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Rules of the game - Elevator Whist |
 
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Besides Windows
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Basic principle
After the dealing, each player holds the same number of cards (which varies from 1 to 13), sorted by suit and rank. In Whist, the cards in each suit rank from highest to lowest in the following way:
A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
The Ace is the highest, the 2 the lowest. Whist is a trick taking game: each of the four players plays one card in turn, and the one who played the highest of the 4 cards wins the trick. Then, he collects the cards played, and leads to the next trick. On a trick, there are several simple rules to follow:
 Aim of the game
Elevator Whist is a game played individually. At the end of the deal, when all the cards have been played, each player counts the number of tricks he won on his own. The aim of the game is to win a certain number of tricks.
The number of tricks required to gain points on a deal is fixed during the bidding (see further on). Each player then tells how many tricks he aims to make, and the aim for each of them is to make exactly the number of tricks bid during the bidding.
If a player makes more or less tricks than he bid, he will lose points. If he makes exactly the number of tricks bid, he will win points. The scored points accumulate from deal to deal. And the ultimate aim, to win a whole game, is for example to reach a certain number of points.
The dealing and the trump suit
In Elevator Whist, the number of cards dealt on each deal varies. It starts with 1 card per player. Then on the next deal, 3 cards per player. Then 5 cards, and so on up to 13. After that, the number of cards dealt goes back down to 1, decreasing by 2 (11, 9, 7, etc.). Hence the name Elevator for this variation of Whist that makes the number of cards dealt going up and down.
Among the cards that remain in the stock (that are not dealt), there will often be aces and kings. So, one will be able to make tricks with intermediate cards (like a queen or a jack for example), if luckily the higher cards are not in game.
Playing with a trump suit or in No Trump
In Elevator Whist, you can play either with a trump suit or in No Trump. What is the trump suit? The trump suit is a suit stronger than the three others, which is fixed during the dealing (see above). The rules specific to the trump suit are the following ones:
When a player has no more cards in the suit led (and only in that case), he may play a card of the trump suit (which is called ruffing) and thus win the trick, whatever the rank of his ruffing card. For example, he can ruff an Ace with the 2 of trumps and win the trick.
There is absolutely no obligation to ruff a trick. A player, who has no more cards in the suit led, always has the choice to ruff or to discard.
There is absolutely no obligation to overruff a trick. When a trick has already been ruffed, a player who has no more cards in the suit led may ruff with a higher card (overruffing), or ruff with a lower card (underruffing). Or finally he may discard (play a card of a non trump suit).
As soon as a trick has been ruffed by a trump, the cards of the other suits can no longer win the trick. The player who wins the trick is then the one who played the highest trump.
In No Trump, there is no trump suit. So, no suit is stronger than the others. If a player has no more cards in the suit led, he discards and can never win the trick.
The bidding
The dealer deals the number of cards required by the dealing sequence, and if need be turns the trump card face up. Then the bidding begins. In this variation, the bidding is simultaneous: the four players declare at the same time the number of tricks they aim to take.
In Far Whist, each player bids in turn, but only the word Ready is displayed. When the four players are ready, the 4 bids are displayed simultaneously on the table.
So, a bid is simply made by declaring a number of tricks, going from 0 to the number of cards dealt. It is a contract that each player aims to fulfill. Note that to make his contract, a player must take exactly the number of tricks bid, neither more nor less. If he takes more or less tricks, he is said to go down.
Of course, to evaluate the number of tricks they think they can make, the players take into account their number of cards in the trump suit. As the trump suit is stronger than the others, the more trumps one holds, the more likely one is to make tricks.
Other little rules
A few hints to make a good start
For the bidding
For the playing
In Far Whist, with the simultaneous bidding and the play in No Trump,
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