How to play Bid Whist

Four players in two opposite partnerships, one standard 52-card deck, two distinguishable jokers, and a way to record positive and negative scores.

Make the number of books named in your bid. A team wins by reaching at least 7 points or by pushing its opponents down to −7.

1. 1Deal clockwise. Give 12 cards to each player and put six face down in the middle as the kitty.
2. 2Beginning to the dealer’s left, each player has one chance to pass or bid 3 through 7 uptown, downtown, or no trump. A bid of 3 promises nine of the 13 books; a bid of 7 promises all 13.
3. 3Higher numbers outrank lower ones. At equal numbers, no trump outranks a suit bid. If the first three players pass, the dealer must make at least the minimum bid.
4. 4The winning bidder names the trump suit for an uptown or downtown bid, or chooses high or low for no trump. They pick up the kitty and discard six cards face down; those discards count as the first book for their team.

1. 1The bidder leads first. Everyone follows suit if possible; a player without that suit may trump or discard. The highest trump wins, or the highest card of the led suit if no trump was played.
2. 2Uptown means high cards win. In a trump suit the big joker and little joker rank above the ace; non-trump suits run ace down to two.
3. 3Downtown favors low cards, but the jokers still top trumps and the ace remains above the two. Then ranks climb two through king.
4. 4In no trump, jokers cannot win a book under this ruleset. Play the 12 card tricks and count the kitty as the thirteenth book.

• Only the bidding team changes score in this version. If it fulfills the bid, score all books won above six, not merely the number bid.
• If it falls short, subtract the number bid from its running score. A no-trump bid doubles either a successful score or the failed-bid penalty.
• Stop when a team reaches +7 or its opponents reach −7. Because the kitty already counts as one book for the bidder, include it in the final count.

• Some groups rank a downtown suit bid above an equal uptown bid; agree on bid priority before dealing.
• Some require the kitty to be shown before the bidder adds it to their hand, and joker handling in no trump varies.
• A 52-card version without jokers has four kitty cards and substantially different bidding, scoring, and target rules.

• Translate bids into total books immediately: a bid of five needs eleven of thirteen.
• Count the face-down kitty as one book for the bidder before judging whether the contract is made.
• At a no-trump table, agree exactly how jokers are handled; their treatment changes what cards can follow a lead.