Trick-taking game

In most variants, players are free to play any card into a trick in the first phase of the game, but must follow suit as soon as the stock is depleted.

According to card game researcher David Parlett, the oldest known European trick-taking game, Karnöffel, was mentioned in 1426 in the Bavarian town Nördlingen – roughly half a century after the introduction of playing cards to Europe, which were first mentioned in Spain in 1371.

This method, originating with triomphe, is still followed by a number of modern trick-taking games that do not involve an auction.

Parlett suggests the invention of trumps let players in games involving more than two a greater chance of heading a trick.

[8] The invention of bidding for a trump suit is credited to ombre, the most popular card game of the 17th century.

In the 20th century, whist, now with bidding and the dummy hand, developed into contract bridge, the last global trick-taking game.

In games originating in North and West Europe, including England, Russia, and the United States and Canada, the rotation is typically clockwise, i.e., play proceeds to the left.

The player sitting one seat after the declarer (one with the highest bid and not the dealer) in normal rotation is known as the eldest hand, also called the forehand in Skat and other games of German origin.

When all cards have been played, the number or contents of the tricks won by each player is tallied and used to update the score.

In many four-player games such as bridge, euchre and spades, the players sitting opposite to each other form a fixed partnership.

In some contract/auction games for three or more players, e.g. most tarot variants, the contractor (declarer or taker) plays alone against all opponents, who form an ad hoc partnership (the defenders).

In Königrufen and five-player French tarot the taker can call out a suit of which he does not possess the king, and is partnered with whomever does have it against the other three.

As this is not openly declared, it can be a challenge for the remaining players, to find out who is partnered with whom through cunning playing for several tricks.

In other games, the winner of an auction-bidding process, the taker or declarer, may get to exchange cards from his hand with the stock, either by integrating the stock into his hand and then discarding equal cards as in Skat, Rook and French tarot, or in a "blind" fashion by discarding and drawing as in Ombre.

In such games, players make bids depending on the number of tricks or card points they believe they can win during play of the hand.

Some psychological variety is added to the game and makes it more difficult to cheat if the trump suit is only chosen after dealing.

In some games such as Oh, hell, where the player may need to not get more tricks to win, playing cards other than the leading suit can be useful.

[12] In some games such as Piquet, Tarocchini, and Belote, before the taking of tricks commences, players can expose certain cards or melds (combinations) that they possess for bonus points.

While this phase may seem to award players for pure chance, those who do declare risk letting their opponents develop strategies to counter the cards that they have revealed.

The former is used to protect a higher ranking card while the latter is to help void a suit so as to allow trumping a future trick.

For example, consider the following Whist hand, in a game where diamonds ♦ are the trump: North leads the deal with K♠.

Most game rules prescribe a severe penalty for a revoke and may also result in the hand being voided, a "misdeal".

Decks of cards have been marketed for trick-taking games with the traditional French suit symbols, but in four colors.

These are often called "no-revoke" decks, as the color contrast between each suit makes a potential revoking play easier to spot and harder to do accidentally.

As this form of sloughing has the potential to be used to cheat in most games (i.e. playing a winning card face-down to avoid taking an "overtrick" or a trick containing penalty points) and is thus not allowed.

Sloughing in the vernacular more often refers to simply discarding an off-suit card on a trick, particularly one that could be dangerous to that player if kept.

In the most common positive or race games, players seek to win as many tricks or card points as possible.

To win a hand, a player typically needs to win a minimal number of tricks or card points; this minimal threshold is usually called the "contract", and may be defined by the game's rules (a simple majority of total available points or tricks, or tiered thresholds depending on which player or side has captured certain cards), or the result of an "auction" or "bidding" process.

For example, a player or side that wins one hand may be awarded one game point, two if they achieve a slam.

Examples of each are as follows: Point-trick game are those in which win or loss is determined by the total value of the "counters" in the tricks.