Twenty-Nine

How to play Twenty-Nine

1. 1Four players in two partnerships, using the 7s through aces (32 cards). In every suit the jack is highest, then the 9, ace, 10, king, queen, 8 and 7.
2. 2Only four cards score: jacks 3 points, nines 2, aces and tens 1 each. That makes 28 points in the deck.
3. 3Everyone gets four cards, then bids how many points their side will take, from 16 to 28. Each bid must be higher than the last; once you pass you are out of the auction. If the first three players pass, the dealer must bid 16.
4. 4The highest bidder secretly picks trump by laying one of their cards face down in front of them. Then everyone gets four more cards.
5. 5The player left of the dealer leads. Follow suit if you can. While trump is hidden, a player who can't follow may simply throw any card, or ask for trump. Asking turns the hidden card face up, it goes back into the bidder's hand, and the player who asked must play a trump if they have one.
6. 6Trumps only beat other suits once trump has been revealed. The bidder can reveal it themselves when they can't follow, and it turns up on its own when the bidder has nothing else left.
7. 7Whoever holds the king and queen of trump when it is revealed shows them as soon as their side wins a trick. That lowers the bid by 4 for the bidding side, or raises it by 4 if the other side holds them.
8. 8If the bidding side takes at least its bid in card points, it scores a game point. If not, it loses one. The first side to reach 6, or the side whose opponents fall to −6, wins.

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