Whist!

Whist? What is Whist?

Whist is a card game. Every Wednesday night at 6:30pm at the Moose Hall in Portsmouth they have a Whist Card Party. It is set up in a round robin fashion. You buy into the game for a whopping $2. After every hand you move down one seat and play with new partners. After 10 hands everyone breaks for snacks. Some of the best brownies around, I am telling you! Everyone brings a small treat to share and coffee/water is provided. Then we play another ten hands. At the end of the night the winner is the one with the most tricks.

Tricks? Yup. Here is a basic overview of the game. Derived from a older game called Ruff and Honours it was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Similar in play to bridge but it moves faster. The classic game is a plain trick game without bidding played with 4 people. The rules are very simple but the logic involved in what to play when is quite intriguing. So four players sit two across from each other and your partner is the person diagonally across from you. All the cards in a standard 52 deck are dealt amongst the 4. Then you arrange your cards according suit with ace being the highest. There is always a trump suit that will override all other suits. But you can only play it when you have none of the other suit in your hand.

Any card can be led and the others follow suit (or trump) with the highest card winning the trick. Whoever won the last trick starts the play. When all thirteen tricks have been played you get one point for every trick you and your partner have over 6. The best part about this group is you get credits for having the most zero trick hands as well. The tenth hand and last hand are played as no trump hands with double trick points.

The game is super easy to pick up and I have had a lot of fun playing since May. Great way to go out for an evening. Play is usually done by 9-9:30pm and the company is great. Everyone is welcome to come join in on any night. Try it - If you like cards, you will like whist.

Shannon Aldrich, Keller Williams Coastal Realty, Portsmouth NH