Bid Whist rules and score keeper
Bid Whist is Whist with an auction. Partners bid for the right to take the kitty and name the terms: which suit is trump, or no trump at all, and whether high cards or low cards win. The hard part for new players is the scoring, so this page puts a bid ladder next to the rules and a score keeper under them that shows every book and point.
Bid Whist in 30 seconds
- Four players, two partnerships. A 52-card deck plus a big joker and a little joker: 54 cards.
- Deal 12 each and 6 face down to the kitty.
- One round of bidding, starting left of the dealer: pass, or bid 3 to 7 with uptown, downtown or no trump. A bid is books over six.
- The winner names trump (or, in no trump, high or low), takes the kitty, discards six, and leads.
- Make your bid and score every book over six; fall short and lose your bid. No trump counts double. First to 7 wins; minus 7 loses.
Bid ladder: what each bid needs and what it scores
Every bid is a number of books over six, and the kitty is the bidders' first book. The opponents set a bid by taking enough books that the bidders cannot reach their total. These are the scores in the usual game with jokers when the bidders take exactly what they need, or one book short.
| Bid | Bidders need | Opponents set it with | Made (exactly) | Made, no trump | Set | Set, no trump |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 9 books | 5 books | +3 | +6 | -3 | -6 |
| 4 | 10 books | 4 books | +4 | +8 | -4 | -8 |
| 5 | 11 books | 3 books | +5 | +10 | -5 | -10 |
| 6 | 12 books | 2 books | +6 | +12 | -6 | -12 |
| 7 | 13 books | 1 books | +7 | +14 | -7 | -14 |
Two things the ladder shows. A bid of 4 no trump that makes exactly scores 8, which is more than a bid of 7 uptown would score, so no trump is often the stronger bid on a big hand. And extra books count: a 4 bid that takes 12 books scores 6, not 4.
Bid Whist score keeper
Rules (Pagat's main rules unless you change them)
| Team | Score | Times set |
|---|
Hand by hand
| # | Dealer | Result | Score |
|---|
How to play Bid Whist
Cards and deal
Use a standard deck plus two jokers you can tell apart: one is the big joker, the other the little joker. Partners sit opposite. Deal one card at a time to the left until everyone has 12, and put six cards face down in the middle as the kitty along the way (not among the first four or the last four cards). The deal passes left after each hand.
Bidding
Starting on the dealer's left, each player gets one chance to pass or bid higher than the last bid. A bid is a number from 3 to 7 plus one of three words:
- Uptown (high): you will name a trump suit, and high cards win.
- Downtown (low): you will name a trump suit, and low cards win.
- No trump: there will be no trump, and you decide high or low after you win.
A higher number beats a lower one. At the same number, no trump beats uptown or downtown, and uptown and downtown are equal, so neither can overcall the other. If the first three players pass, the dealer must bid, usually the minimum 3.
The kitty and the play
The winning bidder names trump (or high or low for no trump), picks up the kitty, and lays six cards face down. Those six count as the team's first book. The bidder leads first. Everyone must follow suit if they can; a player who cannot may trump or throw any card.
| Hand type | Trump suit, best first | Other suits, best first |
|---|---|---|
| Uptown | Big joker, little joker, A, K, Q, J, 10 down to 2 | A, K, Q, J, 10 down to 2 |
| Downtown | Big joker, little joker, A, 2, 3 up to K | A, 2, 3 up to K |
| No trump | None. Jokers win nothing; play them when you cannot follow suit. | High or low, as the bidder chose |
Scoring
Count books after the 13th. If the bidders took at least six plus their bid, they score one point for every book over six. If not, they lose the number they bid. No trump doubles the result either way. The other team scores nothing on that hand. A team at 7 or more wins; a team at minus 7 or worse loses.
Example: you bid 5 uptown and need 11 books. Take 12 (the kitty plus 11 tricks) and you score 6. Take 10 and you lose 5.
Where the sources differ
- No-trump scoring. Pagat doubles the books scored (4 no trump with 11 books scores 10). Wikipedia describes no trump as counting double too, but its example only covers a bid made exactly.
- Downtown over uptown. In Pagat's main rules a 4 downtown cannot overcall a 4 uptown. Pagat and Wikipedia both note that many tables let a low bid beat a high bid of the same number.
- Jokers in no trump. Some tables make the jokers sit out of no-trump hands, and some let you play a joker at any time in no trump (it still cannot win). Pagat lists both.
- The 52-card game. Pagat describes a North-East US version with no jokers, a 4-card kitty that goes to whoever wins the first trick, bids from 1 to 7, no doubling, and a set paying the bid to the other team. First to 21. The keeper has it as a rule set.
House rules (labeled in the keeper): the other team scoring its books over six, a Boston winning or losing the game, and losing the game after too many sets (Pagat gives three sets, Wikipedia two). Wikipedia also mentions "Rise and Fly" at card parties: a team that gets set gives up its seat to the next waiting pair.
Bidding and play tips
- Count the kitty as a book you already have. A 4 bid needs 10 books, which is only 9 tricks out of 12.
- Think about no trump with a long run of high cards. It scores double, and the jokers in the other hands become dead cards.
- Low hands are worth bidding. A hand full of aces, 2s and 3s is a strong downtown hand, even if it looks weak at first glance.
- Discard to make a suit void. When you take the kitty, getting rid of a short suit entirely lets you trump it from the first round.
Play Bid Whist online or at home
Play at home: a standard deck plus two different jokers, four players in two partnerships, and the score keeper above.
Questions about the game
How do you score Bid Whist?
The bidding team needs six books plus its bid; the kitty counts as its first book. If it makes the bid, it scores one point for every book over six it took, not just the bid. If it falls short, it loses the amount it bid. A no-trump hand scores double either way. The other team scores nothing on the hand.
What score do you play to in Bid Whist?
In the usual game with jokers, a team wins at 7 points or more, or loses at minus 7 or worse. In the 52-card version Pagat describes from the North-East US, the first team to 21 wins and scores never go below zero.
What do uptown and downtown mean?
Uptown means high cards win: ace, king, queen down to 2. Downtown means low cards win: ace, 2, 3 up to king, with the ace still the best card. With trumps, the two jokers are the top two trumps either way.
What is a Boston?
A bid of 7, which means taking all 13 books. Some tables treat it as the whole game: make it and you win, lose a single book and the other team wins. The keeper has a switch for that house rule.
What is a renege?
Failing to follow suit when you could have. Under Pagat's rules the reneging team gives 3 of its books to the other team, and if it won fewer than three the hand is scored as if the other team took all 13.