Bid Whist

How to play Bid Whist

Bid Whist is a lively American partnership trick game — a richer, bolder cousin of plain Whist, long a staple of family gatherings and a fixture of African-American card tradition. It keeps Whist's heart (win tricks with your partner) but adds an auction, two jokers, a kitty, and the wonderful twist of playing "uptown" or "downtown". You play here with one bot partner against two more — or play online with friends: press Play online to be matched, or share a private link to play together.

Play Bid Whist online with friends

Prefer real opponents to the bots? Choose Play online to be matched with other players, or share a private invite link and seat up to four players at the same table — right in your browser, with no account and no app. The server deals every hand and enforces the rules, keeping everyone in sync.

The cards

A 54-card deck — the standard 52 plus a big joker and a little joker. Each player is dealt 12 cards and the last six form the kitty. In a trump game the jokers are the two highest trumps (big above little); in a no-trump game they are dead.

The bid

Each player, in turn, makes one bid or passes. A bid names three things:

• A number of books (3 to 6) — tricks you'll take beyond the first six (the "book").
• A direction: uptown (ace high, normal order) or downtown (ace still high, then 2, 3 … so the low pips win).
• A trump suit, or no-trump (which scores double).

No-trump outranks a suit bid at the same number; a higher number outranks everything below it. The high bidder takes the kitty into hand, then discards six cards back down to twelve, and their bid sets the contract.

Play

The bid winner leads the first trick. Follow the led suit if you can; otherwise play anything. The highest trump wins the trick, or the highest card of the led suit if no trump was played. Jokers, in a trump game, beat everything. The winner of each trick leads the next. There are twelve tricks in all.

Scoring

The bidding team must take six books plus their bid. Make it and you score the number of books you took over six; fall short and you are "set", losing your bid. No-trump contracts count double. Taking all twelve tricks is a Boston. The first team to 7 points wins.

Strategy

Count your sure winners before you bid — aces and long trumps, plus the jokers, which are gold in a trump contract. Downtown turns your low cards into powerhouses, so a hand full of deuces and treys can be worth a bold low bid. When you win the kitty, bury your weakest suit to create a void you can trump. Lead your partner's strength, and throw them your high cards when they are winning a trick. Tap a card to play it; legal cards are highlighted. N starts a new game.