How to Play Whist
Divide into two partnerships., Shuffle the cards and deal them out to each player., Reveal the last card dealt to the entire player., Inform everyone of the order of cards., The player to the dealer's left plays a card face up., The next three...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Divide into two partnerships.
Whist is always played between two teams.
Have players sit in a circle, each player between their two opponents and across from their partner.
For example, the two members of Team A and the two members of Team B sit down in ABAB order. -
Step 2: Shuffle the cards and deal them out to each player.
Begin with the player to your left and deal clockwise.
Each player should end up with exactly 13 cards, yourself included.
You can all agree on who gets to be first dealer, or decide randomly.
Remove any jokers from the deck before dealing.
When playing with strangers or in a tournament, one player shuffles, a second player cuts the cards, and a third player deals them out.
This reduces opportunity for cheating and is a common standard for card games. , The suit of this card (hearts, spades, clubs, or diamonds) is the Trump Suit for this round and will always "beat" cards from the other suits. (Read on for more details.) This card is part of the dealer's hand.
Make sure everyone gets a chance to look at it before the dealer picks it up with the rest of his hand.
If the last card dealt doesn't end up in front of the dealer, everyone should count their hand and make sure they have 13 cards exactly.
Remember, always deal hands beginning with the player on the dealer's left and moving clockwise.
This is the only card revealed.
All others are hidden in their owner's hand until played. , Each card is ranked according to the standard system, with Aces high.
From lowest to highest:
Two, Three, Four, (...), Nine, Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace. , This card remains on the table visible to everyone.
This is called leading, since it is the only card on the table.
Once a trick is taken, the cards will be moved to the side and whoever took the trick will lead.
A player may lead with any card. , Moving clockwise (left), each player in turn places a card from their hand face up next to the previous cards.If a player has any card in hand with the same suit as the original card, he must put a card down of that suit.
If he has no cards of the original suit, he may play any card from his hand.
If more than one suit is face up on the table, only the original suit led restricts what cards someone can play.
For example, player A leads with a 10 of Clubs.
Player B chooses from the Clubs in her hand and puts down a King of Clubs.
Player C doesn't have a single Club, so he chooses from any card in his hand and puts down a 3 of Diamonds.
Player D has the Jack of Clubs in hand as their only Club and must play it. , The stack of four face up cards is called a trick.
One player will take this trick and put it face down to one side to be used later for scoring.
Follow these simple rules to determine who wins the trick and gets to take it:
If one or more cards from the trump suit was played, whoever played the highest trump card wins.
If there are no trump cards in the trick, whoever played the highest card of the suit led wins.
Remember, the trump suit was determined by the revealed card earlier.
Write it down next time if people have trouble remembering.
Do not put the cards from the trick back into your hand.
They will not be played again for this round. , After moving the last trick to his personal pile, the winner places another card down.
Every trick follows the same rules:
The leader may play any card from their hand.
The other 3 players take turns in clockwise order from the leader.
Each player must play a card of the same suit led if she has it.
Otherwise, she may play any card from her hand.
Whoever has the highest trump card wins the trick.
If there are no trump cards in the trick, the highest card of the suit led this trick wins. , Everyone should run out of cards on the same trick since the cards were dealt evenly.
In order to make scoring easier, try to keep each trick you win distinct.
You can do this easily by stacking them on top of each other but reversing their orientation. (The first trick is oriented North-South, the second is East-West, the third is North-South, etc.) , You score points as a team, not as an individual.
Count each team's tricks.
If Frodo took 3 tricks this round and his partner Sam took 4, they combine this into one number:
7.
The winning team subtracts 6 from the number of tricks they won.
This is their score for the round. (Frodo and Sam would earn 1 point.) The losing team scores no points this round.
Remember to count tricks (groups of 4 cards) and not the number of individual cards won. , To set up for the next round:
Shuffle all cards together.
The player to the last dealer's left is the new dealer. (Continue rotating clockwise each round.) The last card dealt is revealed as before to determine the trump suit.
There is only ever one trump suit per round. -
Step 3: Reveal the last card dealt to the entire player.
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Step 4: Inform everyone of the order of cards.
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Step 5: The player to the dealer's left plays a card face up.
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Step 6: The next three players take turns playing a card of the same suit.
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Step 7: Determine who takes the trick.
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Step 8: The winner of the last trick leads for the next one.
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Step 9: Continue to play tricks until everyone is out of cards.
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Step 10: Determine each team's score.
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Step 11: Play additional rounds until a team scores a total of 5 points.
Detailed Guide
Whist is always played between two teams.
Have players sit in a circle, each player between their two opponents and across from their partner.
For example, the two members of Team A and the two members of Team B sit down in ABAB order.
Begin with the player to your left and deal clockwise.
Each player should end up with exactly 13 cards, yourself included.
You can all agree on who gets to be first dealer, or decide randomly.
Remove any jokers from the deck before dealing.
When playing with strangers or in a tournament, one player shuffles, a second player cuts the cards, and a third player deals them out.
This reduces opportunity for cheating and is a common standard for card games. , The suit of this card (hearts, spades, clubs, or diamonds) is the Trump Suit for this round and will always "beat" cards from the other suits. (Read on for more details.) This card is part of the dealer's hand.
Make sure everyone gets a chance to look at it before the dealer picks it up with the rest of his hand.
If the last card dealt doesn't end up in front of the dealer, everyone should count their hand and make sure they have 13 cards exactly.
Remember, always deal hands beginning with the player on the dealer's left and moving clockwise.
This is the only card revealed.
All others are hidden in their owner's hand until played. , Each card is ranked according to the standard system, with Aces high.
From lowest to highest:
Two, Three, Four, (...), Nine, Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace. , This card remains on the table visible to everyone.
This is called leading, since it is the only card on the table.
Once a trick is taken, the cards will be moved to the side and whoever took the trick will lead.
A player may lead with any card. , Moving clockwise (left), each player in turn places a card from their hand face up next to the previous cards.If a player has any card in hand with the same suit as the original card, he must put a card down of that suit.
If he has no cards of the original suit, he may play any card from his hand.
If more than one suit is face up on the table, only the original suit led restricts what cards someone can play.
For example, player A leads with a 10 of Clubs.
Player B chooses from the Clubs in her hand and puts down a King of Clubs.
Player C doesn't have a single Club, so he chooses from any card in his hand and puts down a 3 of Diamonds.
Player D has the Jack of Clubs in hand as their only Club and must play it. , The stack of four face up cards is called a trick.
One player will take this trick and put it face down to one side to be used later for scoring.
Follow these simple rules to determine who wins the trick and gets to take it:
If one or more cards from the trump suit was played, whoever played the highest trump card wins.
If there are no trump cards in the trick, whoever played the highest card of the suit led wins.
Remember, the trump suit was determined by the revealed card earlier.
Write it down next time if people have trouble remembering.
Do not put the cards from the trick back into your hand.
They will not be played again for this round. , After moving the last trick to his personal pile, the winner places another card down.
Every trick follows the same rules:
The leader may play any card from their hand.
The other 3 players take turns in clockwise order from the leader.
Each player must play a card of the same suit led if she has it.
Otherwise, she may play any card from her hand.
Whoever has the highest trump card wins the trick.
If there are no trump cards in the trick, the highest card of the suit led this trick wins. , Everyone should run out of cards on the same trick since the cards were dealt evenly.
In order to make scoring easier, try to keep each trick you win distinct.
You can do this easily by stacking them on top of each other but reversing their orientation. (The first trick is oriented North-South, the second is East-West, the third is North-South, etc.) , You score points as a team, not as an individual.
Count each team's tricks.
If Frodo took 3 tricks this round and his partner Sam took 4, they combine this into one number:
7.
The winning team subtracts 6 from the number of tricks they won.
This is their score for the round. (Frodo and Sam would earn 1 point.) The losing team scores no points this round.
Remember to count tricks (groups of 4 cards) and not the number of individual cards won. , To set up for the next round:
Shuffle all cards together.
The player to the last dealer's left is the new dealer. (Continue rotating clockwise each round.) The last card dealt is revealed as before to determine the trump suit.
There is only ever one trump suit per round.
About the Author
Jeffrey Collins
Enthusiastic about teaching cooking techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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