Bid Whist is a partnership trick-taking card game that is very popular among African Americans. It is played with a standard 52 card deck plus two jokers, for a total of 54 cards. The two jokers must be distinct: one is called the big joker and the other is the little joker. There are 4 players consisting of two teams of two; each player sits opposite their partner. The game starts with each team at zero, and the object of the game is to reach a score 7 or more points, or force the other team to go negative 7 or more points. Points are scored by bidding for and winning tricks, which in this game are called books. Research Bid Whist
Bridge is a card game, the origin of which is uncertain, but it is a development of whist, said to have been first played in England about 1880, under the name of biritch, or Russian whist. A hybrid form was played in Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1860, a variation has long been played in Holland and another known as yeralash in Russia. The present form first appeared in Paris clubs about 1892 and was from there taken to America in 1894. Bridge was introduced to popularity in England by LordBrougham at the Portland Club in London.
The game is played by two pairs of partners with an ordinary deck of cards. Only three players actually play the hand, the dealer's partner always stands out with his cards exposed as a dummy hand and played by the dealer in partnership with his own. The scoring is quite different from what it is at whist, and is somewhat complicated. Honours do not count towards the game - which consists of 30 points - though they contribute to the final score. The ten ranks as an honour in addition to the four court cards. The rubber counts as 100 points. To win twelve tricks gives 20 extra points, to win the whole thirteen, 40 points. Thus points scored over and above the game are not valueless, as in whist, but count towards the final score. Another difference from whist is that the suits have different values in respect of scoring, which complicates the question of choosing trumps, and the subsequent play. At the end of the rubber the total scores on either side are added up. By 1900 Bridge had become very common in some circles of society, and was the cause of much money being lost and won.
Euchre is a card game usually for 2, 3 or 4 players played with a piquest pack of 32 cards, omitting all below 7, and with an extra card or joker used which ranks as the highest trump. After cutting for the deal, five cards are dealt (either by twos and threes or by threes and twos) to each player. The uppermost card of those un-dealt is turned for trump. The first player has the option either to 'order up' (i.e. to make this card trump) or 'pass'. In the latter case it is left to the next player to decide if he will play first or pass, and so on until the turn of the dealer comes, who must either play on this trump or turn it down, when all the players have again their choice in turn of making a new trump or passing. If a trump is 'ordered up' or taken in the first round, the dealer may take it into his cards, discarding instead his poorest card. If the player who elects to play wins five tricks, he counts two; if he wins three tricks he counts one; if he wins fewer than three tricks he is euchred, and each independent opponent counts two. The cards rank as at whist, except that the knave of the trump
suit, called the right bower (from the German bauer, a peasant), is the highest card, and the knave of the other suit of the same colour the second highest.
The game of euchre is popular across a wide area of Canada, from Nova Scotia to the Midwest and in the USA (especially in the North-East and Midwest), and also in the United States Navy. Research Euchre
Knock-Out Whist (also known as Trumps) is a simple trick-taking game, suitable for children. Any number from two to seven may play. A session consists of seven hands, of diminishing size. Research Knock-Out Whist
L'Hombre is a card game that was developed in Spain in the early 17th century, as a variation of an earlier four player game, also called Hombre. The three player version, which in Spain was originally called Hombre Renegado spread rapidly across Europe and during the 17th and 18th centuries became the premier card game, occupying a position of prestige similar to Bridge today. It was variously known as Hombre, Ombre or L'Hombre, and over the years it acquired many variations, of increasing complexity. Its popularity was eclipsed in the late 18th century by a new four player variant Quadrille, which was in turn displaced by Whist, Boston and eventually Bridge. Although L'Hombre died out in other parts of Europe, it remained popular in Denmark right up to the 20th century, and is still played there today. The game is organized with a L'Hombre union in Jutland, the western part of Denmark.
L'Hombre was one of the first games to introduce bidding, through which one player becomes the declarer, trying to make a contract, with the other players co-operating to prevent him. The declarer was originally called Hombre (i.e. the man). It was from L'Hombre that the idea of bidding was adopted into other card games such as Tarot, Skat and Boston. Research L'Hombre
Solo Whist is a card game, a modification of the American game of Boston or whist. It is played by four individual players, who may form temporary partnerships, with a full pack of fifty-two cards. It was brought to London around 1852. Research Solo Whist
Whist, originally called Whisk, is an old card game known to have been played in the early 17th century, played by four person forming two pairs. Whist is played with a standard 52-card deck, the entire deck being dealt out, the last card being turned over and defining the trumps. The dealer then picks up and adds this card to his own hand. Play follows the usual order, the player at the dealer's left playing first, with each player following suit if they can, and endeavouring to win tricks by playing the highest card or trump, the winner of each trick leading the next round of play. Research Whist
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Bid Whist
