in the beginning. . .

IN THE BEGINNING. . . WHIST

Whist is a precursor of Bridge. Since the mechanics of Whist are much simpler than the mechanics of Bridge, we will start by playing a primitive form of Whist. Hopefully we will evolve into a more advanced form of Whist and eventually (maybe today?) evolve into Bridge.
Whist is by no means an easier game to play than Bridge. This is probably the reason why Bridge replaced Whist as the ne plus ultra card game.

What is needed in order to play Whist?
w 4 willing people. Forcing a person to
    play is a no-no.
w A table with chairs might be helpful.
w A deck of playing cards. A standard deck of 52
   cards divided into four goups called suits. They are:
          #XXXXXIuXXXXXI!XXXXXI$
         CLUBS    DIAMONDS   HEARTS     SPADES

XX
CLOCKWISE
Rotational movement
of a clock. In Whist and Bridge all things move clockwise. (Even in England and Australia.) Cards are dealt clockwise; the play is clockwise; dealership moves clockwise.

PRELIMS
w Each of the four Players pick a card. The highest card is the Dealer. If there is a tie for the highest card then everyone will pick again. (Later we will handle a tie differently.)

w The Dealer shuffles the deck. The Player to the right of the Dealer cuts the cards. (A complete cut.)

w The Dealer deals the cards face down, one at a time, starting with the person on his left and continuing in a clockwise direction.

w All the cards are dealt; the Dealer getting the last one.

w The players pick up their cards only after the entire deck is dealt out. (A part of Whist -and Bridge- etiquette.)

w Count the cards. There should be 13. If not, try not to frown or yell at the Dealer but have him deal again.

w Arrange the cards in suits. Keep the black and red suits separated from each other. Arrange each suit numerically. Higher cards on the left down to tower cards on the right; or vice-versa. Your choice.

w You are now ready to play.

PLAYING WHIST

ACE
KING
QUEEN
JACK
TEN
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2

w The player to the left of the Dealer is the Opening Leader. He will make the Opening Lead by putting a card face up in the center of the table.

w The player to the left of the Opening Leader (across from the Dealer) will play the next card. This card must be in the same suit that was led.

w The third player (across from the Opening Leader) will play a third card. The Dealer will play a fourth card. Again the cards must be in the same suit that was led.

w These four cards are called a Trick. Note: Each player must follow suit. That is, they must play a card in the same suit as the first card played. Eveyone follows the leader. If a Player cannot follow suit then he can play a card in any other suit.

CARD ORDER
The Ace is the highest card. Then follows the King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9 etc. all the way down to the 2. The 2 (or deuce) is the lowest card.

THE PLAY
w The highest card (of the suit led) of these four cards Wins the Trick. The Player who won the Trick will collect the four cards.

w Note: you can only win a Trick by playing the highest card in the suit that was led. Playing a card not in the suit that was led will never win a trick no matter how high is that card.

w The Player who won the Trick will lead a card for the second Trick. And the Player who won the second Trick will lead a card for the third, and so on until no one has any cards left.

w The Players count their Tricks. The total should be 13. The Player with the most Tricks wins. Game over, on to the next.

w The Player to the left of the Dealer is the next Dealer. Shuffle, cut and play.

O
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N T

PARTNER

YOU

O
P
P
O
N
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PARTNERS
Play the next few games with a Partner. Your Partner is the person sitting directly across from you. Hi, Partner! You are now a team. Cooperation is important.
The other team at the table are your opponents. Say Hello to your
Opponents and wish them good
luck. . .
. . . but don’t really mean it.

13
key whist number
13
cards in each
of the 4 suits

13
cards in each
of the 4 hands

13
total tricks
in each game

TRUMP
From the game Triumph, which was a precursor of Whist, we get the word Trump. Trump are all the cards in one of the four suits. And they are wild. A card in the Trump suit beats any card in any non-trump suit. Trump Triumphs! Even if the Trump card is lower than a card in the suit led. Say if Clubs are Trump, then the 2 of Clubs will beat the Ace of Hearts. BUT you can only play Trump if you do not have a card in the suit led. If Diamonds are Trump and a Spade is led, you must play a Spade if you have one. If you do not have a Spades, then if you want you can Trump the Spade with a Diamond and win the trick.
You can lead Trump at any time: high trump beats low trump.

CHOOSING TRUMP
The person to the right of the Dealer picks a card. If the card is higher than a 5, then the suit of that card is Trump. If the card is a 5 or less then there is no trump. (This is the way you have been playing: high card wins.) Say if the 8 is picked, then Hearts are Trump. If the 3, then there is No Trump. Now play Whist with choosing Trump by picking before dealing. Another method used in Whist to decide trump is to have the suit of the last card dealt be the trump suit. Again, if this card is a 5 or less, then the hand is played without trump. Playing without trump, or in No Trump, becomes the fifth in Whist.

DON'T FORGET
TO HAVE FUN!