How to Play Whist
How to Play Whist
Whist is a classic partnership card game for four players, and you need a normal deck of cards to begin; you can find a regular deck of playing cards from Playmore. Partners sit opposite each other, and the aim is to work together quietly while winning more tricks than the other team. This guide uses one common version of classic Whist; house and regional rules can vary.
Quick facts
| Players | 4, in two fixed partnerships |
|---|---|
| Cards | One standard 52-card deck |
| Hand size | 13 cards per player |
| Game type | Trick-taking, with one trump suit |
| Goal | Win more than six of the 13 tricks |
| Usual finish | First partnership to reach 5 points |
What you are trying to do
A trick is one small round in which each player contributes one card. The player who plays the strongest card wins that trick and leads the next one. In Whist, your partner helps your team, but you do not announce plans or exchange cards. You simply choose cards carefully and remember what has already been played.
There are 13 tricks in a hand because the deck is shared equally. Your partnership wants to win at least seven. The first six tricks do not score; every trick beyond six is called an odd trick and earns one point for your side.
What you need
Use a complete 52-card deck with no jokers. The four suits are clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. Within every suit, cards rank from highest to lowest as ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
You also need four players, a table or another place where everyone can see the cards being played, and something for scoring. A pencil and paper work well, although a simple notes app is fine too. It helps to choose one person to record the score so the table does not become confused.
Set it up
Choose a dealer. The player on the dealer’s left shuffles, and the player on the dealer’s right may cut the deck. Deal all 52 cards one at a time, moving clockwise, until each player has 13 cards. Keep your hand hidden from the other players.
Turn the last card dealt face up. This card belongs to the dealer and shows the trump suit for the hand. Trump is the special suit that can beat cards from the suit that was led. Leave the turned card visible until it is the dealer’s turn to play to the first trick. After that, the dealer picks it up, and the card is part of the dealer’s hand like any other.
Partners sit opposite each other. The player on the dealer’s left leads first. After the hand ends, pass the deal clockwise to the next player.
How to play
- Lead a card. The opening leader may play any card from their hand. The suit of that card is the led suit, meaning the suit everyone must try to match.
- Follow suit when you can. Going clockwise, each player plays one card. If you have a card in the led suit, you must play one of those cards. You may choose any card in that suit; you do not have to play your highest card.
- Play any card if you cannot follow. If you have no card in the led suit, you may play a card from another suit. You can use a trump card to try to win, or discard a card that is unlikely to help.
- Find the winner. If one or more trump cards were played, the highest trump wins the trick. If no trump appeared, the highest card in the led suit wins. A high card in a different, non-trump suit cannot win.
- Collect the trick. The winner places the four cards face down in a tidy pile for their partnership. Keeping the team’s tricks together makes scoring easier. The winner then leads any card to begin the next trick.
- Continue for 13 tricks. Repeat the same process until every player has used all 13 cards. Do not reshuffle during the hand, and do not change the trump suit halfway through.
- Record the score. Each partnership counts its tricks. The team with more tricks scores one point for every trick it won above six. For example, a team taking eight tricks scores 2 points, while a team taking five scores 0.
Here is a useful example. Suppose hearts are trump and clubs were led. A player puts down the 4 of clubs, another plays the ace of clubs, a third plays the 2 of hearts, and the fourth plays the king of clubs. The 2 of hearts wins because hearts are trump. The ace of clubs would have won if nobody had played a heart.
How you win
Write each team’s points on the score sheet after every hand. The partnership that first reaches 5 points wins the game. Because a hand can award several points, a team might reach the target after just a few deals. If both sides appear to reach 5 during one hand, apply the trick score first: the side that reaches the target through tricks wins.
This beginner version leaves out honours, an old scoring bonus for holding the ace, king, queen, and jack of trumps. Honours are traditional but are not needed to learn the main game, so agree before starting that only odd tricks count.
Easy first-game tips
First, sort your cards by suit so you can quickly see what you hold. When you have several cards in a suit, notice your strongest ones and how many cards you have in each suit. That information helps you decide what to lead and helps you remember which suits you may be able to trump later.
Pay attention to the led suit on every trick. If a player fails to follow suit, that player has shown that the suit is no longer in their hand, which may become useful later. Do not spend a trump card automatically: save a high trump for an important trick, but remember that your partner may also need to win.
Play calmly and keep your team’s cards separate from the opponents’ cards. You may not show your hand, give secret signals, or tell your partner which card to play. Whist is about making the best decision from the information everyone can see.
Quick questions
Can I play a trump card whenever I want?
Only when you have no card in the led suit. If you can follow suit, you must do so, even if you would rather use a trump.
What happens if the two teams win the same number of tricks?
That cannot happen in a 13-trick hand. One partnership must win at least seven tricks, so the other side wins six or fewer.