How to Play German Whist
How to Play German Whist
German Whist is a clever two-player trick-taking game in which the cards you win early help shape your chances later. You need a normal deck of cards to play. If you need one, you can find a regular deck of playing cards from Playmore. This guide uses one common version; house rules can vary.
Quick facts
| Players | 2 |
|---|---|
| Cards | One standard 52-card deck |
| Goal | Win most of the 13 tricks in the final stage |
| Card order | Ace high, then king, queen, jack, 10 down to 2 |
| Length | 26 tricks in two stages |
What you are trying to do
Your main goal is to win at least seven of the 13 tricks in the second stage. A trick is one round in which both players play one card. The first 13 tricks are a contest for useful cards, not points. Each time you win one of those tricks, you take the face-up card from the stock, which is the pile of undealt cards. Your opponent takes the next stock card face down. The idea is to build a strong final hand while deciding when an exposed card is worth fighting for.
What you need
Use a complete 52-card deck, with four suits: hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. In every suit, cards rank from ace (highest), king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 to 2 (lowest). You also need a small piece of paper and pencil, or a notes app, if you want to record the winner of each hand. No special equipment is required.
Set it up
- Choose a dealer. The deal changes hands after every completed hand.
- Deal 13 cards to each player, one card at a time. Keep your own cards hidden.
- Place the remaining 26 cards face down as the stock.
- Turn the top stock card face up and place it on top of the stock. Its suit is trump for the entire hand. A trump is a suit that beats a card from any other suit.
- The player who did not deal leads the first trick.
How to play
- Lead a card. The leader may play any card from their hand. Put it face up in the middle. The other player now responds.
- Follow suit when possible. The second player must play the same suit as the lead if they have one. If they have none, they may play any card, including a trump.
- Decide who wins. If both cards have the same suit, the higher card wins. If the suits differ, the first card wins unless the second card is a trump; then the trump wins. The winner leads the next trick.
- Refill your hands during stage one. For the first 13 tricks, the winner takes the face-up stock card and adds it to their hand. The loser takes the next card from the stock face down and adds it to their hand. Turn the next stock card face up. The trump suit does not change.
- Finish the first stage. Continue until 13 tricks have been played and the stock is empty. The winner of the 13th trick leads the next trick, even though nobody draws another card.
- Play the final stage. Both players now have 13 cards. Play all 13 remaining tricks using the same lead, follow-suit, and trump rules. Set each trick won by a player in that player's own pile so the final count is easy.
There is one detail worth remembering: cards drawn face down during the first stage stay secret. You may know the face-up card your opponent received, but you do not know what card they drew underneath it. That uncertainty is part of the fun.
How you win
When the final stage ends, count the 13 tricks in the two players' scoring piles. The player with seven or more final-stage tricks wins the hand. The first-stage tricks do not count toward the result in this common version. If you want to play a match, record one win for the hand winner and keep dealing alternate hands. Before starting, agree whether the match ends after a set number of hands or when someone reaches a chosen number of hand wins.
A simple first game needs no complicated score system: just write down each hand winner. If both players take six final tricks, the thirteenth trick has gone to one player, so a tie is not possible in the standard 13-trick final stage.
Easy first-game tips
Do not automatically chase every face-up card. Ask yourself whether winning it is likely to improve your hand more than the card your opponent will receive. A high trump is usually valuable, but spending a powerful card to win a weak exposed card may leave you short of strength later.
Pay attention to which suits your opponent can follow and which cards have already appeared. If your opponent cannot follow a suit, a later lead in that suit may force them to use a trump or discard a card that cannot win. In the first stage, sometimes letting the other player win is the better choice because you receive the unknown face-down card and save your strong card.
In the final stage, count your winners before you play. A winner is a card you expect to take a trick, such as a high trump or a high card in a suit where stronger cards are gone. Lead carefully, follow suit legally, and remember that the player who wins a trick controls the next lead.
Quick questions
Do the first 13 tricks count toward the score?
No. In this common version, they only help you collect cards for the final 13 tricks.
Can I play a trump whenever I want?
Only when you are responding and do not have a card in the suit that was led. If you can follow suit, you must do so.