Whiskey

Whiskey: A Trick-Based Game for Three

Many Bridge players lament that three-handed variations lack the real game's complexity. On the other hand, one of the best three-handed card games around—Skat, the German national card game—is filled with arbitrary rules that are off-putting to initiates.

Hence Whiskey (from Whist + Skat—say it quickly), which takes some of the best features from each game to solve the three-player dilemma.

Overview

Like both Bridge and Skat (and Hearts and numerous other games), Whiskey is a game of tricks. A trick is simply one card from each player's hand. One player begins the trick by leading—playing any card from his hand. Proceeding clockwise, each player then adds one card from his hand until all have played once. Each card added to the trick must, if possible, be the same suit as the led card (playing a card of the same suit is called following suit). If a hand does not contain any cards of that suit, any card may be played. By default, the highest card of the led suit wins the trick.

For example, if the Q is led, each successive player must play a heart if he has one. Although there are only three players, there is a fourth hand in Whiskey—so each trick will have four cards. Let's say the other three cards are the K, the 9 and the A. Although the ace is the highest card in the trick, it does not win because it is not of the led suit (hearts). In this case, whoever played the K wins the trick.

The winner of a trick then leads to the next trick. This continues until all cards have been played. Since the number of tricks depends on the number of cards the players hold, playing all the tricks is known as playing a hand.

A player may earn the right to name a trump suit. Any suit may be trump, and each card in the suit is then able to beat any card of any other suit for that hand only. Of course, players must still follow suit. If diamonds are trump but spades are led, a player cannot play a diamond unless he is out of spades.

Another example: Say hearts are trump. The A is led, and the next cards are the 9 and the J. The last player has no clubs in his hand and can play any card. He plays the 2, which wins the trick (even though it is the lowest card) because it is trump.

If more than one trump is played in any trick, the highest trump wins.

In bridge, the object of the game is always to win tricks. Players who happen to be dealt high cards thus have an unfair advantage. Whiskey borrows from Skat the idea of playing either to win or to lose tricks, depending on your hand.

Four kinds of games are thus possible for each Whiskey hand: players may try to win or lose tricks, and there may or may not be a trump suit. (If there isn't, the hand is said to be played in notrump.)

The specific rules follow.

The Object

The object of the game is to be the first to score 100 points—or another quantity determined by the players—by winning or losing a specified number of tricks.

The Setup

Whiskey uses a standard 52-card deck, with cards ranked from ace (high) to 2 (low). Suits have no rank.

Dealer passes out 13 cards to each player and a dummy hand, proceeding clockwise. After all cards are dealt, two cards from the dummy are turned face up.

The Bidding

Since choosing the kind of game to be played confers a distinct advantage, a player must earn the right to do so. Each hand therefore begins with an auction, and whoever makes the highest bid becomes declarer (the player who can choose—or declare—the kind of game to be played). Since the only currency of the game is tricks, each bid represents a number of tricks the player pledges to win or lose if he is declarer.

The dealer bids first; players then take turns bidding, proceeding clockwise. As with any auction, each bid must be higher than the previous; a player may also pass. After each bid or pass, another card from the dummy is exposed.

Each player bids the number of tricks (1–13) he plans to win or lose. A player may also double any bid he thinks is unmakable. Doubling means that declarer's final score or penalty will be twice the normal value. Only the current highest bid can be doubled, and any new bid cancels the double. (Of course, that new bid may be doubled!) A player whose bid is still doubled at his next chance to bid may redouble, which will multiply his final score or penalty by 4. Any successive bid cancels both the double and the redouble.

Bidding ends when all three players pass. The person who made the highest bid becomes declarer.

The Play

The entire dummy is exposed and placed across from declarer. During the hand, declarer will play from the dummy just as if it were a fourth player sitting between his opponents. Any tricks won by the dummy hand count toward declarer's total.

After seeing the dummy, declarer announces whether he will try to win or lose the number of tricks bid and names a trump suit or notrump. The other players form a partnership to stop declarer. Player to declarer's left leads to the first trick.

Scoring

If the declarer made his bid exactly (won or lost the exact number of tricks bid), he earns the value of his bid. If declarer was off by eactly one trick in either direction, he wins ½ the value of his bid (rounded up if necessary). If declarer is off by two tricks in either direction, he loses ½ the value of his bid (rounded up if necessary). If declarer is off by three or more tricks in either direction, he loses the value of his bid.

DOUBLE/REDOUBLE: Doubling multiplies the score by two (whether positive or negative), and redoubling multiplies it by four.