400

How to play

1. Four players, partners sitting opposite, 13 cards each, ace high.
2. Each player bids once, starting on the dealer's right: the number of tricks they alone will take, 2 to 13. There is no pass.
3. Your minimum rises with your score: 3 from 30, 4 from 40 and 5 from 50.
4. The four bids must add up to at least 11, or the cards are dealt again. The total rises to 12, 13 and 14 once anyone reaches 30, 40 and 50.
5. The player on the dealer's right leads. Follow suit if you can, otherwise play anything. The highest heart wins, otherwise the highest card of the suit led.

Scoring and winning

• Make your bid or more and you add its value; fall short and you lose it. Extra tricks score nothing, and scores are per player.
• Bid values: 2, 3 and 4 are worth themselves, 5 is 10, 6 is 12, 7 is 14, 8 is 16, 9 is 27, and 10 to 13 are 40. Once your score is 30 or more, 5 is worth 5 and 6 is worth 6.
• A team wins when one partner has 41 or more at the end of a hand and the other is above 0. If both teams qualify together, the higher team total wins.