Practice Whist: learn the game with a partner

New to Whist? Start with How Whist works in the Rules tab. Read the full rules · All practice games

The Whist table

The practice game needs JavaScript. The rules page explains how to play with a real deck of cards.

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Goal: with your partner, win more rounds than the other team. A round is one card from each player, and the best card wins all four cards. Each deal has 13 rounds. A team that wins 7 or more of them scores points: 1 point for each round after the first 6. The first team to reach 7 points wins the game.

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About this practice game

Whist is a card game for four players in two teams. You and North, across the table, are partners against West and East. The computer plays North, West and East. Each deal has 13 rounds. In every round, each player plays one card, and the best card wins all four cards. The winner sets them aside, and nobody plays them again. Your team tries to win more rounds than the other team. The Coach tells you why a card won when a low card beats a high one, and points out mistakes. Press Hint when you want advice. To see how a deal goes first, press Watch a narrated deal above the table: the computer plays all four seats with every hand face up, and says why it plays each card.

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How Whist works

The goal. Four people play, in two teams. You and North, across from you, are one team. West and East are the other team. The game is played in rounds. In each round, every player plays one card, and the best card wins all four cards. The winner sets them aside, and nobody plays them again: they are only counted. Your team wants to win more rounds than the other team. Every round you lose is a round they win.

What happens, in order

The deal. The player marked “dealer” deals out the whole deck, 13 cards to each player. You can see only your own cards. One deal is the 13 cards each player gets and the 13 rounds played with them. East deals the first deal. After each deal, the dealing passes clockwise: you, West, North, East, and around again.
The trump suit. The dealer's last card is turned face up. Its suit is the trump suit for this deal. A trump card beats every card of the other three suits, even an ace. If hearts are trump, the 2 of hearts beats the ace of spades. Trump cards in your hand have a gold outline. The face-up card is still one of the dealer's own 13 cards. It stays face up on the table until the dealer plays a card in the first round. When you are the dealer, nothing is turned face up on the table. Your last card stays in your hand, and the Coach tells you which card it is.
Starting a round. Play goes clockwise: you, West, North, East. The player after the dealer starts the first round of the deal. After that, the winner of each round starts the next one. The player who starts a round plays any card. That card is the first card of the round, and its suit is the first suit. The middle of the table shows it, for example “East started with a heart.”
Everyone plays a card. Each of the other three players plays one card, in turn. If you have a card of the first suit, you must play one. That is true even when the first suit is the trump suit. If you have none, you may play any card, including a trump.
Who wins the round. The highest trump wins. If nobody played a trump, the highest card of the first suit wins. Aces are highest, then king, queen, jack, 10, 9, and so on down to 2. A card that is neither a trump nor of the first suit cannot win, even an ace.
The next round. The winner sets the four cards aside, where nobody plays them again, and starts the next round. After 13 rounds, every card has been played and the deal is over.

Example. Say spades are trump. East starts with the 9 of hearts, so hearts are the first suit. You have hearts, so you must play one: you play the jack of hearts. West has no hearts and plays the 3 of spades. North plays the 4 of hearts. West wins the round, because a trump beats every heart. West sets the four cards aside and starts the next round.

How it ends. When a deal is over, each team counts the rounds it won. A team scores only if it won 7 or more. It gets 1 point for each round after the first 6. So 7 rounds is 1 point, 9 rounds is 3 points, and all 13 rounds is 7 points. That is enough to win the whole game at once. The other team scores nothing. Then the dealing passes to the next player, and you play another deal. The first team to reach 7 points wins the game.

How to use this page

You sit at the bottom. The computer plays North (your partner), West and East. The number by each name is how many cards that player still holds. On a narrow phone screen these numbers are hidden: every player starts with 13 cards and plays one in each round.
The line above the table says whose turn it is, what you may play, and who just won a round. Under it, the scoreboard shows the rounds each team has won in this deal, the trump suit, and the game points of the two teams. “Trump cards played so far” counts the cards of the trump suit that have been played, out of the 13 in that suit. It is not the round number. The trump cards not yet played are still in someone's hand, maybe yours.
On your turn, click a card in your hand. Cards that look faded or striped cannot be played right now. Click one to find out why.
Not sure what to play? Press Hint for a suggestion and the reason for it.
After round 13, the Coach adds up the points. Press New deal to shuffle and deal again. If you press it in the middle of a deal, that deal is thrown away and nothing is scored. The same player deals again, and the game points stay as they were. When a team reaches 7 points, the button says New game, and pressing it starts a fresh game at 0 – 0.
To see a whole deal before you play one, press Watch a narrated deal above the table. The computer plays all four seats with every hand face up, and each card comes with the reason it was played. The computer plays a simple, steady game, so the Tips here sometimes go further than it does. Step with Back and Next (or the arrow keys), press Play to let it run at Slow, Normal or Fast speed, or pick a round in Jump to. Back to playing returns to your own deal exactly as you left it.

Rule details

Cards. One full deck of 52 cards. Aces are the highest cards. Each player gets 13.
Who starts. In the first round of a deal, the player after the dealer starts. After that, the winner of the previous round starts the next one.
The face-up card. It is the dealer's own last card, so it is one of the dealer's 13. It stays face up until the dealer plays a card in the first round. The dealer does not have to play that card. The dealer follows the same rules as everyone else: if the first card is a heart and the dealer has a heart, the dealer must play a heart.
Same suit. If you have a card of the first suit, you must play one. Any card of that suit is allowed.
No card of that suit. You may play any card. A trump you play wins the round unless another player's trump is higher.
No rule makes you try to win a round. You may play a low card on purpose (sometimes every card you are allowed to play would win). You also never have to play a trump, with one exception. If the first card of the round is a trump and you have a trump, you must play one, just like any other suit.
Points. Only a team that won 7 or more rounds scores. It gets 1 point for each round after the first 6.
The game. The first team to reach 7 points wins. Some groups play to a different score, or give bonus points for holding the highest trump cards. This practice does neither.

Tips for playing well

Most tips come from one question: who is winning the round right now, and who still plays after you? A player is winning when their card is the best one on the table so far. A player who has not played yet may still beat it. The Hint button follows these same tips.

Starting a round: use the suit you have the most cards in. Do not count the trump suit. Trump cards are your strongest cards, so keep them for later rounds. Start with your longest suit if it has 3 or more cards, and pick the card like this:
- Are your two highest cards in that suit side by side, like ace and king, or king and queen? (Queen and jack are not high enough.) Play the higher one. It is likely to win, and the other one is next in line.
- Otherwise, with 4 or more cards in that suit, play your 4th-highest, counting down from your highest. A lower card keeps your higher cards back for later rounds.
- Otherwise, play your highest.
- No suit with 3 or more cards? Play your highest card that is not a trump. It has the best chance to win, and you keep your trumps for later.
After a few rounds the other players run out of your long suit. Then your leftover cards in it can win, unless someone plays a trump on them.
Second to play: play your lowest card of the first suit. Your partner plays last and may be able to win the round, so keep your high cards for later. The exception is a card that beats the card on the table and that only a trump can beat. That is an ace, or a king once the ace has already been played. Play that card, and it will very likely win. If you have two such cards, such as an ace and a king, play the lower one: both would win, so keep the other for a later round. (Played cards are set aside, so you have to remember which high cards are gone. The Hint counts them for you.)
Third to play, when your partner started the round: look at who is winning. West plays last and may still beat the card that is winning now.
- The other team is winning: beat their card with your highest card of the first suit, if you can. If two of your cards can only be beaten by a trump (for example ace and king), play the lower one. Both would win this round, so keep the higher one for a later round.
- Your partner is winning with an ace, or with a card that only a trump can beat: do not beat it. Your team does not need a higher card, so play your lowest card of the first suit.
- Your partner is winning with any other card: West could still beat it. If you can, beat your partner's card with your highest card of the first suit. Your partner's card is not safe, and a higher card is harder for West to beat. If you cannot, play your lowest card of the first suit.
Last to play: nobody plays after you, so a card that beats the winning card wins the round for sure. If the other team is winning, win with the lowest card that can. A higher card would win no better, so keep it for later. If your partner is winning, do not beat your partner. Play your lowest card of the first suit. If you have none, play your lowest card that is not a trump.
No card of the first suit? Decide about a trump. You may play any card, and a trump beats every other suit. If a trump is already on the table, you need a higher one. Play your lowest trump if the other team is winning, or if you are third to play and West could still beat your partner's card with a higher card of the first suit. Do not play a trump if your partner is winning with an ace or with a card that only a trump can beat. Do not play one if you play last and your partner is winning.
If none of your cards can win, spend the card you will miss least. If you have a card of the first suit, you must play one, so play your lowest. If you have none, play your lowest card that is not a trump. If it was your only card of its suit, you can play a trump the next time someone starts a round with that suit.

Common beginner mistakes

Playing a trump when your partner is very likely to win without it. That is when you play last and your partner is winning, or when your partner's card is an ace or another card that only a trump can beat. You spend a strong card on a round your team was going to win anyway.
Starting a round with a suit you have only one or two cards of, when you hold a longer suit. The other players probably hold more of that suit than you do, so they can beat your cards. Your long suit is where your cards can win later, once the other players have run out of it.
Letting the other team win a round you could have won. When you play last and the other team is winning, check whether any card you may play beats theirs.
Playing carelessly after a bad start. Your team needs only 7 of the 13 rounds, so a few lost rounds can still be made up. Keep following the tips until the last card.

The full rules page →

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