Overview
That simplicity is exactly why the running total matters. A hand produces one small number, a game is over in a handful of hands, and the whole evening lives in the column rather than on the table.
Setup
Use a standard fifty-two card deck. Partners sit opposite each other. Deal the cards one at a time until everyone holds thirteen, and turn the dealer's last card face up where everybody can see it. Its suit is trump for that hand, and the card itself belongs to the dealer, who picks it up once the first trick has been led.
The deal moves one seat to the left each hand.
How to play
The player on the dealer's left leads to the first trick. Everyone else must play a card of the suit that was led if they hold one. A player holding none may play anything, including a trump.
The trick goes to the highest trump in it, or, if nobody trumped, to the highest card of the suit that was led. Whoever wins a trick leads to the next one. Thirteen tricks are played, and the two partners keep their tricks in one pile, because it is the partnership's total that matters and not the individual's.
Failing to follow suit while holding a card of that suit is a revoke, and it is the one error the rules punish rather than replay.
Scoring
Count each side's tricks at the end of the hand. The first six score nothing at all.
- Each trick above six: 1 point.
- A side winning seven tricks: 1 point.
- A side winning all thirteen: 7 points, plus the slam bonus if that setting is on.
- The other side: 0. Only one side can win more than six tricks, so only one side ever scores from tricks.
- Honours, when that setting is on: the two partners between them hold the ace, king, queen and jack of trump — 4 points for all four, 2 points for three.
Nothing is ever negative, and a single hand cannot produce more than seven points from tricks. The sheet takes the points, not the trick count: a side that wins eight tricks enters 2.
Ending the game
The first side to reach the target wins the game. Five is the usual figure and it is common to overshoot it, because a good hand is worth several points at once.
Under the rubber setting a game is only a game, and the match runs until one side has won two of them. The rubber bonus is then added to the winners' total.
Common variations
Honours on or off is the real dividing line. Scoring them makes the deal matter as much as the play, which is why the game drifted away from it; leaving them off makes whist a pure test of the hand you are given.
No trump turns it into a much colder game. Long suits stop being safe and the lead becomes worth far more.
Knock-out whist is the version most people meet first: shrinking hands, one winner, and nobody keeping a running total at all.
Scoring at a glance
| Who wins | First to target |
|---|---|
| Played to | 5 points by default |
| Score sheet | One number per player per round, with a running total |
| Typical round score | 0 – 7 |
| Negative scores | Never — scores only go up |
| Worth knowing | One number per side per hand, and only one side scores. Enter the points earned, not the number of tricks taken — a side that wins eight tricks enters 2. |
Whist — score sheet
Worked example
Settings: Play to5, Tricks that score nothing6, Score honoursoff, Match formatOne game. Sides: North-South and East-West.
Every hand fills both cells — one side's figure and a real zero for the other.
| Hand | Tricks won | North-South | East-West |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NS 8, EW 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | NS 6, EW 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | NS 4, EW 9 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | NS 7, EW 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | NS 9, EW 4 | 3 | 0 |
Running totals:
| After | North-South | East-West |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 4 |
Expected standings after hand 5: North-South 6, rank 1 — winners; East-West 4, rank 2. the game is over.
House rules and settings
Every table plays Whist a little differently. These are the 8 rules groups argue about. Each one is a setting in the app — and changing it recalculates a match that is already in progress, which is the thing no other score keeper does.
Play to: what is the default in Whist?
The first side to reach this total wins the game. Five is short whist and nine is the older long whist, which takes about twice as long to finish.
Default: 5. Adjustable from 3 to 9 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Play to”.
Tricks that score nothing: what is the default in Whist?
How many tricks a side must win before any of them count. Six is standard, so the seventh trick is the first one worth a point.
Default: 6. Adjustable from 4 to 8 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Tricks that score nothing”.
Score honours: on or off in Whist?
Awards extra points for holding the top trumps between the two partners — four of them together are worth 4, and three are worth 2. Most modern tables leave this off because it rewards the deal rather than the play.
Default: off.
In the app: “Score honours”.
Match format: what are the options in Whist?
Whether reaching the target wins outright or wins one game towards a rubber, which is the first side to take two games.
Default: One game. Two options:
In the app: “Match format”.
Rubber bonus: what is the default in Whist?
Extra points for winning the rubber. Traditionally two when the losing side has won a game and three when they have not.
Default: 2. Adjustable from 0 to 4 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Rubber bonus”.
Slam bonus: what is the default in Whist?
Extra points for winning all thirteen tricks in one hand. Off by default — the seven points it already earns are usually reward enough.
Default: 0. Adjustable from 0 to 4 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Slam bonus”.
How trump is chosen: what are the options in Whist?
The turned card is the traditional method and gives the dealer's side a known advantage. Cutting a separate card removes that, and playing without trump changes the game completely.
Default: Dealer turns the last card. Three options:
In the app: “How trump is chosen”.
Revoke penalty: what is the default in Whist?
Tricks handed to the other side when somebody fails to follow suit while holding a card of that suit. Three is the historical figure.
Default: 3. Adjustable from 0 to 3 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Revoke penalty”.
Variants of Whist
Knock-out Whist
Seven cards each in the first hand and one fewer every hand after. Whoever wins the most tricks chooses trump next time, and anybody who wins none is out.
Solo Whist
Every player is on their own and bids a contract before play, from winning five tricks up to winning all thirteen.
Bid Whist
Partners bid for the right to name trump and must then win that many odd tricks, with a joker added to the deck.
Whist is also known as
Classic Whist, English Whist, Rubber Whist, Short Whist, Long Whist, Straight Whist. These are the same game — the rules and the score sheet above apply to all of them.
Keep score offline
The sheet above works in your browser. Cardzo for iPhone remembers your players, survives a closed tab, and works in a field with no signal.
Coming to the App Store.