When playing cards, there are a series of basic rules applicable to all card games, which time has distorted and altered, thereby causing confusion when sitting down to play cards with strangers. Indeed the modern way seems to be, change the rules to suit yourself, rather than make the effort to learn the time honoured way. To this end, it is necessary to detail these basic rules, so that some uniformity will prevail.

After all, what sort of a football league would we have, if some teams had a different offside rule? Probably a very confused one, at least until everyone got together to decide which version would be used.

The majority of card games are played as a series of "hands" after which a winner or winning partnership is determined. The rewards for winning a game of cards can be nothing more than being known as simply, "the winner." A consistent winner at a particular game and against all opposition, is often afforded the accolade of "Expert." On the other hand, a cash reward can be the result of winning at cards.

In games played by partnerships of players, the partnership are formed by, either agreement or the drawing of lots. The time honoured way, is for each player to be dealt one card face up. With the Aces counting as high cards, the two players who were dealt the two highest cards form a partnership to play the two players who were dealt the two lowest cards. In the event of an inconclusive deal, the whole deal is made again. Partners in four handed game, always sit opposite each other. Thus: North is the partner of South and West is the partner of East.

In all cards games, before any hand can be played, the pack of cards has to be dealt by a nominated person. Before the cards can be dealt, the pack has to be shuffled and cut by a different nominated person or persons. These nominated people are not selected at random or by agreement but, in order to minimise any attempts to cheat, by a set procedure.

Any player may shuffle the cards but as this often led to disagreements, it has been generally accepted that before the cards are dealt, the pack of cards is always shuffled by the person to the LEFT of the dealer. This person returns the cards to the dealer, who in turn passes them on to the person on his RIGHT to be cut.

The dealer, if he so chooses, may re-shuffle the cards before passing them on to be cut. Once the cards have been shuffled and cut in a bona fide manner, they must be dealt as they are, without any further "cuts" or "shuffles."

If there are only two players, the dealer shuffles and his opponent cuts.

If there is only one player, as in patience, well, the dealer does everything and is on his honour not to cheat.

The cards are dealt from the top of the pack, one at a time, to each player in turn, starting with the player to the dealer's LEFT and in a clockwise direction. There is the odd game, like Solo Whist, where more than one card at a time is dealt.

THE DEALER NEVER DEALS TO HIMSELF FIRST

Except in a very few cases, the dealer changes after each hand is played. The deal always passes to the next person on the LEFT.

In the event of a mis-deal, whether by accident or design, the dealer loses the deal and it is passed on to the next person.

To assist the dealer and possibly prevent a mis-deal, players MUST NOT pick up or touch their cards until the deal is completed, not even to "straighten" them up.

If a card is turned FACE UP during a deal, it is classed as a mis-deal. However, the potential recipient of the upturned card can exercise his right to either, accept the upturned card and therefore play out the hand as normal or, to reject the card and call a mis-deal.

If a player attempts to pick up, or straighten his cards whilst a deal is in progress and in doing so causes the dealer to "turn up" a card, then that player must accept the card as it is and cannot call a mis-deal. It must be said, that a dealer should be alert enough to ensure that players keep their hands to themselves whilst a deal is in progress and to warn a potential offender accordingly.

Spectators MUST NOT interfere with or comment on any play in progress. Comments, which are not usually welcome by the players anyway, should be left to the period between hands. Post - Mortems between hands do nothing to enhance the enjoyment of the game and may even embarrass a player. Similarly, idle chatter by spectators and players alike, should be confined to the time when the hand is not being played out.

Once a trick has been won and stacked face down, NO ONE may look at those cards, except for the last trick won. For a player to continually look at the "last trick" only indicates to the other players what a lousy memory he must have.

The dealer for the first hand is always selected by chance and the cards themselves are used for this purpose. There are an infinite number of ways of selecting the dealer, but the three most popular are:-

HIGHEST CARD DEAL METHOD
A nominated person, after the pack of cards has been shuffled and cut by volunteers, deals one card FACE UP to each player in turn. The person with the highest value card (Ace is highest and 2 is the lowest) is then the dealer for the first hand. In the event that two or more players have a card of the same highest value, then those players are dealt another card each.

BLACK JACK METHOD
After the pack has been shuffled and cut, a nominated person deals one card FACE UP to each player in turn, until a nominated card turns up, usually the BLACK JACK. The person who is dealt the BLACK JACK is then the dealer for the first hand.

CUT PACK METHOD
After the pack has been shuffled and cut by a volunteer or two, each player and in turn, cuts the pack and shows the bottom card of the cut and for the moment retains the cut portion of the cards. The player with the highest "cut" card becomes the dealer for the first hand. In the event of a tie of the highest card, the cards are replaced and the tied players cut again. This method is only really suitable for two or three players.

A bona fide cut is one which contains more than four cards but contains less than half the cards available. Each cut must be a "Clean" cut. i.e. not dropping cards from the bottom of the cut.

In some card "schools" it has become the practice for players to cut the cards, show the bottom card and return all the cards to the pack for the next person to cut, particularly if more than 4 players are playing. This practice can only lead to differences of opinion as to whether a player did in fact cut the card that he claims he did, and should not be used.

To the uninformed, all this may seem like a lot of fuss over nothing or at least a very minor point. However, in most cards games, the dealer DOES have a slight advantage over the other players and this slight advantage could make the difference between winning and losing, particularly if the dealer is attempting to play against the odds.

After the deal, in the majority of games, each player sorts out his cards and holds them fanned out so that only he can see the card faces. It is bad form to bend the cards, as eventually various cards can be recognised from the back.

As a great number of card games are based on the "Whist" principle, it is necessary to detail the basic rules of Whist.

VERY BASIC WHIST
Trumps and dealer are selected and the cards are dealt. Starting with the player immediately to the dealers LEFT, each player and in a clockwise direction, plays a card in turn and FACE UP onto the centre of the table. It is considered bad form and could give an advantage to the other players, to play a card out of turn, even if the player knows that it is a losing card.

The player who plays the highest value card, wins the four cards, which is known as a TRICK. The winner of the trick collects the cards and stacks them FACE DOWN in front of himself and then leads a card to the next trick. The tricks are stacked in an overlapping way so that they can be easily counted at the end of the hand. The winner or winning partnership is the one who has taken most tricks.

It is obligatory to follow suit whenever possible. The suit to follow is the suit of the first or "lead" card played for that trick. If it is not possible to follow suit, then the player has the choice of, either discarding any card thereby losing the trick, or playing a card from the current trump suit, thereby possibly winning the trick. In the event that more than one trump is played, then the highest trump played wins the trick.

If a player does not follow suit when he can, whether by accident or design, and it is noticed BEFORE the next trick is played to, then the "wrong" card may be exchanged without penalty. If the "wrong" card is discovered AFTER the next trick has been played to, then the hand is null and void and the offender is penalised. The penalty varies from game to game and school to school, but it generally means that the offender or offending partnership will not win the game or rubber.

A trump card is a card from a pre-selected suit which, when played, beats all the cards from all the other suits. Thus: if Clubs are trumps, then the 2 of Clubs will beat all the cards in Hearts, Diamonds and Spades regardless of their value.

To determine trumps for the first hand, the bona fide dealer offers the shuffled pack of cards to the person on his RIGHT, to be cut. The bottom card of the cut is deemed to be trumps for the first hand. The trumps for the next and subsequent hands follows the sequence of:- Hearts; Clubs; Diamonds; Spades and No Trumps. Therefore, if the cut shows Diamonds, the next hand shall have Spades as trumps, the next hand shall have No Trumps, the next hand shall have Hearts as trumps and so on. However, for "Partner Whist" as in Whist Drives, the trumps for the first hand is always Hearts, thereafter following the normal sequence. After trumps have been selected, the cards are shuffled and cut in the approved fashion and dealt for the first hand.

In some variations of Whist, the trumps are selected by other means:- E.g. Dealer's choice, highest bid made etc.

In Whist type games, where contracts to take a particular number of tricks are made, the highest number of tricks bid for shall become the declarer, except where specified.

The first person eligible to make a bid, is the person immediately to the LEFT of the dealer. Thereafter bidding continues in a clockwise direction until, in a four handed game, three "no bids" or "passes" in succession are made. Bidding is then halted and the last person to have made a bid is the declarer.

Except where specified, each bid MUST BE HIGHER than the previous bid. In most Whist type games, a player who "passes" or says "no bid" may, at the next time of asking, make a bid. Similarly, a player at the next time of asking, may make a higher bid than the one he made previously. If during the first round of bidding, no player makes a bid, then the dealer HAS to make a bid. It has become the practice to call a mis- deal if no player makes a bid but this is a practice that should not be entertained as it is impossible for all players to have a hand where a minimal bid is not possible.

In a 3 handed game, 2 passes or no bids stops the bidding or forces a bid from the dealer. In a 5 handed game, 4 passes or no bids stops the bidding or forces a bid from the dealer. In a 6 handed game, 5 passes or no bids stops the bidding or forces a bid from the dealer. etc. etc. etc.

A bid of MISERE is a bid to take NO tricks and its position in the sequence of bidding can vary from game to game, as can MISERE OUVERTE. In a four handed game the MISERE bid is usually placed between ten and eleven.

MISERE OUVERTE is as MISERE, except that after the first trick has been played, the declarer of MISERE OUVERTE lays his cards on the table and FACE UP in four rows, one row for each suit, so that each card's value is clearly visible. The rest of the hand is then played out with the declarer of MISERE OUVERTE taking no further part in the playing of his hand. In a four handed game a bid of MISERE OUVERTE is usually placed above thirteen.

The selection of the card to be played from the declarer's hand is made by the player leading to the trick.

NO ONE ELSE MAY SELECT A CARD AND NO OTHER PLAYER IS ALLOWED TO GIVE ADVICE, REMINDERS OR PROMPTS. ONLY THE LEADER TO THE CURRENT TRICK MAY TOUCH THE MISERE OUVERTE HAND AND THEN ONLY TO SELECT AND REMOVE A CARD HE WISHES TO BE PLAYED.

ABONDANCE DECLAREE is as MISERE OUVERTE, except that it is a contract to take ALL the tricks available and is the highest bid that can be made.

These three bids are not recognised in all forms of Whist and, unless specifically mentioned, it must be assumed that they are not recognised in any particular game.

The details of all the games in this book should be sufficient for someone with minimal knowledge of playing cards, to learn to play each game. However, as part of the enjoyment of playing cards is discovering new tactics of play, detailing tactics has been avoided except to try and explain a bit more clearly, a rule of play.

For the majority of card games, the Jokers are not used, although nowadays they are always included in a pack of cards, sometimes as many as four jokers. Unless stated, it must be assumed that the Jokers are not used.

Unless specifically allowed for, cheating is not permitted and offenders should be dismissed from the game and persistent cheats, totally ostracised.

Some readers may not agree with some of the rules of play stated because of regional variations that have become established over the years. However, as this book is not meant to be an authoritative account of card games but an attempt to re-kindle interest in card games as well as trying to establish a reference point where players of differing opinion can refer to and maybe agree on any specific points. It doesn't really matter that in one part of the world, in Chase the Lady, the Queen of Spades is worth 15 points and in another she is worth 30 points or even if the Queen of Spades is not the lady to chase but some other queen.

What matters is the general principle and agreement between players BEFORE the arguments start and if needed, this book could act as a reference point.

I trust that in the end, people will continue to enjoy the pleasures of playing card games to pass the evenings, instead of letting themselves become couch potatoes and slaves to the "telly" or "video."

After all, winning a hand of cards particularly against the odds, IS an achievement brought about by the winner's skill.