Like Spades? Here's Why You'll Love Bid Whist (Part 3 of 3)

Seven Key Differences Between Spades and Bid Whist

We have discussed the common principles that Spades and Bid Whist share (Part 1) and highlighted some of the reasons why Bid Whist is particularly fast-paced (Part 2). Now, let’s get to the main event and address the most critical specific ways in which Bid Whist differs from Spades.

Seven Key Differences between Spades and Bid Whist

1. In Spades, the trump suit is always spades. In Bid Whist, in any given round (or “hand”) either of the four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds or clubs) can serve as the trump suit. The trump suit for each round is selected by the person who makes the best bid in the auction prior to the start of that particular hand (discussed below).

2. In some Bid Whist hands, there is no trump suit. In the auction prior to the start of each hand, each player has the option of making a “no-trump” bid, thereby stipulating that if that player’s bid wins, there will be no trump suit for that particular round. If the winning bid is a “no-trump” bid, the best card in the first suit played in each round wins the trick. The winning bidder loses the ability to “cut” other players’ good cards by playing a trump card, but gains the security of knowing that her or his good cards will not be “cut” by trump cards or overwhelmed by jokers.

3. In Bid Whist, high cards do not always win. In the auction prior to the start of each hand, each player has the option of making a “low” or “downtown” bid, thereby stipulating that if that player’s bid wins, Aces will still be powerful (and Jokers, too—unless the winning bid is a “no-trump” bid), but the rank order of the cards is the exact opposite of what one would find in the typical card game because a lower card beats a higher card. The Ace is still the best card that is not a Joker. The Ace becomes, in effect, the “one” in the suit, followed, in rank order, by the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen and King.

In “downtown” hands, the 2, for example, beats the King, the 3 beats a Queen, a 6 beats a Jack, the 2 beats the 3, and so forth. The concept of “downtown” or “low” bids is just what the doctor ordered for the player who grows frustrated because she is never dealt any Kings, Queens or other “face cards.” It makes Bid Whist uniquely democratic by endowing the otherwise lowly “spot cards”—those 2s and 3s, for example—with dignity equal to that of the more aristocratic Kings and Queens. And the high/low concept—especially when considered in connection with the “Kitty” innovation discussed below—encourages and incentivizes each player at the table, whether that player has high cards or low cards, to participate in the auction and the action.

4. The Kitty in Bid Whist is a Game-Changer. Perhaps the most powerful Bid Whist innovation to spur assertive involvement is the device of the “Kitty.”  The “Kitty” provides the biggest strategic advantage in the game.  It is a pile of six cards dealt face down in the middle of the table at the beginning of each hand.  The player who wins the auction also wins the Kitty and is allowed to replace up to six cards from her hand with cards from the Kitty.  Thus, winning the Kitty enables a player to structure a potentially dominant hand by replacing less desirable cards with more desirable—and in some cases highly desirable—cards.  Critically, for scoring purposes, the Kitty also counts as the first of the 13 available tricks in each round.

5. The Auction in Bid Whist is Not Collaborative. Before the start of each hand in Spades, the two members of the team discuss their respective predictions about how many tricks they expect to win in that particular hand. One teammate might say: “I have two and a possible.” The other might chip in with “I have one and a possible,” and the team might decide to collectively bid to win four tricks. In contrast, in the Bid Whist auction, each member of the team must bid without communicating with his or her partner.

Bidding in Bid Whist is about analysis of the cards a player holds, but it is also about game strategy and imagination.  In formulating a bid, a player must consider, among other factors, the strength of the hand, the position in which the player bids, the “shape” of the player’s hand, the possibilities of the Kitty, and, perhaps most critically, the game situation. Even with a weak hand, for example, if the other team is in position to win the game by winning the auction and making its bid, it might be necessary for a player to make a “sacrifice” bid just to “live to fight another day.”

6. In Bid Whist, the numerical level of the winning bid is NOT a literal description of the number of tricks the winning bidder’s team must win.  As mentioned, in Spades, the numerical level of a team’s bid matches the number of tricks that team commits to win during that round. So if a team bids “four,” it commits to win four tricks during the hand. In Bid Whist, however, although the numerical level of the bid dictates how many tricks a team is committed to win, that number does not exactly match the number of tricks that must be won. Instead, each bid begins with a baseline promise to win six tricks, so the bid reflects the number of tricks that the team is committing itself to win in addition to the original six tricks in order to make its contract. Thus, a minimum level “four” bid represents a promise to win 10 tricks, a “five” bid is a promise to win 11 tricks and so on.

7. Seven is the critical number in Bid Whist. In Bid Whist, the first team to score seven points wins or the first team to “score” negative seven points loses—or, in Bid Whist parlance, goes “out the back door.” Generally speaking, the team that wins the auction scores one point for each trick it wins in that hand after it wins the initial six tricks if and only if it makes its bid. For example, if a team bids a “four,” it wins four points if it secures ten tricks. It wins five points if it secures 11 tricks, six if it secures 12 and seven if it secures all 13 tricks.

If the team that wins the auction fails to make its bid, that team loses the number of points equal to the numerical level of its bid. So if a team wins the auction with a “four” bid but wins nine tricks or fewer, that team loses four points. A team that wins the auction with a “no trump” bid scores double the number of points equal to the numerical level of its bid if it makes the contract, but it loses double the number of points equal to the numerical level of its bid if it gets set. For example, if a team bids a “four no,” and secures ten tricks, it wins eight points. But if it secures fewer than ten tricks on that bid, that team loses eight points.

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There you have it: ten fundamental principles that Spades and Bid Whist share in common (Part 1) and some of the key differences between the two games (Part 2 and above). Even if you have never played Bid Whist, you are now way more prepared to understand and excel at the game than I was when I first played. The Spades experts among you can probably identify key advantages of Spades that I neglected to mention. And those of you who already play Bid Whist can probably point out additional fundamental differences between Spades and Bid Whist. Either way, I hope that you will weigh in in the comments section and tell us about them!

I look forward to playing Bid Whist with you in Orlando!

Read Part 2 here. 

REGISTER NOW for the 2014 Allstate Tom Joyner Family Reunion taking place August 28- September 1, 2014 in Orlando, Florida! For booking information visit here.

2014 Allstate Tom Joyner Family Reunion

Saturday August 30th | 9a-5p

• Bid Whist Workshops & Free Play

• Cracker Barrel Step-Show

• Live Performances

Sunday August 31st | 12p-5p

• Bid Whist Tournament & Prizing

• Motown Gospel Revue’s

“Living the Gospel Roundtable” featuring Anita Wilson, Smokie Norful, Kierra Sheard & Vashawn Mitchel

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