Oh Hell

Setup

• Players: four at our table: you and three bots. Everyone plays alone.
• Cards: a standard 52-card deck. Aces are high.
• The deal: the hand size counts down to one card each, then back up. Our Quick game starts at 5 cards, the Full game at 7.
• Trump: after the deal, the top card of the stock is turned face up. Its suit is trump for the hand.

How to play

1. 1Bid your tricks. Starting left of the dealer, each player bids how many tricks they will take, from none to the whole hand.
2. 2The dealer’s hook. The dealer bids last and may not bid the number that makes all the bids add up to the number of tricks.
3. 3Lead and follow. The player left of the dealer leads. Follow the suit led if you can; if not, play anything.
4. 4Trump wins. The highest trump wins the trick, or else the highest card of the suit led. The winner leads next.
5. 5Hit it exactly. Take exactly the number of tricks you bid and score 10 plus your bid.
6. 6Miss by one. Too many tricks, or too few, scores nothing for the hand.

Winning

After the last hand, the player with the most points wins. Hands where nobody scores happen, so the lead can change at the very end.

Scoring

Our Classic rules: 10 plus the bid for an exact bid, and nothing otherwise. The dealer may not make the bids total the number of tricks. Some tables score a point a trick and add 10 for an exact bid; we use the simpler scoring.

Key terms

Trick:

One card from each player. The highest trump wins it, or else the highest card of the suit led.

Trump:

The suit of the card turned up after the deal. A trump beats any other suit.

Bid:

How many tricks you say you will take this hand.

The hook:

The dealer’s restriction: they may not make the bids add up to the number of tricks.

Exact bid:

Taking exactly the number of tricks you bid. It scores 10 plus the bid.

Ruff:

Winning a trick with a trump when you cannot follow the suit led.

Ducking:

Playing a card that loses on purpose, to avoid taking a trick you do not want.