WHIST
Game Rules
The game of Whist was first played in London in 1728 and is still a well-known British game today, which has many variations. The game is played mainly in England and Denmark.
Setup
The cards are ranked as the following (high to low): Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10-2.
The player to the left of the dealer shuffles the cards and the player to the right of the dealer cuts the deck. However, the dealer has the authority to shuffle last.
After, the dealer passes each player 13 cards. Cards are dealt one at a time and face-down. The last card, which is the dealers, is the trump card.
The Trump Suit:
The suit of the trump card becomes the trump suit. Cards from this suit have the ability to trump cards of other suits in a trick. A trick is a hand, typically cards played in a trick try to follow the suit of the lead card or the first card played. The highest-ranking card wins the trick, so, a high-ranking trump card has the potential to win any trick.
The game traditionally uses two decks. While each deal takes place, the dealer’s partner shuffles the second deck and sets it off to the right. The next dealer then only needs to pick up the deck and have them cut by the player to their right.
Gameplay
The player to the left of the dealer leads the first trick. They may choose any card to lead with. Play moves clockwise. Each player plays exactly one card per trick, trying to match the suit of the lead card. If the suit cannot be followed, they may play any card. The trick is won by playing the highest value trump card, or if there are no trumps played, the highest-ranking card of the suit led. The player who wins a trick leads on the next.
Scoring
After the 13 tricks have been played, the team which won the most tricks gets 1 point per trick won, in excess of six.
End of game
The game ends when a team earns a total of 5 points.