Bid Whist is a fast-moving partnership card game built around two decisions made before a single card hits the table: how many tricks your team promises to win, and whether high cards or low cards will rule the hand. Add two jokers, a hidden “kitty” of extra cards and a choice between trump and no-trump play, and you have one of the most strategic and sociable members of the whist family. This guide walks through the Bid Whist rules from the ground up — the deck, the deal, the auction, Uptown versus Downtown, taking tricks and exactly how to keep score — so you can sit down and play a full game with confidence.
Whether you grew up watching the cards fly at family gatherings or you are meeting the game for the first time, everything below is explained in plain language, with every term defined the first time it appears.
Key Facts
- Players: 4, in two partnerships of 2 (partners sit opposite)
- Deck: 52 cards plus 2 jokers = 54 cards (big joker beats little joker)
- Deal: 12 cards to each player, one at a time, clockwise
- Kitty: 6 cards face down in the centre for the winning bidder
- Bids: a number from 3 to 7, plus Uptown, Downtown or No Trump
- Goal: be the first team to reach 7 points (some play to 5 or 9)
- Type: partnership trick-taking game in the whist family
What Is Bid Whist?
Bid Whist is a four-player partnership game descended from the classic English game of Whist. Where plain Whist simply turns a card to set trump and plays out the hand, Bid Whist adds a competitive auction, two jokers and the option to play “low cards win” — three twists that turn a gentle pastime into a game of nerve and partnership communication.
The game originated in the United States and is especially beloved in African-American communities and in U.S. military culture, where it has been a social fixture for generations. It rewards memory, card counting and the kind of unspoken teamwork that develops between regular partners, which is why it sits comfortably alongside other skill-based classics such as contract bridge.
What You Need to Play
The 54-card deck and the two jokers
Bid Whist uses a standard 52-card deck plus both jokers, for 54 cards in total. The two jokers are not equal: one is the big joker and the other is the little joker (players usually designate the more colourful or full-colour joker as the big one). In a trump hand, the big joker is the single most powerful card, the little joker is second, and only then do the normal cards begin. A “trick” is one round in which each player plays one card; a “trump” is the suit chosen to beat all others for that hand.
Players, partners and seating
Four players form two partnerships of two. Partners sit opposite each other so that play alternates between the teams around the table, and the turn always passes clockwise. You score as a team, not as individuals, so your job is to help your partner’s plan succeed as much as your own.
The Deal and the Kitty
The dealer shuffles and deals the whole deck out one card at a time, clockwise, giving each of the four players 12 cards. That accounts for 48 cards; the remaining 6 are placed face down in the centre of the table as the kitty (sometimes called the “widow”). The kitty is a small reserve hand that the winning bidder will later pick up.
There is one dealing convention worth knowing: the first four and the last four cards dealt cannot be placed in the kitty. Apart from that, the dealer may slip the kitty cards off the top at any point during the deal. When the deal is finished, every player looks at their own 12 cards and the auction begins.
How the Bidding Works
Bidding is an auction to decide which team will try to control the hand. It starts with the player to the dealer’s left and moves clockwise, giving every player exactly one turn in which they either make a bid or pass. Each new bid must be higher than the last one still standing.
Reading a bid: a number plus a direction
Every bid has two parts. The number (from 3 up to 7) is how many tricks above the “book” of six your team promises to win. Six tricks is the baseline “book” that scores nothing, so a bid of 4 is a promise to win 10 tricks in total (6 + 4), and a bid of 7 promises all 13. The second part is the direction: Uptown, Downtown or No Trump. A bid therefore sounds like “four Uptown” or “five No Trump.”
Uptown, Downtown and No Trump explained
These three words tell everyone how cards will rank once play starts:
- Uptown — traditional ranking, where high cards win. In the trump suit the order from highest is big joker, little joker, Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10 down to 2.
- Downtown — the ranking flips so low cards win. In the trump suit the order from highest is big joker, little joker, Ace, 2, 3, 4 and so on up to King, which becomes the weakest card.
- No Trump — no suit is trump at all. The bidder still chooses Uptown or Downtown ranking after winning the auction, but the jokers become worthless and cannot win a trick.
Choosing Downtown lets you turn a hand full of small cards into a winning hand, which is one of the features that sets Bid Whist apart from trump games such as Euchre.
The minimum bid and the forced dealer
The lowest legal bid is 3. If the first three players all pass, the dealer is not allowed to pass as well — the dealer must make a bid of at least 3. This “no pass-out” rule guarantees that every hand is played, unlike bridge where a deal can be thrown in.
Which bid wins the auction
A higher number always beats a lower number. When two bids share the same number, No Trump outranks a suit (Uptown or Downtown) bid. Uptown and Downtown of the same number are generally treated as equal in value, so the player who bid first in the rotation keeps the contract. House rules vary on these ties, so agree on them before you start — some circles, as in Spades, like to settle the finer points up front.
Taking the Kitty and Naming Trump
The player who wins the auction becomes the declarer and picks up the 6-card kitty, briefly holding 18 cards. They then discard any 6 cards face down. Those discards can come from the original hand, the kitty, or a mix of both, and they count as the declarer’s team’s first book won before a card is even led — a valuable head start.
After discarding, the declarer names the trump suit if the bid was Uptown or Downtown, or declares the ranking direction if the bid was No Trump. The declarer then leads the first card, and play proceeds clockwise.
Playing the Hand
On each trick, players must follow the suit that was led if they can. If you cannot follow suit, you may play a trump to try to win the trick, or discard a card from another suit. The highest card of the led suit wins the trick — unless a trump is played, in which case the highest trump wins. The winner of each trick leads the next.
Card rankings at a glance
- Uptown trump: big joker, little joker, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
- Downtown trump: big joker, little joker, A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K.
- Non-trump suits follow the same high-to-low (Uptown) or low-to-high (Downtown) order, without the jokers.
Jokers and No Trump
In a trump hand the jokers belong to the trump suit and are the two best cards in the game. In a No Trump hand they have no rank and can never win a trick, though you may still play them when you are out of the led suit. In the rare case where a player actually leads a joker in No Trump, the next card played that is not a joker sets the suit for that trick.
Following suit and reneging
Failing to follow suit when you are able to is called reneging, and it carries a penalty: the offending team typically loses 3 books (or all of them if they have won fewer than three). Because partners cannot talk tactics aloud, careful attention to what has been led — a discipline shared with Hearts — is central to good play.
How to Keep Score
Scoring in Bid Whist is quick once you remember that only the books beyond the sixth one matter. Both teams start at zero and the running total can go negative.
Scoring at a Glance
| Situation | Effect on your team’s score |
|---|---|
| Make a suit bid (Uptown or Downtown) | +1 point for each book over six |
| Get set (fall short of the bid) | Subtract the number you bid |
| No Trump hand | All scoring is doubled |
| Boston (bid 7 and take every trick) | Often scores quadruple; one lost book sets you |
| Reach +7 points | Your team wins the game |
| Reach −7 points | Your team loses the game |
Making your bid
If the declaring team wins at least as many tricks as it promised, it scores 1 point for every book it took above six. A team that bid 4 and won 11 tricks made 5 books over six and scores 5 points. The defending team scores nothing on a hand where the bidders succeed.
Getting “set”
If the declaring team falls short of its bid — known as being “set” — it does not simply score zero. Instead, the number it bid is subtracted from its score. Bidding 5 and taking only 4 books over six means losing 5 points, which can swing a game quickly and is why over-bidding is dangerous.
No Trump and Boston
Most groups double all scoring on a No Trump hand, so the stakes rise in both directions. A bid of 7 — promising every single trick — is called a Boston. Making a Boston often pays quadruple, but if the opponents capture even one book the bidding team is set, so it is the boldest play in the game.
Winning the game
The standard target is 7 points: the first team to reach +7 wins, and a team that sinks to −7 loses. Some groups play shorter games to 5 or longer games to 9, so confirm the finish line before you deal. The emphasis on a cumulative team race, rather than one big hand, gives Bid Whist much of the same long-game tension found in Kaiser.
How Bid Whist Compares to Similar Games
If you already enjoy one trick-taking game, the table below shows how Bid Whist lines up against the other classics so you can see what is familiar and what is new.
Bid Whist vs Similar Trick-Taking Games
| Game | Players | Deck | Trump? | Bidding? | Partnership? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bid Whist | 4 | 54 (incl. 2 jokers) | Yes, or No Trump | Yes (number + direction) | Yes |
| Whist | 4 | 52 | Yes (turned card) | No | Yes |
| Spades | 4 | 52 | Spades always | Yes (tricks) | Yes |
| Euchre | 4 | 24 | Yes | Yes (accept/pass) | Yes |
| Bridge | 4 | 52 | Yes, or No Trump | Yes (detailed auction) | Yes |
| Hearts | 4 | 52 | No | No | No |
Beginner Tips and Strategy
- Count your sure tricks before bidding. Aces, the two jokers in a trump hand and long suits are your reliable books. Bid what you can defend, not what you hope for.
- Use the kitty wisely. As declarer, discard your weakest off-suit cards so your hand becomes short in a suit, letting you trump it early.
- Think about Downtown. A hand loaded with low cards is weak Uptown but can be dominant Downtown — do not overlook it.
- Read your partner’s leads. The card your partner chooses to lead is a signal about where their strength lies. Support it.
- Respect the set. Because a failed bid is subtracted from your score, a modest bid you make beats an ambitious one you miss.
Reference Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
How many players do you need for Bid Whist?
Bid Whist is played by exactly four people in two partnerships of two, with partners seated opposite each other. It is not designed for three or five players, so a fixed foursome is the standard way to enjoy it.
What is the difference between Uptown and Downtown?
Uptown and Downtown describe how cards rank in a hand. Uptown is the traditional order where the Ace is high and the 2 is low. Downtown flips the number cards so the Ace stays strong but the 2 becomes the next best card and the King becomes the weakest, letting low cards win tricks.
What do the jokers do in Bid Whist?
In a trump hand the two jokers are the highest cards of all: the big joker beats the little joker, and both beat every other trump. In a No Trump hand the jokers lose all value and cannot win a trick, although you may still play them when you cannot follow the suit that was led.
What is the kitty and who gets it?
The kitty is the six-card pile dealt face down to the centre of the table. The player who wins the auction picks it up, adds it to their hand, and then discards six cards face down. Those discards count as that team’s first book, giving the winning bidder an early advantage.
How do you win a game of Bid Whist?
Teams score one point for each trick they take above six when they make their bid, and lose the value of their bid when they fall short. The most common target is seven points: the first team to reach plus seven wins the game, while a team that drops to minus seven loses.