How to play
Three to seven players. In the first round everyone gets seven cards; each round after that has one card fewer, down to a single card (or, in the long game, back up to seven again). After the deal the next card is turned up, and its suit is trumps for the round.
Bidding. Starting on the dealer’s left, everyone says how many tricks they will take, exactly. The dealer bids last and can’t choose the number that would make all the bids add up to the number of tricks, so somebody is always going to miss.
Playing. The player on the dealer’s left leads. Follow the suit led if you can; if you can’t, play anything, a trump included. The highest trump wins the trick, or else the highest card of the suit led. Aces are high. Whoever wins a trick leads the next.
Scoring
Take exactly your bid and you score 10 plus your bid (a bid of zero that you make is worth 10). Take one more or one fewer and you score nothing for the round. The highest total after the last round wins.
Tips
Count aces and high trumps as likely tricks and everything else as maybes. Zero is a good bid with a weak hand, but you’ll need low cards to get rid of. Once you’ve made your bid, play your highest cards that will still lose, so you aren’t forced to win later. Watch the total of the bids: if it’s over the number of tricks, someone will be short, and they’ll be fighting for every trick.
Also known as
This family of games has many names, including Oh Hell, Blackout and Contract Whist. Scoring varies from table to table; this is one of the most common versions.