World Series of Bid Whist ®
Official Rules

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GENERAL INFORMATION

Dates: October 5 - 7, 2007

Location:  Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter NW, Atlanta, Georgia
Host: TBA

"Two Jokers and Kitty" Format

The version described here is the most popular form of the game, played with a standard 52-card deck and two jokers designated "Big" and "Little." (In most decks, one joker appears larger than the other; otherwise, one will need to be marked.)

The game is played by four players, who are divided into two partnerships. Partnerships may be prearranged or determined by drawing cards, with the two highest and two lowest cards matched together to form separate teams. Partners sit across the table from one another.

THE DEAL

The deck is shuffled and dealt out completely. Each player receives 12 cards, and the remaining six cards are dealt facedown to form a kitty.

BIDDING

There is one round of bidding. Beginning with the player on the dealer's left and proceeding clockwise, each player in turn may either pass or make a bid. To bid, a player states a number from 3 to 7, followed by one of three descriptions: "uptown," "downtown," or "no-trump." A bid's number represents the minimum number of tricks in excess of 6 that the player is promising that his side will take during the play of the hand, thus, a player who bids 3 hopes that he and his partner together will take at least 9 tricks. (However, the discards made after the declarer picks up the kitty will count as one of these tricks, as explained below; therefore, the declarer who bids 3 really only needs to take 8 out of 12 tricks.)

Bids of "uptown" (or "high") and "downtown" (or "low") indicate that the player will name a trump suit if he or she wins the bid. In suit contracts, jokers are considered to be part of the trump suit. If the bid is uptown, cards in the trump suit will rank from high to low as follows: Big Joker, Little Joker, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2; with a downtown bid, cards will rank: Big Joker, Little Joker, A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K. Cards in other suits rank the same way as in the trump suit, except that they contain no jokers. A no-trump bid means there will be no trump suit in the hand, and that jokers are worthless (they cannot win a trick).

A bid must be higher than any previous bid; for this purpose, a no-trump bid outranks a bid of uptown or downtown, but uptown and downtown bids are of equal rank. For example, if a previous player has bid "4 downtown," a player may bid "4 no-trump" or make any kind of 5, 6, or 7 bid; however, he may not bid "4 uptown" or make any 3 bid. The highest bidder, known as the declarer, wins the kitty. Before looking at the kitty, the declarer must either: (i) name the trump suit, if the bid was uptown or downtown; or (ii) state whether the hand will be played uptown or downtown, if the bid was no-trump. The declarer then picks up the kitty and discards any six cards to bring his hand back to 12 cards. If the bid is no-trump, any jokers in declarer's hand must be discarded. Thus, many hands end up with wildly unbalanced distribution. It's common for a declarer to end up with a very long trump suit, a sizable second suit, and very few other cards. The six discarded cards are placed facedown in front of the player, and make up the first "book," or trick taken, for the player.

The opening lead is then made by the declarer. The method of play is identical to that of bridge, spades, and other similar trick-taking games. Players must follow suit if they are able (keeping in mind that jokers count as trumps in suit contracts), but may otherwise play any card. After all four players have played a card, the trick is complete and is picked up by the player who won it. The highest trump played on a trick, if any, wins the trick; if no trumps are played, the trick is won by the highest card of the suit originally led. The winner of each trick leads the first card of the next trick.

SCORING

Successful bids are rewarded with their point value, and no-trump contracts score double. (For example, a bid of 5 no-trump is worth 10 points, if made). Some players reward extra tricks with points as well, so that a player who bids 3 but makes 4 (takes 10 tricks) earns 4 points instead of 3. If a team fails to make its bid, it is penalized by the amount of the bid (double for no-trump bids). Bidding 7 and taking all of the tricks, incidentally, is called a "Boston".

The usual rule is that the first team to score seven points is the winner. Also, in many circles, a team loses if its score falls to -7. My preference is to avoid negative points, and instead to award the defending side with positive points when they defeat a contract (e.g., if declarer fails to make a 3 bid, the defending side would get 3 points.) In this system, players may wish to set a higher point total for winning, such as 11 or 21 points.

Modern Tournaments feature a modified scoring system. Each Round (or "game" consists of four hands, with positive scoring). At the end of the first Round, a new assignment is made. Each Team plays three Rounds, or a total of twelve hands. Scores are then added, and the top sixteen Teams qualify for the "Playoffs".