2. Play Whist. Whist is a two-team game for four players. Each player plays opposite his or her ‘partner.’
a. One player is the ‘dealer’ (the oldest player, unless that player declines). The dealer shuffles the cards and deals out the entire deck, that is thirteen to each player with the dealer receiving the last card
b. The dealer’s last card (the one that was on the bottom of the deck) is revealed to the other players. Its suit is noted as the ‘trump’ suit for that round.
c. The player to the dealer’s left (i.e., clockwise) starts by ‘leading’ (playing face-up) any card from his or her hand. Other players do likewise and must follow the suit lead if able; if not, any card may be laid. The ‘trick’ is won by the highest card of the suit lead or, if any trumps are played, by the highest trump card (ace is high).
d. Scoring. The team that wins the majority of tricks scores 1 point for each trick over six. (Thus, winning seven tricks would score 1 point; winning all thirteen tricks would score 7 points.) The first team to reach a score of 7 or more points is the winner. The opponent’s final score is then subtracted to get the margin of victory.
3. Advanced (European) Scoring. The above scoring system is the simple American method. In Europe, it is a more elaborate process.
a. Honors. The Ace, King, Queen, and Jack of the trump suit are known as 'honors.' Each player makes a mental note of the honors he or she holds at the beginning of a round. At the end of that round, these will be checked to see if either team scores for honors.
b. Scoring Honors. In addition to the American scoring method (2.d, above), if when the cards were dealt that round one team held all four honors, that team scores 4 points. If one team held three honors, they score 2 points. If the honors were divided two and two, neither team scores for honors that round.
c. Winning a Game. The first
team to score 5 or more points wins a 'game.' Note that this might take more
than one deal.
A team may not win a game by honor points, if they did not also take the
majority of tricks in that deal. Instead, their score stays at 4 points.
For example, at the start of a deal, Team A has a score of 3 points and Team B
has 1. During that round, Team B took eight tricks, thus adding 2 points to
their score and bringing their total to 3 points. Team A held three honors, but
only took five tricks that round and so cannot use the 2 points it awards to win
the game; their score only goes up to 4.
Another example would be might see a Team with no score at the start of that
round take nine tricks and hold three honors. The 3 points for tricks and 2
points for honors would give them the game!
If one team takes the majority of tricks and the other team holds three or
four honors, the points for the tricks are counted first. If the team scoring
for tricks wins the game, the other team does not score for the honors
that round.
d. Scoring Rubber Points. The team winning a game earns 'rubber points' in an amount depending on the opponent's score at the time of the victory.
Opponent's Rubber
Score Points
4, 3 1
1, 2 2
0 3
e. Second Game Points and Match Scoring. When a team wins their second game, they add a bonus of 2 rubber points to the rubber points for their two games. This total is their winning score for the match if the other team did not win a game during that match. If the other team did win a game during that match, their rubber points for that game are subtracted from the winner's match total.
