How to Play Whist
Whist is one of the oldest card games still played around the kitchen table. For a couple of hundred years it was the serious game of clubs and parlors, and almost every trick game you know, from Spades to Bridge, grew out of it. The good news is that the rules are short. There is no bidding, no jokers and no special cards: just thirteen tricks, a trump suit, and a partner across the table.
These are the rules our free online Whist game uses. Where families often play differently, we say so, and the rule variations page covers those house rules in more detail.
What You Need
- Four players in two partnerships. Partners sit across from each other. In our game you sit at the bottom (South), your partner North sits at the top, and West and East are your opponents.
- One standard deck of 52 cards, no jokers.
- Card ranks: ace (high), king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (low) in every suit.
- Paper and pencil, or a good memory, for the score.
The Deal
The dealer shuffles and deals the whole deck, one card at a time, face down, starting with the player on their left and going clockwise. Everyone ends up with 13 cards. The deal moves one seat to the left after every hand, so everyone takes a turn.
Choosing Trump
The very last card of the deal belongs to the dealer, and it is dealt face up. Its suit is trump for the whole hand. If the last card is the 7 of spades, spades are trump. Nobody bids and nobody gets a say: the deck decides.
The turned-up card stays on the table in front of the dealer until it is the dealer's turn to play to the first trick, and then the dealer picks it up into their hand. Everyone knows the dealer holds that card, which is worth remembering. In our game the card is shown in the middle of the table when the hand starts, and the trump suit stays in big letters above the table all hand long.
House rule, trump rotation: some families skip the turned-up card and let trump go round in a fixed order: hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades, then a hand with no trump at all, and round again. You can turn this on in Settings. See trump rotation.
Playing the Tricks
The player on the dealer's left leads the first trick by playing any card face up. Going clockwise, each other player adds one card. Four cards make a trick.
- Follow suit. If you hold a card of the suit that was led, you must play one. You may pick any card of that suit, high or low.
- If you can't follow, you may play any card at all. Playing a trump is called trumping (or ruffing); playing a card of another plain suit is called discarding or throwing off.
- Who wins. If any trumps were played, the highest trump wins the trick. Otherwise the highest card of the suit that was led wins. A card of some other suit can never win.
- Next lead. Whoever won the trick gathers it face down and leads to the next trick.
Play continues until all 13 tricks are played. Keep your side's tricks in one pile so they are easy to count.
Example 1: following suit
Hearts are trump. West leads the 9 of clubs. North (your partner) plays the queen of clubs. East has no clubs and plays the 3 of hearts, a trump. You hold the ace of clubs, so you must play a club. Your ace is the highest club, but East's little 3 of hearts is a trump, so East wins the trick.
Example 2: over-trumping
Spades are trump. You lead the king of diamonds. West has no diamonds and trumps with the 6 of spades. North has no diamonds either and plays the 10 of spades. East follows with a small diamond. The highest trump wins, so North's 10 of spades takes the trick for your side.
Example 3: no trump in the trick
Clubs are trump. North leads the 4 of hearts, East plays the jack of hearts, you play the 8 of hearts, and West, out of hearts, discards the ace of diamonds. No trump was played. The ace of diamonds is not the suit led, so it can't win. East's jack is the highest heart and wins.
Scoring
At the end of the hand each side counts its tricks. The first six tricks a side takes are called its book, and they score nothing. Every trick beyond six is an odd trick, and each odd trick scores 1 point. Because there are 13 tricks, exactly one side always takes seven or more, so exactly one side scores tricks each hand.
| Tricks your side took | Odd tricks | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 6 or fewer | 0 | 0 (the other side scores) |
| 7 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | 4 | 4 |
| 11 | 5 | 5 |
| 12 | 6 | 6 |
| 13 (every trick) | 7 | 7 |
Example 4: a scored hand
You and North take 8 tricks; West and East take 5. Your book is the first six, and you have two odd tricks, so you score 2 points. West and East score nothing this hand. If the score was 4 to 3 in your favor, it is now 6 to 3.
Our game keeps this count for you. The bar above the table shows each side's tricks and "odd tricks so far", so you can see the moment your side passes its book.
Honours (optional)
In the English game, the honours are the ace, king, queen and jack of trump. After the tricks are scored, a side that was dealt all four honours between the two partners scores 4 more points; a side dealt three of them scores 2. Honours are pure luck of the deal, which is why American whist dropped them. Two old limits go with them, and our game uses both:
- Tricks count first. If the tricks win the game, honours that hand don't count.
- A side that is just one point short of game at the start of the hand (said to be "at the point") can't score honours; it has to win the last point with a trick.
Honours are off unless you turn them on in Settings.
Winning the Game
Hands are played until one side reaches the game score. Our game uses 7 points, the usual American target. Short whist is played to 5, and the old long whist to 10. Only one side can reach the target in a hand, so there are no ties.
| Name | Game score | Usual length |
|---|---|---|
| Short whist | 5 points | 2 to 4 hands |
| American whist | 7 points | 3 to 6 hands |
| Long whist | 10 points | 5 to 8 hands |
Revokes and Other Mistakes
Failing to follow suit when you could have is called a revoke. At a real table it is a serious fault and usually costs the offending side three tricks or three points. In our game you simply can't revoke: cards you aren't allowed to play are dimmed, and if you tap one the status box tells you which suit you must play.
A Few Words You'll Hear
- Book: a side's first six tricks.
- Odd trick: each trick beyond the book; worth 1 point.
- Lead: the first card of a trick.
- Void: having no cards of a suit.
- Ruff: to play a trump on a trick when you can't follow suit.
- Second hand, third hand, fourth hand: the players who play second, third and last to a trick.
Helpful Features in Our Game
- Trump in big letters. The trump suit is shown above the table all hand, and the turned-up card is shown in the middle when the hand starts.
- Odd tricks counted for you. Each side's tricks and odd tricks so far are always on screen.
- Hint and Why? Hint suggests a card and names the classic tip behind it. Why? shows the reason for each computer play.
- Fair computer players. Easy, Normal and Hard players never see your cards. After each hand, Show All Hands lets you see what everyone held.
- Deal numbers. Every deal has a number, and Replay This Deal lets you try the same cards again.
When you have the hang of it, read our Whist strategy guide. If you like Whist, you may also enjoy Spades, where spades are always trump and you bid your tricks, or Euchre, a quick partnership game with only five cards each.