♣Whist
The elegant ancestor of Bridge — no bidding, just pure trick-taking.
- 4 players
- ~18 min
- easy
- Free
Dealing…
How to play Whist
Objective
Win the rubber by scoring points for tricks taken above six.
Setup
- Four players in two partnerships; the whole deck is dealt (13 each).
- The dealer's last card is turned face up and its suit becomes trump.
Rules
- The player to the dealer's left leads.
- Follow suit if possible; otherwise play any card including a trump.
- The highest trump wins the trick, or the highest card of the led suit if no trump was played.
- Each trick beyond six scores one point for the winning partnership.
Strategy tips
- Lead from your longest suit to establish it.
- Second hand low, third hand high is a reliable default.
- Count trumps as they fall — Whist rewards memory more than flair.
More trick-taking games
🂱
Bridge
The full auction, a dummy hand and declarer play, with standard scoring.
4P·30 min·hard
♥
Hearts
Avoid every Heart and the Queen of Spades — or take them all and shoot the moon.
4P·20 min·medium
♠
Spades
Partnership bidding with nil bids, bags and a race to 500.
4P·22 min·medium
🃏
Euchre
Fast 24-card partnership trumps, with the right and left bowers.
4P·15 min·medium
🂾
Pinochle
A 48-card double deck, meld scoring before the play, and trump bidding.
4P·25 min·hard