Learn the Game
Nobody at a real table hands you a rulebook — an elder teaches you, hand by hand, the way they were taught. Here's that same plain-talk education: the real rules, the real numbers, and why they matter.
The rules in 60 seconds
The setup. Four players, two teams — you and the player across from you are partners. All 52 cards are dealt, 13 each. (No kitty at this table — the whole deck goes out, and the bidder just names the game.)
The bidding. Starting left of the dealer, each player bids a number (1–7) and a direction — Uptown (high cards win), Downtown (low cards win), or No Trump — or passes. The number is a promise: your team will take that many books above six. Highest bid wins, names the trump suit (or confirms the No Trump direction), and leads the first card.
The play. Follow the suit that was led if you can — that's the law. Can't follow? Play anything, including trump. Best card takes the book; trump beats everything; the book's winner leads the next one.
The score. Make your bid and score every book over six. Miss it and you're set — you lose the number you promised. First team to 5 points wins. No Trump doubles everything, and two sets ends the game on the spot. The details are below — they're worth two minutes.
The bid ladder — what your number really promises
Six books is the break-even — half the table, nothing earned. Your bid is how many books past six your team will take. So the number you call and the books you owe are two different things, and every elder makes sure you know it:
| You bid | Your team must take | What it says at the table |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 books | The toe-in-the-water bid. The table will still talk. |
| 2 | 8 books | A solid hand with real help expected from your partner. |
| 3 | 9 books | A strong hand. You mean business. |
| 4 | 10 books | Long trump, big cards, big confidence. |
| 5 | 11 books | The room gets quiet. |
| 6 | 12 books | Somebody’s about to be a legend or a lesson. |
| 7 | 13 books | Every single book — the Boston. Make it and they’ll retell it for decades. |
Outbidding — who beats whom
- A higher number always wins. "3 Downtown" beats "2 anything."
- At the same number, No Trump outranks Uptown and Downtown. "2 No Trump" beats "2 Uptown" — that's the reward for playing without a safety net.
- Uptown and Downtown are equals. "2 Downtown" can't overcall "2 Uptown" — if you want the bid, go up a number.
The scoring — where games are won and legends are set
Make your bid
Score every book you took over six — not just your bid. Bid 2, take 9 books, and that's +3. The overachievement counts, so a strong hand keeps earning past the promise.
Get set
Fall short and you lose exactly what you bid. Bid 4, take 9 books, and that's −4 — no partial credit for coming close. The bid is a promise, and the scoreboard holds you to it.
No Trump doubles — both ways
Every point in a No Trump hand is doubled. Make 3 No Trump with 9 books and score +6. Get set and it's −6. Even the other team's books-over-six count double. No Trump isn't a bluff — it's a receipt.
The defenders eat too
At our table, the non-bidding team also scores any books they take over six. Hold the bidders to 7 while your side takes 6? Nothing. Take 7+ yourselves and you're on the board. Defense is offense.
How the game ends
- First to 5 points wins. And it cuts both ways: sink to −5 and the game ends against you. With hands swinging several points at a time — double in No Trump — no lead is safe and no hole is hopeless.
- Two sets and you're done. Fail two bids in one game and your team loses automatically, whatever the score. One reckless call is a setback; two is the ballgame. That rule is why elders teach you to bid your cards, not your pride.
House rules vary — some families score the bid number instead of books-over-six, some waive the two-set rule. That's the beauty of a game passed down by people instead of a rulebook. The rules above are how our table plays, and the app teaches them hand by hand.
One hand, start to finish
You're dealt long spades with the ace-king and an outside ace. You call "3 Uptown" — promising 9 books. Your cousin tries "3 Downtown"… which can't overcall it (equal directions), so she'd have to say 4 and she knows better. An uncle answers "3 No Trump" — same number, but No Trump outranks you. It holds. He names it uptown, leads, and the table goes quiet. His side takes 10 books: (10 − 6) × 2 = +8 — blowing past the 5-point finish line. Game over, right there. Had they taken only 8 books instead, the same doubling turns on him: set for −6, which crashes through −5 and ends the game against his team just as fast. That's No Trump — and that's Bid Whist: arithmetic and nerve, at the same table.
Talk like you've been playing for years
The vocabulary is the culture — every term below has been said across a kitchen table for longer than any of us have been alive.
- Book
- A trick — one round of four cards, won by the best card. Your bid is how many books above six your team promises to take.
- Uptown
- High cards win: Ace, King, Queen … down to the deuce.
- Downtown
- Low cards win: Ace is still highest, then 2, 3, 4 … King is lowest. Flips the whole game on its head.
- No Trump
- No trump suit at all — pure card power. The bidder still names the direction (uptown or downtown ranking), and every point in the hand scores DOUBLE, both ways. Big reward, big risk.
- Set
- Failing your bid — you lose the number you promised. Two sets in one game and your team automatically loses. The table will remember.
- Boston
- Taking all 13 books. The stuff of family legend.
- Trump
- The boss suit chosen by the bid winner. Beats everything (unless the game is No Trump).
- Partner
- The player across from you. You win together, you get set together.
- Rise and Fly
- The house-party rule: lose the game, give up your seat — the next pair is waiting. Keeps the table hot all night.
Smart playing styles
Strategy columns from the table — start at the top and work down.
Count Your Books Before You Bid
The foundation of every good bid: knowing what your hand is actually worth before you open your mouth.
Reading Your Partner Like Sunday's Paper
Bid Whist is a partnership game. The cards your partner plays are a language — here's how to start hearing it.
When to Go No Trump
Double points, no safety net. The boldest call in Bid Whist — and exactly when it's the right one.
Defense Is Offense: Scoring When They Win the Bid
Losing the bid doesn't mean losing the hand. At our table the defenders score their books over six — here's how to turn defense into points.
One Set Down: Bidding With Your Back Against the Wall
Two sets ends the game — so the hand after your first set is played under different law. How the best players bid when there's no room left to be wrong.
Want the complete written record — every ranking, every edge case, every house variant? The Table Rules is the authoritative version. And for where it all came from: the game has three centuries of road behind it — read the history, sources and all.