- Whist at a glance: players, cards and the deal
- How a hand of whist plays out
- Scoring odd tricks and winning the game
- Honours: the old bonus most tables now skip
- Whist drives and the fixed trump rotation
- Knockout whist, the British family favourite
- Other games that borrow the whist name
- My advice for your first rubber
- Frequently asked questions
Whist is a trick taking card game for four players in two fixed partnerships, played with a standard 52 card deck. You and your partner try to win more than six of the 13 tricks in each hand, scoring a point for every trick over six, and the first side to reach 5 points (the British target) or 7 points (the old American one) wins the game.
Whist is the grandparent of Bridge, but you don't need to know any Bridge to play it. There's no bidding at all. You get dealt 13 cards, a trump suit is turned up, and you play. That's why it's still the game you'll find at village hall whist drives across Britain, and why it's such a good first partnership game for a family table.
Whist at a glance: players, cards and the deal
| What you need | Classic whist |
|---|---|
| Players | 4, in two partnerships, partners sitting opposite |
| Deck | One standard 52 card deck (two decks if you want a spare shuffled and ready) |
| Card ranking | A (high), K, Q, J, 10 down to 2 |
| Cards each | 13, dealt one at a time |
| Trumps | The dealer's last card is turned face up and its suit is trumps |
| Game | 5 points in Britain, 7 points in the American tradition |
The player to the dealer's left shuffles and the player to the dealer's right cuts. The dealer deals every card, one at a time, so everyone ends up with 13. The very last card belongs to the dealer, but it's turned face up first so the whole table can see which suit is trumps. It stays face up on the table until the dealer plays to the first trick, then goes back into the dealer's hand.
How a hand of whist plays out
- The player on the dealer's left leads any card to the first trick.
- Going clockwise, everyone plays one card. You must follow suit if you can.
- If you have no card of the suit led, you can play any card, including a trump.
- The highest trump wins the trick. If nobody played a trump, the highest card of the suit led wins.
- Whoever wins the trick leads to the next one.
- Keep going until all 13 tricks are played, then count how many tricks each partnership took.
One partner on each side usually keeps the won tricks stacked in front of them, squared up in fours, so counting at the end takes seconds.
Scoring odd tricks and winning the game
This is the bit people get wrong the first time. You don't score a point for every trick you win. Only the tricks beyond six count, and they're called odd tricks. So if your side wins 8 tricks, you score 2 points. If you win 6 or fewer, you score nothing for that hand, and your opponents score for their tricks over six instead.
| Tricks your side wins | Points scored |
|---|---|
| 6 or fewer | 0 (the other side scores) |
| 7 | 1 |
| 8 | 2 |
| 9 | 3 |
| 10 | 4 |
| 11 | 5 |
| 12 | 6 |
| 13 | 7 |
According to pagat.com, the British game was 5 points up, and players often played a rubber, the best of three games. In America the customary target was 7. There was also Long Whist, played to 10. Pick one before you start and write it at the top of the score sheet.
Honours: the old bonus most tables now skip
Traditional whist added a bonus for honours, the ace, king, queen and jack of trumps. If your partnership held all four between you, you claimed 4 points at the end of the hand, and 3 of the 4 earned you 2. A side already sitting on 4 points couldn't score honours, and tricks were always scored before honours.
Pagat.com notes that many players no longer count honours because it adds a big dose of luck. I'd leave them out with beginners. Winning should come from how you play the cards, not just what you were dealt.
Whist drives and the fixed trump rotation
At a whist drive, players move between tables, so turning up the last card for trumps gets messy. Instead, trumps follow a fixed order: hearts on the first deal, then diamonds, spades and clubs, then back to hearts. Some drives add a no trumps hand as every fifth deal. Tournaments also play a set number of deals rather than a game to 5, and your score is the total of odd tricks your side took.
Knockout whist, the British family favourite
If you've played whist with your grandparents, there's a good chance it was knockout whist, sometimes just called Trumps. It works for 2 to 7 players and suits children well. Everyone gets 7 cards on the first hand, 6 on the next, and so on down to a single card each. Anyone who wins no tricks in a hand is knocked out.
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The kind twist is the dog's life. Pagat.com explains that the first player who takes no tricks isn't knocked out straight away. They get one card on the next hand and can choose which trick to play it on, knocking on the table to hold it back. Win a trick with it and they're fully back in the game. The winner of the most tricks in each hand picks trumps for the next one, and whoever wins the last single card trick wins the game.
Other games that borrow the whist name
- Solo Whist: a British game where players bid individually to win 5, 9 or 13 tricks, or to lose every trick.
- Bid Whist: an American partnership game with bidding.
- German Whist: a two player adaptation without bidding.
- Nomination Whist: a British game, also used as a name for versions of Oh Hell where you predict your tricks.
- Minnesota Whist: no trumps, and hands are played either to win tricks or to lose them.
If you only have two people, German whist is lovely, and there are more ideas in my roundup of card games for two players. For a quick side by side of the whole family, from whist to Hearts and Spades, see my overview of trick taking games.
My advice for your first rubber
Whist suits anyone who likes a calm, thinking game more than a noisy one, and it's a gentle way to teach children about trumps and following suit before you move them on to Hearts or Spades. Play to 5, skip honours, and sit partners opposite each other so nobody can peek. The mistake to avoid is wasting a trump on a trick your partner is already winning. Watch what your partner plays before you reach for the trumps.
Frequently asked questions
How many players do you need for whist?
Classic whist needs exactly 4 players in two partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other. Knockout whist works for 2 to 7 players.
How do you score in whist?
Only tricks beyond six score. Your partnership gets 1 point for each trick over six, so winning 9 tricks scores 3 points.
Is whist played to 5 or 7 points?
Both are traditional. The British game is played to 5 points, often as the best of three games, while the American custom was 7.
How are trumps chosen in whist?
The dealer turns their last card face up and its suit is trumps. At whist drives trumps follow a fixed order of hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs instead.
What's the difference between whist and knockout whist?
Classic whist is a partnership game with 13 cards each. In knockout whist everyone plays for themselves, the hands shrink from 7 cards to 1, and anyone who wins no tricks is knocked out.
