Free The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games by David Parlett

are
    played, and the winner of each trick leads to the next. Play ceases
    when one side wins by taking its seventh trick, thereby scoring 1
    game point, or 2 if the opponents took none. The declaring side
    game point, or 2 if the opponents took none. The declaring side
    continues to declare until it loses, when the other side takes over.
    Play up to 7 game points.
    Comment This game would be strategical y more interesting if the
    winners scored 1 point for each trick taken by the losers!
    Dutch Whist
    Whist with trumps dif erently determined in each of four deals: (1)
    turn the last card, (2) no trump, (3) announced by eldest upon
    leading to the first trick, (4) cut before dealing. Repeat until bored
    to death.
    Russian Whist
    denotes either Vint (below), or Biritch, the earliest form of Bridge.
    Bid Whist
    4 players (2 × 2), 54 cards
    Once recorded as a minor forerunner of Bridge, Bid Whist has since
    developed into a fast and exciting game pursued avidly by black
    communities in America. Manuals (by R. Wesley Agee, Butch
    Thomas, and others) and websites confirm that it is now ‘played by
    mil ions of people across the country at family or social gatherings.
    A number of big companies sponsor Bid Whist tournaments each
    year… [It] has immense popularity on col ege campuses… [and] is
    widely played by military service personnel and their families
    stationed around the world’ (Agee).
    Preliminaries Four play crosswise in fixed partnerships using 54
    cards – a standard pack, plus two Jokers marked (or equivalently
    cards – a standard pack, plus two Jokers marked (or equivalently
    dif erentiated) ‘Big’ and ‘Lit le’.
    Terminology Book = trick, to cut = to ruf , of -suit = a non-trump
    suit.
    Rank of cards In high bids (‘uptown’), cards rank AKQJT98765432;
    in low bids (‘downtown’) they rank A23456789TJQK. In trump
    bids, the top trumps are Big Joker, Lit le Joker, Ace, and so
    downwards to Two (uptown) or King (downtown). In no trump
    bids, Jokers are powerless and are normal y discarded before play
    begins. Deal Twelve each in ones and six face down as a kit y.
    Object A contract is established by auction. If successful, the
    declarers score 1 per odd book, or 2 at no trump. Game is 5 or 7
    points, by prior agreement.
    Auction Each in turn, starting at Dealer’s left, may pass or bid once
    only. Each bid must be higher than the last. If the first three pass,
    Dealer must bid. The lowest bid is ‘Three’, i.e. to win nine books
    with a trump suit not yet specified. A bare number is understood to
    represent a ‘high’ or ‘uptown’ bid. This is beaten by ‘Three low’,
    which is the same but with reverse or ‘downtown’ ranking (Big Jo,
    Lit le Jo, Ace, Two etc.). This is beaten by ‘Three no trump’ –
    whether high or low not yet specified. Thus the bids from lowest to
    highest begin Three high, Three low, Three no trump, Four high,
    Four low, and so on.
    Taking the kit y If playing in trumps, the highest bidder announces
    the trump suit, ‘sports’ the kit y by turning it face up for al to see,
    and adds it to his hand. If playing at no trump, he announces ‘high’
    or ‘low’,and takes the kit y into hand without showing it. He then
    makes any six discards, face down, and these count as the first of his
    side’s won books. At no trump, anyone holding a Joker should then
    add it to the kit y and draw a replacement at random from it (face
    down, of course). Play Declarer leads to the first of 12 books.
    down, of course). Play Declarer leads to the first of 12 books.
    Players must fol ow suit if possible, otherwise may play any card.
    The book is taken by the highest card of the suit led, or by the
    highest trump if any are played, and the winner of each book leads
    to the next. If anyone holds a Joker at no trump, it can never win a
    book, and may only be discarded when its holder cannot fol ow
    suit. If a Joker is led, the next card played establishes the suit to
    fol ow.
    Score