Objective
Win tricks that contain valuable cards. Aces, tens and face cards carry points, and the last trick of the hand is worth a bonus. There are 130 points in every hand, so the team that collects 66 or more wins it. Take 100 or more, or every trick, and you score extra.
How it differs from Sixty-Six: the two-player game uses 24 cards and a stock you draw from, with marriages to announce and the option to close. In the four-hand game every card is dealt, so there is no stock, no closing and no marriages. The skill is in working with your partner under strict rules of play.
Setup
Partners sit opposite each other. Strip a standard deck down to 32 cards: the ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine, eight and seven of each suit. Cards rank in that order, with the ten just below the ace.
Deal all 32 cards, eight to each player, in packets of three, then two, then three, starting on the dealer’s left. The dealer’s last card is shown to everyone to set the trump suit, and it stays in the dealer’s hand.
How to play
The player to the dealer’s left leads any card. The rules of play are strict. You must follow suit if you can, and you must also try to win: if you can beat the highest card played so far, you have to.
If you cannot follow suit, you must play a trump if you have one, and beat an earlier trump in the trick if you can. Only when you can neither follow suit nor trump may you play any card you like.
The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner leads to the next trick. Each team keeps its tricks together, and after all eight tricks each side counts the points it has captured. The team that took the last trick adds 10.
- 1Follow suit if you can, and beat the high card if you can
- 2Out of the suit? Trump, or overtrump, if you can
- 3Otherwise play any card
- 4Highest trump, or highest card of the suit led, wins
- 5The winner leads; the last trick earns 10
Scoring
Count the card points in your team’s tricks. There are 120 points in the cards and 10 for the last trick, 130 in all. Then turn the count into game points.
| Card or trick | Points |
|---|---|
| Ace | 11 |
| Ten | 10 |
| King | 4 |
| Queen | 3 |
| Jack | 2 |
| Nine, eight, seven | 0 |
| Last trick | 10 |
A team with 66 to 99 points scores 1 game point. With 100 or more it scores 2, and taking every trick (all 130) scores 3. If both teams finish on 65, neither scores, and the winners of the next hand get 1 extra game point. The first team to 7 game points wins.
Variations
The 24-card partnership game: many European tables use the two-player Sixty-Six deck (A, 10, K, Q, J, 9), deal six cards each and keep marriages. When a player leads, that player or their partner may show a king and queen of the same suit for 20 points, or 40 in trumps. The first team to claim 66 correctly wins the hand, scoring 1, 2 or 3 game points as in the two-player game.
Relaxed heading: some tables only require you to beat the card on the table when an opponent is winning the trick.
A longer match: some groups play to 11 game points instead of 7.
Tips from the table
Cash your aces in side suits early, while everyone still holds cards in them. Players who can follow suit cannot trump, so the ace is safe until someone runs out of that suit.
Count trumps. There are eight, and one of them is the dealer’s card that everyone saw. Late in the hand you can usually tell who still holds them.
When your partner’s card is sure to win and you cannot beat it, follow with your ten or king. Those points count for your team.
Play for the last trick. Ten points makes a big difference when both teams are close to 65.
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 Four-Hand Sixty-Six different from Sixty-Six?
Sixty-Six is a two-player game with a 24-card deck, a stock to draw from, marriages and closing. The four-hand game deals out 32 cards to two partnerships, with no stock, no marriages and strict rules for following and trumping.
Do I have to beat my partner’s card?
Under the book rules, yes: if you can follow suit with a higher card, you must play it. Some tables relax this, so agree first.
How many points are in a hand?
130: 120 in the cards plus 10 for the last trick.
What happens on a 65–65 tie?
Nobody scores that hand, and the team that wins the next hand gets an extra game point.
New rules every month
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