Bid Whist
About Bid Whist
One of Coppercod’s most requested games, Bid Whist is a classic quick-fire card game for four players playing in two teams. Team up with one of our partner AIs to beat your opponents in Coppercod’s take on this classic card game.
To win, you and your partner must be the first pair to reach 7 points, or push your partners to fall to -7. Points are scored by the team that wins the bid, and they score one point per book they take over 6 if they meet or better their contract, but lose 1 point per bid over 6 tricks if they fail.
Bid Whist is a little more complex to learn, but rewarding as you improve your strategy over time to defeat your opponents. Uptown, downtown and 'no trump' bid types keep the landscape different every session. Choose between easy, medium and hard mode and make sure to track your all time and session stats to follow your improvement as you learn!
Quickfire Rules
After the cards are dealt evenly between four players, the players, in turn, can pass or bid the number of books they believe their team can win above 6 (uptown for high cards, downtown for low cards or 'no trumps'). The winning bidder then decides which suit shall be trumps if an uptown/downtown bid was made, or which direction if a 'no trump' bid was made. The winning bidder then takes the kitty into their hand, which may be sported (turned face up) depending on your setting (see settings), and discards the number of cards contained in the kitty. The winning bidders are awarded the first book for taking the kitty.
Each player then plays one card in turn, following suit if they can. If they cannot follow suit they may play any other card in their hand, including a trump card. The aim for the winning bidding team is to take as many books as to at least win their contract. The other team is trying to win enough books to stop them.
At the end of each round, the winning bidders score either 1 point for every book they won over six if they met or bettered their contract, or lose their bid size in points if they failed to make their contract. The game is won when the first team reaches the win target of 7, or forces the opponents to drop to or below -7.
Bid Whist Terms
Bid: Each player decides based upon the cards in their hand how many tricks their partnership will win.
Book: Each player plays a card in turn, and the best card played wins that book. There are 13 books in each hand, the first awarded to the winning bidder, and the remaining 12 are played for in turn with a round of cards.
Trump: Trumps are chosen by the winning bidder unless a 'no trump' bid was made, and are elevated higher than all other cards. They can be played when a player cannot otherwise follow suit. The big and little jokers count as trump cards when there is a trump suit, but have no value if there is not.
Kitty: After each player is dealt 12 cards, the remaining cards are face down on the table and are awarded to the winning bidder to improve their hand. The kitty can be sported before the winner takes the cards into their hand depending on the setting. The player who takes the kitty must discard the same number of cards, which may include cards from the kitty.
Uptown: In uptown bids, high cards have the highest rank (Big joker, little joker, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2).
Downtown: In downtown bids, low cards have the highest rank. (Big joker, little joker, A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K).
No Trump: A 'no trump' bid has no trump suit. The winner determines uptown or downtown card ranking after the bid.
How Your Partner Plays
Playing with a partner you can't communicate with can be frustrating, but here are some tips on how you can get along:
- With the opening lead, your partner will play a singleton or low in their strongest suit to tell you which suit they want you to bring back (invite)
- With subsequent leads, they will invite with their strongest suit
- They will watch your lead and try to bring that suit back for you where possible
- The first time your partner can't follow trumps, they will throw low in their weakest remaining suit
- If they spot that you are void in a suit they will run that suit to give you the opportunity to trump (when there are trumps)
- They will pull trumps where possible to prevent being set late in the hand if your team has won the bid, unless only your team has trumps remaining
- If there are no trumps they will avoid leading any suit that you are void in if possible
- If there are no trumps and your opponents are out of a particular suit, your partner will run that suit if they can