How to Play Oh Hell

What is Oh Hell?

Oh Hell is a trick-taking card game for 3 to 7 players with one ordinary 52-card deck. Every round, each player looks at their cards and says how many tricks they will take. Then you play the hand, and you only score if you take exactly that many: one trick too many is as bad as one too few.

The hands change size every round. The first round deals seven cards each, the next six, and so on down to a single card, then back up again. That is where the game's best-known other name comes from: Up and Down the River. It is also called Oh Pshaw or Oh Heck (when the family is listening), Blackout and Bust. In Britain its best-known cousin is Nomination Whist, where the trumps go round in a fixed order and every trick scores a point.

The name says what happens at the table. The one-card rounds are pure nerve, the seven-card rounds reward careful counting, and somebody always misses their bid by one trick at the very end. The rules on this page are the ones the game at bs.fyi uses, and they follow the standard rules in card game books and on pagat.com.

The British version, with rotating trumps: Nomination Whist

Oh Hell rules at a glance

Players

3 to 7, each playing for themselves (4 or 5 is ideal)

Deck

One 52-card deck, no jokers

Card order

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

Hand sizes

7 cards in round 1, one fewer each round down to 1, then back up to 7 (13 rounds). A short game stops at 1 (7 rounds).

Trumps

The card after the deal is turned face up; its suit is trumps for the round

Bidding

Starting left of the dealer, everyone bids 0 up to the number of cards in hand. The dealer may not make the bids add up to the number of tricks (the hook).

Play

Follow suit if you can. The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led.

Scoring

Exactly your bid: 10 points plus your bid. Anything else: 0.

Winner

The highest total after the last round. Players who tie share the win.

How to play Oh Hell, step by step

1. 1

   Deal

   The dealer shuffles and deals the cards one at a time, starting with the player on their left, until everyone has the number of cards for this round: seven in the first round. The deal moves one seat to the left every round.

2. 2

   Turn up the trump card

   The dealer turns the next card of the deck face up. Its suit is trumps for this round. The card itself stays on the table and nobody plays it. If no cards are left over, the round is played without trumps.

3. 3

   Bid

   Starting with the player to the dealer's left and going round the table, each player says how many tricks they expect to take, from zero up to the number of cards in their hand. Everyone can see the bids as they are made.

4. 4

   The dealer's hook

   The dealer bids last and may not choose the number that would make all the bids add up to the number of tricks in the round. So at least one player is always going to miss.

5. 5

   Play the tricks

   The player to the dealer's left leads any card. Everyone else plays one card in turn, and must play a card of the suit that was led if they have one. With none of that suit, you may play any card, a trump or not.

6. 6

   Win a trick

   If any trumps were played, the highest trump takes the trick. If not, the highest card of the suit that was led takes it; other suits never win. The winner of a trick leads to the next one.

7. 7

   Score the round

   When all the cards have been played, each player who took exactly the number of tricks they bid scores 10 points plus their bid. Everyone else scores nothing for the round.

8. 8

   Up and down the river

   Deal the next round with one card fewer. After the one-card round, a full game climbs back up one card at a time to seven. The player with the most points after the last round wins.

How many cards are dealt

The game needs one card left over after the deal to turn up for trumps, so the biggest hand is 51 divided by the number of players, rounded down. Many groups cap it at seven cards, and so does bs.fyi: with 3 to 7 players everyone gets seven cards in the first round, and there is always a trump card.

A full game goes 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, then 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7: thirteen rounds, with the one-card round played once. A short game is just the way down, 7 to 1, in seven rounds. On bs.fyi you choose the length before you start.

3 players

7 cards each in the first round (21 dealt, 31 left in the deck)

4 players

7 cards each (28 dealt)

5 players

7 cards each (35 dealt)

6 players

7 cards each (42 dealt)

7 players

7 cards each (49 dealt, 3 left, one of them turned up)

Bidding and the hook rule

Your bid is a promise, not a hope. Bid zero if you think you can lose every trick. Zero is often the safest bid in the small rounds, and it still scores 10 if you make it.

The hook (also called the screw or the dealer's rule) keeps the round from being comfortable. The dealer bids last, knows everyone else's bid, and may not say the number that makes the total equal to the number of tricks. Example: four players, five cards each, and the first three bid 1, 2 and 0. That adds up to 3, so the dealer may bid anything except 2. Whatever happens, the total is either too high (someone will be short) or too low (someone will be forced to take a trick they don't want).

If the other bids already add up to more than the number of tricks, the dealer may bid anything. The table at bs.fyi shows the bids, their total against the number of tricks, and greys out the dealer's forbidden bid.

Following suit and winning tricks

Following suit is compulsory. If a spade is led and you have a spade, you must play a spade, even if it's the ace and you were hoping to keep it. You are never forced to trump: with no card of the suit led, you can throw away any card you like.

Trumps beat every other suit, so a lowly 2 of trumps takes an ace of the suit led. When trumps are led, everyone must follow with a trump if they can.

Scoring

Making your bid exactly scores 10 points plus the number you bid. Missing it, over or under, scores nothing that round. Bidding zero and taking no tricks scores 10; bidding three and taking three scores 13; bidding three and taking two or four scores 0.

Add each round to your running total. After the last round the highest total wins, and players who tie for first share the win.

Bid 0, take 0

10 points

Bid 1, take 1

11 points

Bid 4, take 4

14 points

Bid 2, take 3

0 points

Bid 2, take 1

0 points

Other names for Oh Hell

Oh Hell is played all over the world under many names. In the United States it's often Oh Hell, Oh Pshaw, Oh Heck or Up and Down the River. In Britain it's also known as Nomination Whist, Blackout, Bust or Jungle Bridge, and in India as Judgement. (Some British families also call it Contract Whist, though that name more often means a partnership game where the highest bidder names trumps.) The game goes back at least to the 1930s and is a member of the whist family, like Spades and Bridge.

The names often come with small rule changes: some groups only go down the river, some score one point per trick plus a bonus of 10, and some give a penalty for every trick you miss by. The ones on this page (exact bid scores 10 plus the bid, the hook on the dealer, seven cards down to one and back) are the most common. The British score sheet, with trumps going round hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades and no trumps and a point for every trick, has its own Nomination Whist table and rules page.

House rules on bs.fyi

Oh Hell strategy tips

• •Count your sure tricks, not your good cards. Aces and high trumps usually win. A king wins only if the ace has gone or stays hidden, and a queen rarely does in a big hand. Long trump suits win extra tricks by trumping when you run out of a suit.
• •Zero is a real bid. In the small rounds a hand of low cards with no trumps is an easy 10 points. Bid zero, then play your highest cards when someone else is already winning the trick.
• •Duck once you have your bid. As soon as you have the tricks you bid, every extra trick costs you the round. Play under the winning card, and throw away your dangerous high cards on tricks you can't win.
• •Watch the total. If the bids add up to more than the tricks, the table is fighting over too few tricks, so expect your borderline cards to lose. If the total is short, someone will be forced to take tricks they don't want, and it could be you.
• •As dealer, use the hook. You bid last with the most information. When you're hooked off your first choice, pick the bid that's easier to make with your hand, usually the lower one.
• •Get rid of a short suit. If you need tricks and hold trumps, play your only card of a suit early. Once you're out of it, you can trump that suit later.

Frequently asked questions