Say how many. Win exactly that.

The deal

Three to seven players share a standard 52-card deck without Jokers. Aces are high, followed by King, Queen, Jack and 10 down to 2. The dealer changes after every hand. The next card after the deal is turned up to set the trump suit.

The short match deals 1, 2, 3, 2, 1 cards each. Standard deals 1 through 5, then 4 through 1. Long goes up to 7 and back down. The chosen sequence stays fixed for the match.

Bid before playing

Starting left of the dealer, each player bids a number from zero to the number of cards in their hand. A bid is how many tricks you expect to take. Everyone can see the bids.

The dealer bids last. With the dealer rule on, the total bids cannot equal the number of tricks available. The forbidden number is crossed out and explained. Private rooms may turn this rule off before the match starts.

Play one card each

1. The player left of the dealer leads the first trick with any card.
2. Play clockwise. You must follow the led suit if you hold it. If you cannot, play any card, including trump.
3. The highest trump wins. If nobody played trump, the highest card of the led suit wins.
4. The winner takes the trick and leads the next one. Repeat until everyone has played their hand.

You may lead trump at any time. You do not have to beat a card when following suit. Your hand stays private; played cards and bids are visible to the whole table.

Count the hand

Finish on your bid to earn 10 plus that bid. Any miss scores zero. A successful zero bid earns 10. Highest total after the final hand wins, and equal totals share the win.

See worked scoring examples and ways to manage a difficult hand.

Background: Pagat’s Oh Hell rules and regional variants describe Blackout as a name in this family of games.