Whist

Whist is the classic English trick-taking card game and the direct ancestor of bridge. It was first recorded in 1529 under the name trump, then passed through forms called ruff, ruff and honours, and whisk before settling on whist in the 18th century. The name comes from the old English word whist, meaning quiet or attentive, which is also the root of wistful. Edmond Hoyle published A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist in 1742, and it became the standard rulebook for a hundred years, going through thirteen editions in his lifetime and giving us the phrase according to Hoyle. In the 19th century whist was the premier intellectual card game of the Western world until bridge displaced it around 1900. A 2014 study in PLOS ONE showed that older adults who played trick-taking card games like whist maintained stronger executive function and reasoning skills over time. Sit down at our virtual table and play a hand in your browser now.

1. Four players form two partnerships. You partner with the player across the table, and you play against the two players on your left and right.
2. Each player receives 13 cards from a standard 52-card deck. The last card dealt is turned face up to set the trump suit for the hand, then returned to the dealer's hand.
3. The player on the dealer's left leads the first trick by playing any card. The suit of that card becomes the lead suit.
4. Each player in turn must follow the lead suit if they hold a card of it. If they cannot follow, they may play any card, including a trump.
5. The highest card of the lead suit wins the trick, unless someone plays a trump. If any trumps were played, the highest trump wins.
6. The winner of each trick leads the next one. After 13 tricks, each partnership counts its tricks. Every trick beyond six scores one point. First partnership to five points wins the game.

• A 52-card deck is used. Ace ranks high, followed by King down to two.
• Trump is set by the last card dealt and beats any card of any other suit.
• You must follow the lead suit whenever you hold a card of that suit.
• If you cannot follow suit, you may play any card, including a trump or any discard.
• A trick is won by the highest card of the led suit, or by the highest trump if any trump was played.
• The winner of a trick leads the next trick.
• A partnership scores one point for each trick it wins above six. The first partnership to reach five points wins the game.

• Lead your long suits. If your side holds five or more cards of a suit, leading it repeatedly forces opponents to part with high cards or run out of the suit so you can trump later.
• Count trumps. Track how many trump cards have been played so you know whether your high trumps are safe. A common milestone is the fourth round, when trumps are usually exhausted.
• Save your high trumps for winning the last few tricks. A trump that wins the thirteenth trick is worth exactly as much as one that wins the first, but late trumps face fewer opposing trumps.
• When you cannot follow suit, discard low cards from short suits rather than breaking trump. Keep your trumps for moments when they can win a trick your partner would otherwise lose.
• Signal your partner through your leads and discards. In classic whist, leading a high spot card asks partner for support, while a low card asks them to lead that suit back.

• Hearts: A trick-taking game where the goal reverses. You avoid winning hearts and the Queen of Spades instead of trying to win tricks. Same follow-suit foundation, opposite objective.
• Spades: A partnership trick-taking game where spades is always trump and you bid on the number of tricks you expect to win. Whist is its quieter, bid-free ancestor.
• Long Whist: The older scoring format where a game runs to ten points instead of five. Hands take longer and reward sustained partnership play.

• The rules are simple enough to learn in one hand, yet the partnership play takes years to master.
• Every card you play communicates information to your partner, making it a quiet conversation across the table.
• Games finish in 5 to 15 minutes, ideal for a focused break.
• Whist is the root of modern bridge, so learning it unlocks a family of trick-taking games.

Play Whist directly in your browser against three computer opponents. No downloads. No registration. Our version handles trump selection, follow-suit enforcement, trick winning, and partnership scoring automatically. You partner with the player across the table and aim for five points. Play your first hand and discover the game that ruled card tables for 150 years.

Whist is trick-taking in its purest form. Follow suit, win tricks, count to five, and trust your partner. No bidding, no frills, just the clean partnership duel that captivated the 18th and 19th centuries. Deal a hand now and play the game that gave us according to Hoyle.

• Whist - Encyclopedia Britannica (history and rules)
• A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist - Edmond Hoyle (1743 edition, Internet Archive)