Whist
a game of cards, so called from the silence necessary to play it attentively and correctly. It was formerly also called whisk. It is played by 4 persons, 2 of whom are partners against the other 2. The full pack of 52 cards is used, 13 being dealt one at a time to each player in order, the dealer beginning with the player on his left. The last card dealt is turned face up on the table, and is called the trump card; the suit to which it belongs has for the hand the privilege of taking or being superior to any card of any other suit.
The cards rank in value as follows:
Ace (the highest), king, queen, knave, 10, 9, 8, and so on. The game is commenced by the player on the left hand of the dealer laying one card face upward on the table, this being called leading off; the player on his left then plays a card of the same suit (if he has one), and is followed similarly by the player on his left. When all have played, the person who has played the highest card takes up the 4 cards played, these constituting what is termed a trick. If a player has no card of the suit led off, he may play one of any other suit. The winner of the first trick then leads off with any card he pleases for the second trick, the winner of which becomes the leader of the third trick, and so on.
The score is taken as follows when the hand is played out; the partners who conjointly have won the majority out of the 13 tricks, score one point for every trick over 6. The ace, king, queen, and knave are called honors, and the partners who hold between them 3 of these cards score 2 points, and if they hold all of them they score 4 points; this is technically known as scoring 2 (or 4) by honors. If each side holds two of these cards, honors are said to be divided or easy. In long whist (now becoming obsolete) 10 points make a game, in short whist only 5 points are required, and in this it is usual to count by tricks alone. A rubber consists of 3 games, and is won by the partners who score 2 of them. If one side wins the first 2 games the third is not played out.
There are several modifications of the game, such as solo whist, three-handed whist, bridge whist, compass whist, military whist, duplicate whist, etc.