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Contract Whist

Bid it, then make it

Whist for two partnerships. Win the auction, name trumps or no trumps, and take the tricks you bid with your partner across the table.

Learn how to play
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Every player for themselves? Nomination WhistOh Hell

Play Contract Whist online for free

Contract Whist is whist with an auction: before a card is played, the four players bid for the right to name trumps, and the partnership that wins the bidding has to take the number of tricks it promised. It is the game for anyone who loves whist but wants more say in it, and a gentle step towards bridge.

Play it free in your browser with a computer partner against two computer opponents, or start a private table and send the link to your family and mates: sit with your partner opposite, and the computer takes any empty seat. No download, no app and no sign-up.

How to play Contract Whist

  1. Partners. Four players in two partnerships. Your partner sits opposite you. All 52 cards are dealt, 13 each.
  2. The auction. Starting left of the dealer, each player bids or passes. A bid is the number of tricks your side will take, 7 to 13, and a trump suit or no trumps. Each bid must be higher: more tricks, or the same number in a higher suit (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, then no trumps).
  3. The contract. When three players pass in a row after a bid, the last bid is the contract and the player who made it is the declarer. If all four pass straight away, the hand is thrown in and dealt again.
  4. Play. The player on the declarer’s left leads. Follow suit if you can. The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led. The winner leads next.
  5. Score. If the declarers make their contract, they score a point for every trick they took; if not, they score nothing. The defenders always score a point for every trick they took. The first side to 100 wins.

Play against AI opponents

The computer players never see your cards. They value their hands by their aces and kings, long suits and short suits, and listen to their partner’s bid before they raise the auction. In play they draw trumps when they declare, return their partner’s suit, and never beat their partner’s winning card. Easy players misjudge their hands now and then; Hard ones count every card played and remember who is out of a suit.

Learn the full Contract Whist rules

Partnerships and the deal, the auction from 7 clubs up to 13 no trumps, who leads, following suit, doubling, and scoring to 100, with examples.

Read the full Contract Whist rules