Minnesota Whist
Minnesota Whist is a trick-taking card game based on the classic game of whist. This variant is played with 4 players
split into 2 teams, with partners sitting opposite each other at the table. Minnesota Whist was introduced in the
Midwest by Norwegian immigrants and is sometimes referred to as Norwegian Whist.
Number of players: 4
Game duration: 10 mn
Complexity: 2 / 5
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Play Minnesota Whist and 959 other games online.
No download necessary - play directly from your web browser.
With your friends and thousands of players from the whole world.
Free.
Rules summary
Order of Play
- Everyone cuts the deck and high card is dealer.
- Cards are dealt one at a time starting with the person to the left of the dealer and moving clockwise until all cards are dealt. Each person should have 13 cards.
- After the cards are dealt, the bidding phase begins
- Once bidding is complete, the game moves on to the trick taking phase
- After all cards have been played, the hand is scored
- If either team has 13 or more points they are declared the winner and the game is over. If no team has reached a score of 13, the dealer shifts to the person to the left of the last dealer and a new hand begins
Bidding
- Each person analyzes their hand and determines whether to "pass" (play low) or "grand" (play high). If a player wants to "grand", they lay down a nondescript black card; otherwise, they lay a red card.
- After all 4 players have laid down their cards, players flip up their cards in turn, starting with the person just left of the dealer.
- As soon as a black card is flipped up, no one else has to flip their card up.
- If any cards are black (called a "Grand Hand"), the goal is to take as many tricks (at least 7) as possible. This is also called playing high.
- If all cards are red (sometimes called a "Nula Hand"), the goal is to take as few tricks (6 or fewer) as possible. This is also called playing low.
Taking Tricks
Play begins with the person to the right of the person who granded or, if playing low, the person to the left of the dealer.
The person who leads lays down a card from their hand. Everyone must follow suit if they can. If a player cannot, they lay down any other card. Highest card of the lead suit takes the trick. Whoever takes the trick leads the next one. Each team pools their tricks, so only one player from each team needs to collect the winning tricks. Play continues until all cards are gone. Dealer moves one to the left.
Scoring
If playing low, the goal is to lose tricks and the team gets a point for every trick under 7 total. The team taking 7 or more tricks gets 0 points.
If playing high, the goal is to win tricks and the team gets a point for every trick over 6 total. If the opposing team is the team that bid high, the scoring team instead gets 2 points for every trick over 6 total.
For example:
- Playing high, Team 1 granded: Team 2 takes 8 tricks. Team 2 scores (8 - 6) * 2 = 4 points. - Playing low, Team 1 takes 5 tricks: Team 1 scores 7 - 5 = 2 points
The game continues until one team reaches a pre-designated point total, typically 13.
