How to Play Contract Whist

What is Contract Whist?

Contract Whist is whist for four players in two partnerships, with an auction. Before any card is played, the players bid for the right to choose trumps. Each bid says how many of the thirteen tricks your side will take, from 7 to 13, and which suit will be trumps, or no trumps. The side that wins the auction has to make its contract: take at least that many tricks.

The play is the whist everybody knows: follow suit if you can, the highest trump wins, otherwise the highest card of the suit led. What the auction adds is a reason to read your hand, listen to your partner's bid, and push the other side higher than they can make.

House rules vary from club to club and family to family. This page gives the rules played at bs.fyi, which follow the common British game, and says where other tables differ. Contract Whist is not the same as Nomination Whist, where every player is on their own and nominates an exact number of tricks.

Not to be confused with Nomination Whist (every player for themselves) · Oh Hell

Contract Whist rules at a glance

Players

4, in two partnerships; partners sit opposite each other

Pack

One 52-card pack, no jokers; all the cards are dealt, 13 each

Card order

A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (low)

Bids

7 to 13 tricks for your side, with a trump suit or no trumps. Suits rank clubs (lowest), diamonds, hearts, spades, then no trumps (highest).

Auction

Starts left of the dealer. Bid higher or pass; you may bid again after passing. Three passes in a row after a bid end it. Four passes and the hand is thrown in.

Contract

The last (highest) bid. The player who made it is the declarer; their partnership must take at least that many tricks.

Play

The declarer's left-hand opponent leads. Follow suit if you can. The highest trump wins, otherwise the highest card of the suit led.

Scoring

Contract made: the declarers score a point per trick they took. Contract failed: they score nothing. The defenders always score a point per trick they took.

Winner

The first partnership to 100 points (50 in a short game).

How to play Contract Whist, step by step

1. 1

   Sit in partnerships

   Four players make two partnerships. Partners sit opposite each other, so the turn always passes from one side to the other.

2. 2

   Deal

   The dealer deals the whole pack one card at a time, clockwise, starting with the player on their left, so everyone has 13 cards. The deal passes to the left after every hand.

3. 3

   Open the auction

   The player on the dealer's left speaks first. You may bid or pass. A bid is a number of tricks for your partnership, from 7 to 13, and a denomination: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades or no trumps. For example, "eight hearts" promises that your side will take at least eight tricks with hearts as trumps.

4. 4

   Bid higher or pass

   Going round the table, each bid must beat the last one: either more tricks, or the same number of tricks in a higher denomination. Seven no trumps beats seven spades; eight clubs beats seven no trumps. A player who passed may still bid later if the auction comes back round.

5. 5

   End the auction

   When a bid is followed by three passes in a row, the auction is over. The last bid is the contract and the player who made it is the declarer. If all four players pass without a bid, the cards are thrown in and the next dealer deals a new hand.

6. 6

   Lead and play

   The player on the declarer's left leads the first trick. Everyone plays one card in turn, clockwise. You must follow the suit led if you can; if you cannot, you may trump or throw away any card. The highest trump wins the trick; if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner leads to the next trick.

7. 7

   Count the tricks

   After all thirteen tricks, each partnership counts the tricks it took. The declarers have made their contract if they took at least as many tricks as they bid.

8. 8

   Score and deal again

   If the contract was made, the declarers score one point for every trick they took; if it failed, they score nothing. The defenders score one point for every trick they took, whatever happened. Play on until one side reaches 100.

The bidding ladder

Bids climb a ladder of 35 steps, from seven clubs at the bottom to thirteen no trumps at the top. Within each number of tricks, the denominations rank clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades and then no trumps. To overcall, go to the next step or any step above it.

Lowest bids

7 ♣, 7 ♦, 7 ♥, 7 ♠, 7 NT

Then

8 ♣, 8 ♦, 8 ♥, 8 ♠, 8 NT, and so on

Highest bids

13 ♣, 13 ♦, 13 ♥, 13 ♠, 13 NT (a grand slam: every trick)

Contract Whist scoring, with examples

Every trick is worth one point, but only to the side that deserves it. The declarers score their tricks only if they make the contract; the defenders always score theirs. So bidding too high costs you everything you took, while defeating a contract still rewards the defenders for every trick.

Here are three hands. North and South are the declarers each time:

Contract made

North bids 8 hearts. North-South take 9 tricks: they score 9, East-West score 4.

Exactly made

South bids 7 no trumps. North-South take 7 tricks: they score 7, East-West score 6.

Contract failed

North bids 10 spades. North-South take 9 tricks: they score 0, East-West score 4.

Doubling

Many tables let the defenders double. At bs.fyi doubling is a house rule you can switch on before a game; it is off by default. When it is on, a player whose side did not make the highest bid may say "double" on their turn instead of bidding or passing. If the auction then ends on that bid, the contract is doubled and every point of the hand counts twice, for both sides. A new bid wipes out the double. There is no redouble.

Winning the game

The game is played to 100 points; a short game is played to 50. After each hand, if a partnership has reached the target and is ahead, it wins. If both sides are level at or above the target, play another hand until one is ahead.

Contract Whist and other whist games

Contract Whist sits between plain whist, where trumps are decided by the deal, and contract bridge, where one hand is laid face up as dummy and the scoring is far more detailed. In Contract Whist every player holds and plays their own cards, and the scoring is simply tricks.

Nomination Whist and Oh Hell are different games: every player bids for themselves, the number of cards changes each round, and you are trying to take an exact number of tricks. Bid Whist, popular in the United States, is another partnership auction game, played with jokers, a kitty and bids counted over a book of six.

House rules you may meet

Some tables count bids over a book of six ("one" means seven tricks), give the declarers a bonus for each trick over the contract, take points away for each trick short, double the points at no trumps, play a fixed number of hands instead of a target, or allow a redouble. None of these are played at bs.fyi, so every table and every computer player plays to the same rules.

Contract Whist strategy tips

• •Count your tricks, then add your partner's. Aces are tricks, kings with a small card beside them often are, and every trump beyond the third in a long trump suit is usually a trick too. Expect an unknown partner to bring about three tricks.
• •Listen to your partner's bid. A partner who bids seven of a suit is showing a useful hand with length in that suit. With three or more of their suit, your hands fit: back their suit rather than starting a new one.
• •Don't outbid your partner for nothing. The score is the tricks you take, not the size of the contract. If your partner already holds the contract, raising it only makes it harder to make.
• •Push the other side up. If the opponents are bidding a suit you have well covered, let them climb: a contract they cannot make scores them nothing and gives your side all its tricks.
• •Declarers, draw trumps. When you declare a suit contract, lead trumps early so the defenders cannot trump your winners in the side suits.
• •Defenders, lead short suits. Against a trump contract, leading a singleton can let you trump that suit later. Against no trumps, lead your longest suit and keep leading it.
• •Second hand low, third hand high. Playing second to a trick, play low and let your partner win it. Playing third, play your best card to beat the leader's partner.

Frequently asked questions