

From renaissance Rome, Jones observes another ancestor of Whist, Trump, found in Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra. In the book, Cavendish discusses how 16 thcentury Italian Poet Berni mentions a game called Trionfi, which might be an early ancestor of Whist, in his book Capitolo del Gioco della Primera.

T he Principles of Whist Stated and Explained, and Its Practice Illustrated on an Original System, by Means of Hands Played Completely Through. Under the pseudonym Cavendish, Henry Jones, a games scholar from the 1800s, outlined a comprehensive history of Whist in his 1862 book. (Whist has a long history and can be seen played in 18th cartoons such as the one shown above.) The first team or player to gain 5 points wins the game.įor more information about Whist and its rules, check out David Parlett's article here. If, however, they only receive 3 tricks, they receive 0 points. For instance, if a team wins 9 tricks, they will receive 3 points. The winner of the round lays down the starter card of the next round. If they cannot follow suit, they then may play any of their cards. Going clockwise, players follow suit if possible and try to out rank the cards played. Gameplay begins with the player to the left of the dealer, with them laying down a starter card. Teammates sit across from each other if the game is 2 v 2. The last card is flipped over to establish the trump suit for the round. The dealer then shuffles the deck and passes out all of the cards one by one to each player. The player with the lowest card becomes the dealer. To do so, each player will draw a random card from a shuffled deck. Set Upīefore gameplay can begin, a dealer must first be chosen. You may find a free online version of Whist here. If you are looking for cards to play Whist with, check out a standard deck here or one of our newest arrivals here. The objective of whist is to be the first team or player to reach 5 pointsįor more trick taking games, check out our guides for Euchre and Bridge.

Whist uses a standard 52 playing card deck with Aces high and 2s low. Whist is a trick taking game for either 2 players or 2 teams of 2 players.
