Objective
Win the auction, then take at least as many tricks (called books) as your team promised. As in Whist, the first six books are the base and score nothing. A bid of 4 means your team must take 6 plus 4, or 10 books out of 13. The defenders try to stop you. Every book over six earns a point for the bidding team, and the first team to reach 7 points wins the game.
Setup
Partners sit opposite each other. Mark the two jokers so everyone knows which is the big joker and which is the little joker. Shuffle all 54 cards.
Deal 12 cards to each player and six face down in the middle of the table. These six are the kitty. Most tables deal in small packets and set the kitty cards aside during the first round or two. The deal passes to the left after every hand.
How to play
Bidding starts with the player to the dealer’s left and goes around once. Each player either passes or makes a bid higher than the one before. A bid is a number from 3 to 7 plus a direction: uptown (high cards win) or downtown (low cards win). You can also bid no trump. A higher number always beats a lower one, and at the same number a no-trump bid beats a suit bid. Uptown and downtown of the same number are equal at most tables, so you must raise. You name the number and direction but not the trump suit. If the first three players pass, the dealer must bid.
The winner of the auction picks up the kitty, names trumps (unless the bid was no trump), and discards any six cards face down. Those six discards count as the bidding team’s first book. In a no-trump hand, the declarer also says uptown or downtown now if the bid did not already say so.
Uptown, cards rank ace, king, queen, down to 2. Downtown, the order flips to ace, 2, 3, up to king, so the ace stays on top and the king is the lowest card. In a trump hand, the big joker is the highest trump, then the little joker, then the trump suit in the hand’s direction. The jokers count as trumps when following suit.
The declarer leads to the first trick. Follow suit if you can; if you cannot, trump or throw off any card. The highest trump wins, or the best card of the suit led if no trump was played. The winner of each trick leads the next.
- 1Bid once: pass, or name a higher number with uptown, downtown or no trump
- 2Winner takes the kitty, names trumps and discards six
- 3Declarer leads; follow suit if you can
- 4Count books: the discard plus every trick your team took
Scoring
At the end of the hand, the bidding team counts its books, including the six discards. If they reached six plus their bid, they made it.
| Result | Score |
|---|---|
| Bid made | 1 point per book over six |
| Bid missed (set) | Minus the amount bid |
| No-trump bid, made or missed | Double, at many tables |
| All 13 books (a Boston) | Wins the game outright at many tables |
| Game | First team to 7 points |
Example: you bid 4 uptown and take 11 books with the discard, so your team scores 5. Had you taken 9, you would lose 4 points instead. The defenders do not score on a hand they defend. Many tables also end the game when a team falls to minus 7, and that team loses.
Variations
Minimum bid: some groups open the bidding at 4 instead of 3, which cuts down on cheap contracts.
Dealer’s privilege: instead of overbidding, the dealer may take the contract at the same number as the highest bid. Other groups do not force the dealer at all: if everyone passes, the cards are thrown in and the next player deals.
Ace low downtown: some tables play the ace as the lowest card in a downtown hand, so the 2 is the best card in each suit.
No jokers: the older form uses a plain 52-card deck with a four-card kitty. Without jokers, the ace is the top trump.
Bidding ladders differ, too. Some groups rank downtown above uptown at the same number, some do not double no-trump scores, and some give a set’s points to the defenders instead of subtracting them. Settle these before the first deal.
Tips from the table
Bid on long suits, not just high cards. Six cards in one suit plus a joker can carry a big uptown bid, and a hand full of aces, 2s and 3s is a downtown hand.
Use your discard well. Bury lone high cards that will just be trumped, and shorten a suit so you can trump it later. In no trump, throw the jokers into the kitty: they cannot win a trick.
As declarer, pull trumps early. Count them: there are 15 in a trump hand, 13 of the suit plus the two jokers.
Listen to the auction. When your partner wins the bid, do not trump tricks they are already winning, and lead back the suit they led first.
Video Guides Are on the Way
We’re filming Game Guides that walk through full hands at the table, from the deal to the score.
Frequently asked
How is Bid Whist different from Whist?
Whist turns up a card for trumps and has no bidding. Bid Whist adds an auction, a six-card kitty, two jokers as top trumps and the choice between uptown and downtown. Both count the first six tricks as the book, and both play to 7.
Is Bid Whist like Bridge?
They share Whist as an ancestor, and both use partnerships, bidding and books over six. Bridge has a longer auction, a dummy hand played face up and a more detailed score sheet. Bid Whist is quicker to learn and has no dummy.
What can the jokers do in a no-trump hand?
Nothing. In no trump the jokers belong to no suit and cannot win a trick, which is why declarers usually discard them. If someone leads a joker, the next card played sets the suit.
Does the kitty really count as a book?
Yes. The six cards the declarer discards count as one book for the bidding team. With 12 tricks played, that brings the total to 13 books.
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