The Whist Masters

Qualifying: the season

A season is four league weeks, Monday to Sunday on Bucharest time, and its final is the weekend after — the first week of the next season, so qualifying never stops and there is a Masters every four weeks. Every week counts the same, and you don't need to play them all.

At the end of each week the top 20 of the league's weekly top — the coins won as prizes in league games that week, entries not counted — earn Masters points: 100 for 1st, down to 2 for 20th. The week under way counts as it stands, so the Masters screen always shows where you are.

When the season's last week ends, the top 18 on Masters points are invited to the final; everyone after them is an alternate, in order. Level on points, the better single week goes first, then more Challenge days won, then more coins won over the season, then whoever got there first. An account flagged for unfair play earns no Masters points while the flag stands.

The Challenge route

Every Challenge day you win adds 20 Masters points — about a 13th place on the weekly top. It is the way in for a player who plays well rather than much.

The Challenge is three classic games a day in the Palace, entered once a day with gold bars. Each game scores by your place, and enough points over the three wins the day — and its draw — on top of the Masters points.

The invitation and your RSVP

On the Monday after the season ends, the top 18 are invited: a banner on the home screen, “Invited!” under the Masters medallion, and an email to the address you sign in with.

Confirm your seat on the Masters screen by Wednesday 22:00, Bucharest time. Confirming is also your vote for when the weekend starts: Saturday 17:00, 18:00, or 19:00, Bucharest time (the screen shows your own time too). The most voted hour wins; a tie is 18:00. Sunday starts at the same hour.

A seat not confirmed by Wednesday 22:00 goes to the next alternate, who has 12 hours to take it, and so on down the list until Saturday noon. An alternate who takes a seat plays at the time already chosen.

At Saturday noon the field is fixed. Any seat still empty is taken by a bot, as a last resort — bots never go through to a later round ahead of a person and win nothing. If nobody confirmed, that season's weekend is cancelled.

The final weekend

Every Masters game is the classic long game: six rounds of 8, down from 7 to 2, six more rounds of 8 in place of the rounds of 1, back up from 2 to 7, and six last rounds of 8. No rounds of 1, and none of the six-round Quick games.

Saturday plays rounds 1 and 2; Sunday rounds 3, 4 and the Grand Finale. Each round starts at its time — the chosen hour, then 1 h 20 later, and on Sunday 2 h 40 later for the Finale — or when the last table of the round before ends, whichever is later. All 18 play both of Saturday's rounds; then the field narrows to 10, 8 and 6. Who goes through is decided by total points over every round played so far, across all the tables — not by your place at your own table: last at a table can still go through, and 3rd can still go out.

Round 1 is seated at random; round 2 so that everyone meets as many new opponents as possible; rounds 3 and 4 so the two tables are evenly matched; and the Grand Finale is one table of six, in order of points. At every table the leader on points bids first.

Your seat is waiting for you: open the Masters screen, or tap your table on the hub. Each round waits a few minutes for its players before the server plays an absent seat — and you can take your seat back at any moment, in any round. Nobody is knocked out for a dropped connection.

Points at the tables

What counts on the weekend is your place at each table, not your whist score: a point for every place, the last scoring 0 — 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 at a table of six, 4 to 0 at five, 3 to 0 at four. These points decide who goes through after rounds 2, 3 and 4. The Grand Finale starts from zero: its own order is the final result, whatever points were brought to it — whoever wins it wins the Masters and gold, 2nd takes silver and 3rd bronze.

Level on points, more 1st places go first, then the better place in the latest round, then the better place in the season's standings.

A hand the server played for you — it placed your bid, or played a card for you that had a choice — can lose points but never win them: a contract made in such a hand scores 0, a broken one its usual minus. The scoreboard marks the hand with a small bot.

Watching live

While a round is played, its tables appear under the medallions on the home screen, and the Masters medallion says Live. Tap a table to watch it — anyone can, signed in or not. Watchers see the cards played, the bids and the score, never a hand.

Prizes

All 18 win something — always in-game rewards: there is no real money anywhere in the Masters, and taking part is free. The coins are a Masters prize of their own and never count on the league's weekly top; the VIP days never fall on your own two VIP days of the week.

The podium wears its anchor — gold, silver or bronze — on their badge until the next Masters is played. Every place is kept on your profile card as a painted keepsake: an anchor for the podium, a ship for the rest of the Grand Finale, a compass for the rest of the field.

Place	Gold bars	Coins	VIP days	Coffees
1	2,000	25M	7	10 ×Espresso
2	1,200	15M	5	6 ×Espresso
3	800	10M	3	4 ×Espresso
4–6	400	5M	2	3 ×Americano
7–8	200	2M	1	2 ×Cappuccino
9–10	150	2M	1	2 ×Cappuccino
11–18	100	2M	1	2 ×Cappuccino