Romanian Whist rules
Romanian Whist (Whist Românesc) is a trick-taking card game for 4 to 6 players, every player for themselves. Unlike classic English whist there are no partners: before each round every player bids exactly how many tricks they will take, and only an exact bid scores.
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The deck
Every player gets at most 8 cards, so the deck depends on the table. Aces are high.
- 4 players: 32 cards, 7 to Ace
- 5 players: 40 cards, 5 to Ace
- 6 players: 48 cards, 3 to Ace
The rounds: 8-1-8
The game opens with one 8-card round for each player, counts down 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, plays one 1-card round for each player, climbs back up 2 to 7 and ends with one 8-card round for each player. A four-handed game is 24 rounds, five-handed 27, six-handed 30.
In the 8-8-8 variant the 1-card rounds are played with 8 cards instead; nothing else changes.
Some tables play it the other way round, 1-8-1: one 1-card round for each player first, up through 2 to 7, one 8-card round for each player, then back down to the 1-card rounds. The rounds are the same; only the order is reversed, so a 1-8-1 game starts with the luck of single cards where 8-1-8 starts with full hands. Here you can play 8-1-8 or 8-8-8.
Quick play is a short game, always six-handed: one 8-card round, then five rounds of different sizes drawn at random from 2 to 7, largest first — for example 8, 7, 6, 5, 3, 2. In the rooms you choose between this quick game and Classic, the full six-handed 8-1-8.
Dealing and trumps
The deal passes to the next player every round. Once the cards are dealt, the next card of the deck is turned up and its suit is trumps for the round. In the 8-card rounds the whole deck is dealt, so they are played with no trumps.
Bidding
Starting after the dealer, each player bids how many tricks they will take, from zero to the number of cards in the round. The dealer bids last and may not make the bids add up to the number of cards — so at least one player at the table will miss.
Playing the tricks
The first bidder leads the first trick; whoever wins a trick leads the next.
- You must follow the suit that was led.
- If you can’t, you must play a trump if you have one.
- Only with neither may you play any card.
The highest trump takes the trick; with no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led.
Scoring
Take exactly what you bid and score 5 plus your bid. Miss, over or under, and lose the difference.
- Bid 3, took 3: +8
- Bid 0, took 0: +5
- Bid 2, took 4: −2
- Bid 1, took 0: −1
Winning
The highest total after the last round wins. On onlinewhist.com a tie on points goes to the player who broke fewer contracts, then fewer in the 8-card rounds, then missed fewer tricks in all, then had the smaller worst miss. Still level: whoever was ahead at the end of the latest round where they weren't, and failing that whoever sits earlier at the table — a place is never shared.
A round, start to finish
Four players, A to D, in a 3-card round; D deals. The card turned up is the 9♥, so hearts are trumps. A, who sits after the dealer, bids 1; B bids 0; C bids 1. The bids so far add up to 2, so D may not bid 1 — that would make 3, the number of cards — and bids 2. The tricks are played: A, B and C take one each and D takes none. Scores: A bid 1, took 1: +6. B bid 0, took 1: −1. C bid 1, took 1: +6. D bid 2, took 0: −2.
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bid | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Took | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Points | +6 | −1 | +6 | −2 |
Words you will hear
- Trick
- One card from each player; the highest card wins it.
- Trumps
- The suit turned up after the deal (none in the 8-card rounds). A trump beats every card of another suit.
- Bid
- How many tricks you say you will take this round.
- Forbidden bid
- The one bid the dealer may not make, because it would make the bids add up to the number of cards.
- Following suit
- Playing a card of the suit that was led. If you can’t, you must play a trump if you have one.
Playing online
There are two ways to play against people: quick play, which seats you with other players in seconds, and friendly tables, which you open for the people you know. Both are free.
Quick play
- Pick a room and a game: a quick round (one 8-card round, then five shorter ones) or the classic six-handed 8-1-8.
- Twelve rooms, from a village cottage to a palace. Each opens at a level and costs an entry in coins, taken when the cards are dealt; the first room is free, and the only one open to guests.
- The table deals itself after 10 seconds, bots taking any empty chairs. Players of a similar league rank are seated together first. After a second a table also takes players from other rooms; each pays their own room's entry and plays for its prize.
- The podium wins the room's prize: 1st the whole of it, 2nd 70 % and 3rd 55 %. A new account starts with 1,000 coins.
- A coffee multiplies the prize you win in that game, from ×1.5 to ×5. Every account is given ten of each, and two more of each every Monday.
- Gold bars: 5 for your first game of the day played to the end, more for a place on your class's weekly podium. They buy coffees, three at a time, and open the last two rooms, which take 10 and 20 gold bars on top of their coin entry.
- VIP days: every account is VIP on two days a week, different days for everyone. On those days the VIP rooms open — the sixth, the tenth and the palace, which still takes its gold bars — and quick and classic games alike give you what a friendly table does: the coach, and after the game the analysis and the story.
- Didn't finish 1st in a game you played to the end? Reimburse it from the results for your entry and coffee back — what the game won is given back with it, all but the XP. Three reimbursements a day.
- A classic game also pays coffees and gold bars for playing well, whatever your place: for the coach's score on your own moves, and for seven good hands in a row (rounds of one card don't count). The first room pays them for three classic games a day.
Friendly tables
- Open a table and your friends find it in the list of tables and sit down; chat while you wait.
- The host picks the game (8-1-8, or 8-8-8 with eights in place of the one-card rounds) and how long everyone gets to bid, adds bots to fill empty chairs, and deals when 4 to 6 are seated.
- A game in progress can be watched, and a chair that comes free taken over.
- Every friendly game played signed in scores points on the weekly leaderboard, by place.
Turns and connections
- Each move has a clock. When it runs out, the server bids or plays for you; if your connection drops, a bot covers your seat until you are back.
- Prizes, XP and points go to players who bid themselves: in two thirds of a quick game's rounds (three quarters at a friendly table or offline), including one of the last three.
Your account
- Sign in with a code sent by email — no password. It keeps your name for you alone (the ✓ at the table) and your progress on every device.
- Every game you finish, online or offline, earns XP towards your level.
- A weekly league on quick play's prizes moves you up or down the ranks: Jack, Queen, King, and Ace.
- When the week ends, the top three of every class win coins and gold bars: as a Jack 100,000 and 50 for 1st, 80,000 and 30 for 2nd, 60,000 and 10 for 3rd — twice that as a Queen, four times as a King and twelve times as an Ace. Only a week with a prize won counts.
- Two podiums in a row set your picture on fire; two games off the podium freeze it in ice.
Questions
Is Romanian Whist the same game as whist?
No. Classic whist is played in two partnerships with no bidding. Romanian Whist is every player for themselves, with a bid each round and a score only for an exact bid — closer to Oh Hell.
Can I play Romanian Whist online with friends?
Yes, for free. Open a friendly table, your friends sit down at it from the list of tables, and you deal when you are ready; bots can take any empty chairs, so three friends can still play six-handed.
Can I play alone?
Yes. Play offline against bots, on a phone or a computer, with no account and no ads — or press Play Online to sit down in one of the rooms with other players within seconds.