Popular card games there have been many, some have not survived, and others have undergone changes and mutations. Although not all of them have reached the tables of casinos, today dominated by the blackjack and the poker . But beyond the professional gaming world, people are still enjoying card games and gambling! As well. Among us we have a few very popular ones like the mus, the tute or the broom. Each country has its own and they are a good example of popular creativity to enjoy the game in the most varied ways .
We want to introduce you a very British game that became very widespread in times past . He still has his followers, although he has lost much of his popularity due, in part, to bridge, which has been eating up the ground. In fact, from the variant known as bridge whist the current one has been reached contract bridge . Now we explain the whist rules and the rationale behind them.
How to play whist: the rules
It's very simple. It is played with a French deck of 52 cards between 4 players forming two pairs , placing the members of each couple facing each other. It is strictly forbidden to make any comments about the cards or the hand in play. Nor can you make any reference to the good or bad luck of your trick. The goal is to win more tricks than the opposing pair.
They say that it began to play on scientific principles among British gentlemen who frequented the popular Coffee Houses which were centers of social gathering at the end of the seventeenth century and for most of the eighteenth. These social centers were characteristic of the era known as commercial republicanism when brutal British colonialism was disguised as elegant conversation. In 1742 Edmond Hoyle published the text A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist which soon became the standard book about the rules of whist .
Deck
The most normal thing is that a standard deck of 52 cards is used, without jokers. The ace, A, represents the highest value card, followed by the king, K, and so on until 2. As we have just seen, the value of the cards is in direct relation to the position they occupy in each suit , that is, this one is not counted as many, as in the case of the broom. The hand deals 13 cards to each player. Before the player who deals keeps the last card, he turns it over to mark the suit that serves as a trump for the rest of the game.
The mechanics of the game
The last card that serves to mark the trump suit or trump it is turned over on the table until the end of the first turn, when the last player retrieves the card. From here no comments can be made about the cards or tricks, and the value of the trump can not be remembered, although the suit or the color of it. In each hand the strongest card takes the trick, so until all 13 cards are over. The winner of each trick will be the first to play the next round by setting a new trump suit for that round only .
Serving is mandatory. This means that you have to play cards of the suit that is requested by the player who opens the hand , whenever possible. If one does not have a card of the same suit, he can cast any one, also known as a fault, or that of the trump suit established at the beginning of the game, although it is not mandatory. If there are several cards of the trump suit, the one with the highest value will win.
Point
Once the game is over, the points are counted. There are two types: those of the tricks and the so-called honors. The important thing is to win the trick, not with which cards it is done . A winning trick with an ace is worth the same as one that has triumphed with a 2. The first 6 tricks won by a pair are known as an obligation, for each trick won to majors an additional point is awarded known as trick . Since there are 13 tricks at stake, it is obvious that only one pair will be able to achieve tricks.
The 4 highest cards, this is, the king, queen, jack and ace of the trump suit represent the honors . These are set at the end of each hand. The team has to have played these four cards in the hand. If you collect 3 you get 2 extra points, if you do it with the 4 the points obtained will be 4. Many players rule out playing with honors because it means giving more value to chance than to strategy. You can't win the game with honors alone, because you always have to get tricks.
It is important that the participants play as a team and not against each other. For this it is essential to know the letters of your partner. Although signs and gestures are prohibited, the whist has developed a number of codes in this regard, they have since been adapted and perfected by the bridge. For example, getting out of king and then playing a low card can be an indication that you are in possession of the queen of the same suit, useful to signal the presence of a doubleton or 2 nearby cards of value of the same suit. These codes are known to both partners and are open to interpretations.
Variant
The game has developed variants. One of the best known is the so-called with dead that 3 is played with the cards of the fourth player being discovered or dead that the remaining players are drawn to have it as a couple. Honors are not allowed in this modality. Others are:
- Catch the Ten : it is played with 36 cards, from 6 to Ace, with tens being the most valuable.
- Just whist : it is played individually, giving the possibility that alliances between 3 players against one are closed in the hands.
- Whistler : here the trump suit is set from the beginning and does not change during the game.
- Oh, Hell : before starting the players bet how many tricks they are going to do, being penalized if they do not succeed.
- Knock-out whist : the game allows up to 7 players; there are no teams and the player who does not get tricks is eliminated.
- Whist with dead : 3 play and the fourth player exists virtually, his cards are discovered and his hands are dealt to the other 3 players.
