Whist

What is Whist?

Romanian Whist is the card game of long evenings in Romania, the one people pull out a score pad for and play past midnight. There are no partnerships: everyone plays for themselves, and the whole charm is in the bidding. At the start of each hand you say how many tricks you expect to take, and you score only if you hit it exactly, not one more and not one less.

Here you play against the computer, at a table of three, four or five players, under the classic 1-8-1 rules: the hands grow from one card to eight and then shrink back. Every day brings a Daily Whist for four, with the same cards for everyone.

How to play Whist

The pack holds eight cards for each player, from the ace down. After the deal one card is turned up, and its suit is trumps.

• Bidding. Starting left of the dealer, everyone says how many tricks they will take. The dealer bids last and may not make the bids add up to the number of cards in the hand.
• Tricks. Play a card of the suit led if you have one. If you do not, you must trump, and with no trump either, you play any card.
• Who takes the trick. The highest trump, or if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led. Whoever takes the trick leads the next.
• No trumps. Hands of eight cards use the whole pack, so there is no card left to turn up and they are played without trumps.
• Scoring. An exact bid scores 5 points plus the number of tricks. Otherwise you lose a point for every trick over or under. Five exact bids in a row bring 10 more; one-card hands do not count toward the streak.

Tips and strategy

1. Count your trumps. A high trump is nearly a sure trick, and long trumps keep winning at the end when the others have run out.
2. Aces are not guaranteed. An ace in a long suit can be trumped by someone void in that suit, especially at a big table.
3. Zero is a good bid. With a hand of low cards, zero is easy to hit and worth 5 sure points.
4. Once you have your tricks, shed your high cards. Play the highest card that still loses the trick, so you are not forced to win later.
5. Read the other bids. If the bids add up to fewer tricks than cards, someone will take tricks they did not want; if more, someone will fall short.

Frequently asked questions

Is Whist free?

Yes. Like every game on Play, it runs free in your browser, with no download and no account.

Why can I not bid a certain number?

Because you are dealing. The dealer may not make the bids add up to the number of cards, so that not everyone can hit their bid. The blocked number appears crossed out.

Do I have to trump?

Yes, when you have no card of the suit led and you hold a trump. Only with neither the suit nor a trump may you play any card.

How long does a game last?

Four players play 24 hands, three play 21 and five play 27. A game usually takes ten to fifteen minutes.

What is the Daily Whist?

Every day everyone plays at a table of four, with the same cards and the same opponents, so scores compare directly on the leaderboard.