Is a trick taking standard deck playing card game. The object is for each player to bid the number of tricks he thinks he can take from each hand, then to take exactly that many; no more and no fewer. Points are awarded only for making the bid exactly, and are deducted for missing the bid, either over or under. Is based on taking tricks. During gameplay, players take turns putting a card face-up on the table. The person who plays the highest card wins and collects all the played cards — one trick. The winner of the trick plays the first card to start the next trick. The process continues until all. CARD GAMES: 3-5-8 (200) gin rummy (109) barbu-king (67) hearts (326) bridge (130) oh hell! (12) canasta (636) pinochle (724) cribbage (83) skat (26) durak (18) spades (506) euchre (235) switch (30) netopoly, lines, mahjong, mill, soccer. Oware-awale, togyzkumalak, mangala, hex. Russian checkers, turkish dama, czech.

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Oh Shit is a classic trick winning card game. Played with a full deck of standard playing cards without any Jokers. It is a close cousin to the game Oh Hell and has varying rules depending on where it is played. These are the rules that playohshit.com uses.

Game Objective

The aim of the game is to score more points than your opponent.

Rounds

There is a total of 19 rounds in the game. The number of cards dealt to each player is determined by the round. Ten cards are initially dealt and then one less each consecutive round until only one card is being dealt. After the one card round an additionally card is dealt each round until there are 10 cards dealt.

Starting the game

The following steps are repeated for each round:

1. Cards are dealt starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
2. The trump suit is shown (see trumps).
3. Each player makes their bid for the round starting with the player to the left of the dealer (see bidding and scoring).
4. The player to the left of the dealer plays a card of their choice.
5. In a clockwise direction each player plays a card. If a player can follow suit they must.
6. After each player has played their cards the trick is evaluated. The person who played the highest card of the lead suit (the suit the first player played) wins the trick. The only exception would be if a player could not follow suit and trumped the trick. Under these circumstances the person who played the highest trump wins the trick.
7. The person who won the trick then leads the next trick.
8. Steps 5 - 7 are repeated until all cards have been played.
9. Record the scores and deal the next round.(see scoring and bidding)

The Value of Cards

Card values from lowest to highest are: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A. Hence an ace would beat any other card and a 2 would beat nothing. The exception to these values is if a card is a trump. The highest trump card is the Jack of the trump suit and the Jack of the same colour also becomes a trump and is the second highest card in the game. Hence, if spades was trumps the highest valued card in the game would be the Jack of Spades and the second highest would be the Jack of Clubs. Under these circumstance the Jack of Clubs would be played at any time a spade could be played.

Oh Hell Card Game

Trump Suit

After the cards are dealt each round, a card is turned over and its suit is declared the trump for the round. A trump like any other suit can only be played if it is lead or if a player does not have any cards of the suit that was lead. However, unlike other suits, if a player can't follow suit and instead plays a trump the highest trump will beat all other cards regardless of their values. Hence, if spades was trumps, a player lead with the Ace of Hearts, the next player didn't have any hearts and instead chose to play a Two of Spades because it is a trump card the second player would win the trick.

As noted earlier the Jack of a trump suit is the highest card in the game. Furthermore, the Jack of the same colour in the off-suit is the second highest. The off-suit trump for the all purposes in the round becomes the trump suit.

Scoring and Bidding

At the beginning of each round, after looking at their cards, players bid how many tricks they expect to win. Bidding starts with the player to the left of the dealer. As a result, the dealer always bids last. The dealer may not make a bid that will result in the sum of player bids for the round being equal to the number of cards in the round.

At the end of each round, players are awarded one point for each trick they won. Furthermore, players who achieve their bid exactly are awarded a bonus 10 points for the round. Notably, players who win more than what they bid do not receive the bonus points.

External Links

Read about Oh Hell! rules and other great card games.

Oh Hell, Oh Pshaw or Nomination Whist is a trick-takingcard game in which the object is to take exactly the number of tricks bid. Unlike contract bridge and spades, taking more tricks than bid is a fail. It was first described by B. C. Westall around 1930 and originally called Oh! Well.^[1] It was said to have been introduced into America via the New York clubs in 1931.^[2] It has been described as 'one of the best round games.'^[3]

Concept[edit]

The game of Oh Hell explores the idea of taking an exact number of tricks specified by a bid before the deal. Although the original game was played to 100 points, the modern variants differ from other trick-taking games in that players play a fixed number of deals. The game uses trumps, often decided by turning a card after the cards have been distributed. Like many popular social card games, Oh Hell has many local and regional variants in rules and variations in names.

Famous players[edit]

Prominent players of Oh Hell include former President Bill Clinton, who learned it from Steven Spielberg.^[4]

History[edit]

The rules are first described by B. C. Westall around 1930 under the name Oh! Well,^[5] and continued to be reprinted by Hubert Phillips until at least 1974.^[6] The game was introduced into America very shortly after appearing in UK and was first recorded in the New York clubs in 1931.^[2] In these early rules, the number of cards dealt was fixed depending on the number of players and game was 100 points.^[3]

Over the decades the game has been elaborated both in Britain and America, usually by increasing or decreasing the number of cards dealt per round e.g. increasing the number from one to seven, from three to seventeen,^[7] or from seven to one and back to seven again.^[8] The game has many alternative names, but Oh Hell is by far the most common.

The original version, known as Oh! Well was described as 'one of the best round games.'^[3]

Rules[edit]

Four main variants are described below: the original British game known as Oh! Well, in which the number of cards dealt is the same every time (⇒), and three common modern variants. Nomination Whist is a British variant in which cards are dealt in descending and ascending (⇘⇗) sequence. In Australia and New Zealand this form is called, appropriately, 'Up and Down the River'. Oh Pshaw is an American name for the variant in which cards are dealt in ascending (⇗) sequence only (although Parlett describes a similar game as 'British Oh Hell'). Finally, Oh Hell as described below is a variant popular worldwide in which cards are also dealt in descending and ascending sequence (⇘⇗).

Common rules[edit]

There are common rules that apply to all four variants and will not be repeated. There are three to seven players. A standard pack is used and cards rank in their natural order, Aces high. Deal, auction and play are clockwise, always beginning with eldest hand, the player to the left of the dealer. The aim is to score the most points by correctly bidding the number of tricks you will take. To that end, there is an auction that takes place after the cards are dealt; eldest hand begins by announcing the number of tricks he thinks he can take, e.g. 'None' or 'Five' and the other players follow in turn. During play, eldest leads to the first trick and players must follow suit if able; otherwise may trump or discard as they wish. The highest trump wins the trick or, if no trumps are played, the highest card of the led suit. The trick winner leads to the next trick.

Oh! Well[edit]

Phillips and Westall describe 'Oh! Well' as 'one of the best round games', not only appealing to expert players, but also to beginners and youngsters because of the simplicity of its rules, which are as above with the following additional details:^[3]

If three play, the bottom card of the pack is removed and set aside face down. If five, six or seven play, then 2, 4 or 3 cards, respectively, are removed from the bottom of the pack. Otherwise the full pack is used. The dealer distributes the cards and turns the last, which is his, for trumps. The dealer or scribe records the bids. The same number of cards is dealt in each deal (⇒).

Players score 1 point for each trick taken. In addition, any player who takes his bid number of tricks scores a bonus of 10 points. Game is 100 points. If played for stakes, players pay the differences in their points converted into money at the agreed rate. Alternatively players ante a stake to the pool and the winner takes all.

Nomination Whist or Contract Whist[edit]

In Britain a derivative of Oh! Well is played, known as Nomination Whist or Contract Whist. The main difference is that the deals follow a descending and ascending(⇘⇗) and sequence in that the number of cards dealt starts at seven and decreases each time by one until only one card is dealt; it then rises again until finally seven cards are dealt again (7-1-7). The following rules are based on Arnold (2011):^[8]

Cards are dealt and the first one to receive a Jack becomes the first dealer. Seven cards are then dealt to each player, one by one; the rest of the pack is placed face down as the stock and the top card turned for trumps. In subsequent deals, the number of cards dealt reduces by one each time, so that by the seventh deal each player receives just one. In the eighth deal players receive two cards each and in the deals that follow, the number of cards dealt increases by one each time. The thirteenth deal is the last; seven cards are dealt and the game ends when it is over.

In the auction, the dealer, who goes last as usual, must ensure that the bids do not add up to seven, thus avoiding a situation where everyone successfully achieves his bid.

As in Oh! Well, players score 1 point per trick and a bonus of 10 points if they achieve their bid. Otherwise the rules are as described above.

Note that the name Nomination Whist is given to at least two other games.

Up and Down the River[edit]

In this Australian and Kiwi version, there are four to eight players, each dealt 10 cards in the first deal. The number dealt reduces by one each time until each player receives just one card. The sequence then ascends to 10 cards for a total of 19 deals (10-1-10). Again, the dealer must ensure bids do not add up to the number of tricks in the deal. Players score 1 point for each trick taken plus 10 points for achieving their bid.^[9][10]

Oh Pshaw[edit]

Oh Hell - Wikipedia

Oh Pshaw is an American variant recorded by Bicycle, who describe it as 'an amusing game' with a worldwide following. It is an ascending only (⇗) variant and the rules are as described above with the following additions:^[11]

Bicycle say that 4 to 5 players are best. The game consists of a fixed number of deals. In the first, the dealer distributes one card to each player and turns the next for trumps. In subsequent deals the number of cards given to each player increases by one each time up to the maximum possible. So for example, if four play, there will be 13 deals. If three play, Bicycle advise limiting the game to 15 deals, rather than the theoretical maximum of 17. If no cards are left over in the last deal, the game is played at no trump.

Like Oh! Well, but unlike Nomination Whist, there is no restriction on the dealer as to the number of tricks he may bid. However, the scorekeeper must announce whether the bid total is 'over', 'under' or 'even' compared with the available number of tricks in the deal.

The normal scoring scheme is that players who achieve their bid, score 1 point for each trick taken plus 10 bonus points. Players who fail to achieve their bid, score nothing. The player with the highest score at the end of the game is the winner. If played for hard score, the winner is given a further 10 point bonus and then players settle with one another based on the difference in their scores. Scoring variations include all players receiving 1 point per trick taken whether or not they achieve their bid; those that do achieve their bid still earn a bonus of 10; and players who announce a bid of “None” may score 5 points, 10 points or 5 points plus 1 point for each trick in the deal, depending on local rules.

British variant[edit]

Oh Pshaw as described by Bicycle is almost identical with a variant that Parlett calls British Oh Hell! Again, the number of cards dealt ascends from one to a number dependant on the number of players. There are no trumps if all the cards are dealt and there is no restriction on the dealer's bid. Players only score for the bonus, not the tricks. In a further variation, players bid simultaneously by clenching fists on the table and, on a signal being given, extending as many fingers as they intend to bid.^[12]

Oh Hell[edit]

In Oh Hell as described by McLeod at pagat.com, players draw for the first deal, the highest card winning. If three to five play, 10 cards are dealt to each player in the first deal; if six play, 8 cards, and, if seven play, 7 cards. Thereafter the number of cards dealt changes with each deal in descending then ascending (⇘⇗) order. So if 4 play, there are 19 deals; in the first and last deals 10 cards are dealt and, for example, in the 10th deal only one card is dealt per player.^[13]

Again, in this variant, the dealer is constrained to ensure that the total of the bids is not equal to the number of tricks in that deal. This is known as the hook. Cards are dealt and the next turned for trumps.^[13]

There is a scorekeeper who keeps track of the bids and scores. McLeod describes two main systems:

• Simple scoring. The simplest system is that only players who achieve their bid exactly score any points. They score 1 point per trick plus a bonus of 10. Players who fail to match their bid score nothing. Games with this scoring are often called Blackout or Blob because the scorer writes a '1' in front of bids that were successful and scribbles those that failed, so that they look like a black blob.
• Common scoring. The most widespread scoring scheme is to award all players 1 point per trick. In addition, those who match their bid exactly score the bonus of 10 as well. McLeod says this gives everyone 'a slight incentive' to try and take as many tricks as they can.^[13]

Names[edit]

Oh Hell is known by many names including:

• 10 op en neer (Netherlands^[13])
• 765 (Pakistan^[13])
• Blackout^{[14][15][16][13][17]}
• Blob^[13] (United Kingdom)
• Boerenbridge (Netherlands^[13])
• Botheration^[17]
• Bust^[14] (Australia, New Zealand^[13])
• Elevator^[13][14][16]
• Estimation^[18]
• German Bridge (Hong Kong^[13])
• Jungle Bridge^[14][17]
• Kachuful (in India^[13])
• Nomination Whist^[8]
• Oh Heck^[16]
• Oh Hell^{[15][14][11][16][13][17]}
• Oh Pshaw^{[19][15][16][13][17]}
• Oh! Well^[3][17]
• Up and Down the River^[16] (Australia and New Zealand^[13])

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Parlett, David (1996). Oxford Dictionary of Card Games. Oxford University Press. p. 176. ISBN0-19-869173-4.
2. ^ ^abParlett 1991, p. 312. sfn error: no target: CITEREFParlett1991 (help)
3. ^ ^abcdePhillips & Westall 1939, pp. 222/223. sfn error: no target: CITEREFPhillipsWestall1939 (help)
4. ^The Wanderer: Bill Clinton’s quest to save the world, reclaim his legacy—and elect his wife. at newyorker.com. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
5. ^Parlett, David (1996). Oxford Dictionary of Card Games. Oxford University Press. p. 176. ISBN0-19-869173-4.
6. ^Phillips 1974, pp. 293/294. sfn error: no target: CITEREFPhillips1974 (help)
7. ^Cantor 2010, p. 42/43. sfn error: no target: CITEREFCantor2010 (help)
8. ^ ^abcArnold 2011, pp. 209-211. sfn error: no target: CITEREFArnold2011 (help)
9. ^Up and Down the River at google.com. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
10. ^Rules to Play ‘Up and Down the River’ Card Game at plentifun.com. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
11. ^ ^abKansil 2001, pp. 46/47. sfn error: no target: CITEREFKansil2001 (help)
12. ^Parlett 2008, p. 86. sfn error: no target: CITEREFParlett2008 (help)
13. ^ ^{abcdefghijklmno}Oh Hell! at pagat.com. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
14. ^ ^abcdeParlett 2008, p. 85. sfn error: no target: CITEREFParlett2008 (help)
15. ^ ^abcMorehead & Mott-Smith 1957, pp. 250-252. sfn error: no target: CITEREFMoreheadMott-Smith1957 (help)
16. ^ ^abcdefSpadaccini 2005, p. 295. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSpadaccini2005 (help)
17. ^ ^abcdefArnold 2009, p. 77. sfn error: no target: CITEREFArnold2009 (help)
18. ^Oh Hell Game Rules at playingcarddecks.com. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
19. ^Hoyle, p. 216, Ballantine Books; Reissue edition (Aug 27 1996) ISBN978-0-449-91156-3

Literature[edit]

• Arnold, Peter (2011). Chambers Card Games, 2nd edn. London: Chambers Harrap. ISBN978-0550-10179-2
• Kansil, Joli Quentin (2001). Bicycle Official Rules of Card Games, 90th edn. Cincinnati: Bicycle.
• Morehead, Albert and Geoffrey Mott-Smith (1957). Culbertson's Card Games Complete. Watford: Arco.
• Parlett, David (1991). A History of Card Games, OUP, Oxford. ISBN0-19-282905-X
• Parlett, David (1996). Oxford Dictionary of Card Games. Oxford University Press. p. 176. ISBN0-19-869173-4.
• Parlett, David (2008). The Penguin Book of Card Games, Penguin, London. ISBN978-0-141-03787-5
• Phillips, Hubert and B.C. Westall (1939). The Complete Book of Card Games. London: Witherby.
• Spadaccini, Stephanie (2005). The Big Book of Rules. New York: Penguin. ISBN9780452286443

External links[edit]

Oh Hell Card Game For Two Players

• 'For Family, Card Game Trumps All Others No, The Game Isn't Bridge, But Oh Hell. And It Has Become A Ritual At The Mathews Home.' Philly.com
• 'Bill Clinton Attempts Second Fiddle, Again' New York Times

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