Play Įldest hand (the player to the dealer's left) leads to the first trick any card may be led. The deal rotates clockwise and one fewer card is dealt in each successive hand until the final hand is played which consists of one card each. If two or more players tie for the highest number of tricks taken, they cut cards to decide who calls trumps. In subsequent hands, the deal rotates to the left and the player who took the most tricks selects trumps in the next hand. Deal įor the first hand, the dealer deals seven cards to each player and one card is turned up to indicate that its suit is the trump suit for the first round.
The cards in each suit rank from highest to lowest: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. The aim is to be the last player left in at the end of the game, with the object in each hand being to win a majority of tricks.
The game may be played by two to seven players. It is a basic trick-taking game and is a good way to teach the concept of tricks to children. It is often simply called whist by players who are unfamiliar with the game properly called whist. Knock-out whist or knockout whist is a member of the whist family known by a variety of names including trumps in Britain, reduction whist, diminishing whist (from the way one fewer card is dealt each hand) and rat.