Whist Strategy: Leads, Partner Play and Counting Trumps

Whist players of the 1800s boiled the game down to a handful of sayings that still hold up today. You don't need to memorize a book of conventions to play well; you need to know a few rules of thumb, why they work, and when to break them. These are the same ideas behind the Hint button and the computer players in our free Whist game.

1. Think in Partnerships

Every point in Whist is shared with your partner, so the question is never "can I win this trick?" but "can we win it?" Your partner holds a quarter of the deck you can't see, and every card they play tells you something about the rest. Most of the advice below is really about passing information across the table and not getting in each other's way.

2. Lead Your Longest Suit

This is the oldest whist advice there is. Suppose you hold five hearts: K, 10, 8, 6 and 3. After hearts have been led two or three times, the other players run out, and your little 6 and 3 become winners nobody can beat except with a trump. Long suits turn small cards into tricks.

The traditional card to lead from a long suit with no top sequence is the fourth-best: count down from the top, and lead the fourth card. From K-10-8-6-3 that is the 6. It keeps your high cards back and tells a sharp partner how long the suit is.

3. Lead the Top of a Sequence

If you hold touching high cards, such as K-Q-J or Q-J-10, lead the highest of them. If the king loses to the ace, your queen is now the best card left in the suit, and you have pushed the ace out of an opponent's hand. From A-K, lead one of the pair and you will often win two quick tricks.

4. Lead Trumps When You Hold Five

With five or more trumps, lead them. Each round of trumps pulls one from every other hand. Once the other side has none, your long suit and your aces can't be ruffed. With only two or three trumps, do the opposite: keep them, because their best use is ruffing a suit you have run out of.

5. Second Hand Low

When you play second to a trick, play a low card as a rule. Your partner plays last, after both opponents, and is in the best seat to win the trick cheaply. If you put up your king second, you often just let the fourth player win it with the ace. The exception: if you hold a card that is sure to win, such as the ace of the suit led early in the hand, take the trick.

6. Third Hand High

When your partner leads and the second player plays low, you are third. Now play high. Either you win the trick, or you force the last player to spend a high card to beat you, which helps set up your partner's suit. Play the lowest of touching cards: from K-Q, play the queen. It does the same job, and if it wins, your partner learns you may also hold the king.

7. Return Your Partner's Lead

The first suit your partner leads is usually their best suit. When you win a trick, lead that suit back to them. Return the higher card if you have only two left, and a low one if you have more. Switching suits often wastes the work your partner has done.

8. Don't Take Your Partner's Trick

If your partner is already winning a trick with a card the last player can't beat, play your lowest card. Trumping your partner's ace is the classic whist blunder: it costs your side a trump and wins nothing. When you are last to play and an opponent is winning, win with the cheapest card that does the job.

9. Discard Wisely

When you can't follow suit and don't want to trump, throw a low card from your shortest, weakest suit. Keep your trumps, your long suit, and any card that guards an honour (a king with one small card beside it, for example). Many players also treat the first discard as a signal: throwing from a suit says "I don't want this suit led."

10. Count the Trumps

There are always 13 trumps. Count them as they fall. When you hold the last two or three, you control the hand: lead them to pull the rest, then run your winners. When you know the other side has none left, any boss card in a plain suit is a sure trick. Counting just the trump suit is the single habit that improves a whist player most.

Our Hard computer players do exactly this. They count every trump, remember which players have shown out of a suit, and know the dealer holds the turned-up card until it is played. They still never see anyone's hand.

11. Remember Who Is Out of a Suit

When a player can't follow suit, the whole table learns they are void. Use it. Don't lead a suit an opponent is out of while they still have trumps; they will ruff your winner. Do lead a suit your partner is out of, so they can ruff it for your side.

12. Watch the Turned-Up Card

Everyone saw the trump card the dealer turned up. If the dealer turned up the queen of trumps, you know exactly where it is, and you can plan around it. A king of trumps sitting in front of the player on your right is in a poor spot for them, because you get to play after it.

Putting It Together

Start a hand by looking at your longest suit and your trumps. With five trumps, lead trumps; otherwise lead from your long suit or the top of a sequence. Play second hand low and third hand high, never take your partner's winner, return their lead, and count the trumps. Do those things and you will win more than your share of odd tricks.

New to the game? Start with the full Whist rules. For a game where every player is on their own, try Hearts; for bidding your tricks with a partner, try Spades.