.

Equipment and Setup

Bid Whist doesn’t need too many extra odds and ends in order to play. In fact, most households have everything they need right on the counter or in a junk drawer.

It makes rustling up a game of Bid Whist easy as pie!

Required Materials

Bid Whist uses a standard 52-card deck plus the two Jokers. You’ll also need some way to keep score, usually just a scratch pad where the simple calculations can be made.

Tradition holds that Bid Whist gets loud from time-to-time. You’ll want a location that’s cool with that. (Here at Bid-Whist.com, you’ve got the perfect environment all set!)

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Initial Layout

Four players in teams of two sit at a table across from their partners.
On the table
Initial Layout 1Initial Layout 2Initial Layout 3Initial Layout 4

Card Distribution and Game Start

Once you have some chairs and a table—or anything, really, that can serve as a table, you’re ready to play Bid Whist. You’ll find that many card games follow the same pre-play rituals, and those that don’t are very dependent on house rules and small variations developed by game groups.

Dealing Cards

Someone volunteers to be the first dealer or the dealer is decided at random. Many game groups have their own unique way of choosing the first dealer. After the first hand, dealer responsibility rotates clockwise.

Each player receives 12 cards. The remaining 6 cards go into a pile in front of the dealer face-down to form the Kitty.

On the table12 cards
Dealing Cards 1Dealing Cards 2Dealing Cards 3Dealing Cards 4Dealing Cards 5Dealing Cards 6Dealing Cards 7Dealing Cards 8Dealing Cards 9Dealing Cards 10Dealing Cards 11Dealing Cards 12

Order of Play

Once the deal is done, players take turns, starting with the player to the dealer’s left, entering into a bidding phase.

Players can bid a number—most of the time, between 4 and 7, but it depends on the strength of their hand—to declare how many books (called tricks in most games) they believe their team can win, or they can pass.

When bidding, a player also specifies the direction of the ranking of cards. If they bid Uptown, high cards win. If they choose Downtown, low cards win. They also choose a trump suit or declare No Trump.

The highest bidder gets to add the Kitty to their hand and discards any six cards from their original hand to return to a 12-card total. That player then declares the trump suit (if any), the direction (Uptown or Downtown), and leads the first card.

Joker Usage and cards force

The two jokers in the game must be different in order to distinguish them. In fact, the red joker is stronger than the black joker.

Uptown Bid

Here is an example of the card order and strength when Hearts are trump (In this case, the 2 of Hearts is the weakest card) :

On the table15 cards
Joker Usage and cards force 1Joker Usage and cards force 2Joker Usage and cards force 3Joker Usage and cards force 4Joker Usage and cards force 5Joker Usage and cards force 6Joker Usage and cards force 7Joker Usage and cards force 8Joker Usage and cards force 9Joker Usage and cards force 10Joker Usage and cards force 11Joker Usage and cards force 12Joker Usage and cards force 13Joker Usage and cards force 14Joker Usage and cards force 15

Downtown Bid

Here is an example of the card order and strength when Hearts are trump (The King is the weakest card) :

On the table15 cards
Downtown Bid 1Downtown Bid 2Downtown Bid 3Downtown Bid 4Downtown Bid 5Downtown Bid 6Downtown Bid 7Downtown Bid 8Downtown Bid 9Downtown Bid 10Downtown Bid 11Downtown Bid 12Downtown Bid 13Downtown Bid 14Downtown Bid 15

Turn Structure

A turn in Bid Whist is very similar to what you’d find in most trick-taking games, although tradition holds that Bid Whist has more trash-talking than a game of relatively subdued Gin Rummy or Hearts.

Phases of a Turn

Play then proceeds clockwise after the first lead, with each player placing a card face-up on the table. Players must follow suit if they are able to.

Available Actions

On each turn, players must follow suit if they can (for example, if a Heart is led, everyone else must play a Heart if they have one).

If a player can’t follow suit, they may cut by playing a trump card if that hand has a declared trump suit. They may also throw off a card from another suit.

The highest card in the suit that was led wins the book unless a trump card has been played, in which case the highest trump card played that round takes the book.

Play continues until all thirteen books have been won.

On the table4 cards
Available Actions 1Available Actions 2Available Actions 3Available Actions 4

Scoring System and Winning Conditions

Bid Whist uses a simple point tabulation process, but because scores can go both up and down, it’s important to have someone with solid basic math skills keep score. Cards don’t have individual points values as in some games, but the number of books won serves as points.

Point Calculation

After the round is over, teams then count their books. If the bidding team has met their bid, scoring works like this, based on what their bid was:

  • 4 book bid – 0 points
    This is the lowest legal bid. Making it doesn’t earn points, but failing it still causes a loss.
  • 5 book bid – 1 point
    A moderate bid. If the bidding team wins at least 5 tricks, they earn 1 point. If not, they lose 1 point.
  • 6 book bid – 2 points
    A stronger bid. Winning at least 6 tricks earns 2 points, failing costs 2 points.
  • 7 book bid – 3 points
    Making the bid gets you 3 points, missing it means you lose 3 points.
  • 8 book bid – 4 points
    Very high stakes territory! Win 4 points if you succeed, lose 4 if you don’t.
  • 9 book bid – 5 points
    Succeeding earns 5 points, missing it makes the team lose 5 points.
  • 10–12 book bid – 6 points
    These are “board sweeps,” often called Boston. If you can pull it off, you get the maximum score of 6 points—but miss, and you’re penalized the full amount.

The opposing team only scores if they set the bidders or, in some variations, if they run a Boston—winning all 13 books, a major achievement that earns bonus points.

Game End

The first team to reach the agreed upon total score is declared the winner and proceeds to trash talk until the next game!
On the table
Game End 1Game End 2Game End 3Game End 4

Specific Rules and Exceptions

In Cutthroat Whist, players do not bid. No trump is declared and there is no Kitty. The highest suit of the card led wins the book. This version of Whist is fast-paced and great for only three players.

You can also play with bidding but without the Kitty.

In the Jokers High version, Jokers are always the highest-ranking cards. Decide before the game starts which is the Big Joker (the highest card) and the Little Joker (the second-highest card).

Or play Deuces Wild! Two of the Twos become the highest cards. Again, before play starts, decide which is the Big and which is the Little. In some games the Twos even outrank the Jokers!

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