The games · Coolhand Cards

Pitch

The Midwest's partnership game, grown from England's All Fours. Bid for the points your side will take, lead a card to set trumps, and play to twenty-one.

Players: 4
Family: Bidding Games
App: Coolhand Cards · iOS and Android, soon

How it goes

Your partner sits opposite. Six cards each. Starting left of whoever dealt, each player bids once: two, three, four or smudge, higher than the bid standing, or passes. Whoever dealt bids last, may take the bid just by matching it, and must bid two if everyone else passed. The winner leads, and the suit of that first card is trump. A trick is one card each. Follow suit or play a trump, even when you could follow, and play anything when you can't. The highest trump wins the trick, else the highest card of the suit led. Make your bid and you score every point your side took. Fail and you lose the bid. The other side always scores what it took. Each hand has four points to win. High goes to the side with the highest trump dealt. Low goes to the side that wins the lowest trump dealt, in a trick. Jack goes to the side that wins the jack of trumps, if it was dealt. Game goes to the side with more card points in its tricks: ace four, king three, queen two, jack one, ten ten, and a tie scores nobody. A lone trump counts as both High and Low. A smudge bid wins all six tricks, with the jack, and scores five, but only when bid.

A good hand

Count High, Low, Jack and Game before you bid. The highest trump you hold wins High for your side, and a lone trump is both High and Low. The jack counts only for the side that wins it in a trick. Tens and aces carry the most for Game.

The usual mistake

Counting defending points toward the win. Twenty-one wins, but only on a hand your side bid and made, so a side can pass twenty-one while defending and still not finish. Leading a low card and naming a weak trump for the whole hand. And playing a ten into danger: it's worth ten toward Game, and any player may trump it, even one who could follow suit.

Played differently where you are?

Card games change from table to table, and we researched some of these games instead of playing them. If Pitch goes differently where you play it, tell us. That's one of the things the closed beta is for.

The closed beta is by invitation. How to ask to join.