- Score sheets
- Card games
- Bid Whist
Bid Whist score sheet
A Bid Whist score sheet needs one line a hand, because only the side that wins the bid scores. Make the bid and you score a point for every book past six, counting the kitty as a book. Fall short and you lose what you bid. No trump counts double, and the first side to 7 wins.
- 4 players, 2 partnerships
- 54 cards, jokers included
- First side to 7
- Minus 7 loses
Tabletales is free on iPhone and iPad.
This is the real Scorepad, live, on Teams. Each side’s hand goes under one partner; a set is a minus, and no trump goes in as 5 + 5.
Bid Whist
A partnership trick-taking game where the top bidder takes the kitty, names trumps and whether high or low cards win (uptown, downtown or no trump), and the side scores a point for every book past six, first to 7.
How to play Bid Whist, in brief
Two against two, partners opposite. The top bidder names trumps (the suit that beats the others); their side must make its bid. First to 7 wins.
- Deal 12 each, 6 face downUse 52 cards plus a big and a little joker. The 6 are the kitty.
- Bid once aroundPass or bid higher: 3 to 7 tricks past 6, plus uptown (high cards win), downtown (ace, then low cards win) or no trump. If the first three pass, the dealer must bid.
- Take the kittyThe winner adds it to their hand, discards 6 as the side’s first book (one trick), and names trumps, jokers highest.
- Play 12 tricksThe bidder leads the first trick (one card from each player). Follow suit if able; the highest trump, else the highest card of the suit led, wins and leads next.
Count the books past six. Only the bidders score.
Twelve tricks are played, and the kitty the bidder picked up counts as one more book for the bidding side, so there are 13 books in all. The first six books score nothing; a bid says how many you will take past them. A bid of 4 means 10 books: 9 tricks plus the kitty.
What a hand is worth
| Hand result | Points |
|---|---|
| Bid madeEvery book past six counts, not just the ones you bid | 1 a book |
| The kittyCounts as the bidding side’s first book | 1 book |
| Bid made in no trump | Doubled |
| Bid setThe books you took score nothing | Minus the bid |
| Bid set in no trump | Minus twice the bid |
| The defendersWhatever they take | 0 |
- Count the bidders’ booksAdd the kitty to the tricks the bidding side won. 9 tricks and the kitty make 10 books.
- Made it? Score every book past six10 books is 4 points, whatever the bid was, as long as it was 4 or less. 12 books on a bid of 5 scores 6, not 5.
- Short? Lose the bidA side that falls short of its bid scores nothing for its books and loses the amount it bid. Totals can go below zero.
- Double no trumpA no trump hand counts twice, either way: 5 books past six is 10, and a set 4 no trump costs 8.
- Stop at 7 or minus 7The game ends the moment a side reaches 7 and wins, or drops to minus 7 and loses. A bid of 7, a Boston, plays for the whole game.
Hand 5: Dev bids no trump and takes the game.
You and Anya are Team A, Dev and Jonas Team B. Going into hand 5 it is 4 to minus 2, after Dev and Jonas went set on a bid of 5. Dev wins the bid at 4 no trump, takes the kitty, and his side wins 10 of the 12 tricks. This is hand 5 on the Scorepad above.
| Team | Books and what they score | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Dev and Jonas | Bid 4 no trump · 10 tricks and the kitty11 books is 5 past six, doubled for no trump: 5 + 5 | 10 |
| You and Anya | Defended · 2 tricksThe defenders score nothing | 0 |
One number a hand, sets and all.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. For Bid Whist, pick Teams and set Play to a score at 7. Type each hand as one number under one partner, and the teams bar keeps both sides’ totals. The Scorepad marks a team that reaches 7, but not minus 7 or a Boston, so call those two at the table.
- Partners add themselvesTap a letter to put each player on Team A or B, then type a side’s hand under one partner and leave the other blank. The teams bar adds them up.
- A set is one tapWent set on a bid of 4? Tap ± and type 4: it shows in red and comes off the total.
- No trump, added twiceThe keypad adds and subtracts but has no times key, so a doubled hand goes in as 5 + 5 and a set 4 no trump as minus 8.
- And the night is keptSave it with who played and a photo from the table. Each game gets a history: how often you play it, who with, and who wins.
- Everyone who was there
- Photos from the table
- Bid Whist, with its scores
Common Bid Whist scoring mistakes
- Forgetting the kittyIt counts as one book for the side that won the bid, so 10 tricks and the kitty are 11 books.
- Scoring only the bidA made bid scores every book past six: 12 books on a bid of 5 is worth 6, not 5.
- Doubling only the good newsNo trump doubles the loss as well. A set 4 no trump costs 8.
- Giving the defenders their tricksIn the standard game only the bidding side’s score moves, made or set.
Bid Whist scoring, answered
- How do you keep score in Bid Whist?
- Only the side that won the bid scores. If it makes the bid it scores 1 point for every book past six, counting the kitty as a book; if not, it loses the amount it bid, and no trump doubles either result.
- How many points do you need to win Bid Whist?
- 7 in the usual game with jokers, and a side that falls to minus 7 loses. The 52-card version without jokers is played to 21.
- What is a Boston in Bid Whist?
- A bid of 7, which means taking every book. Under Pagat’s rules it decides the whole game: the bidders win if they take all 13 books and lose if they drop one.
Bid Whist score sheet
Print one for the table: Team A and Team B, sixteen hands, a space for each bid, the books and a running total, with the scoring at the bottom.
Score another game
Tables differ: many start the bidding at 4, some do not double no trump at all, some let the defenders score their books past six, and some end a side’s game on its third set. The 52-card game without jokers has a 4-card kitty, no negative scores and a target of 21. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against Pagat and Wikipedia.
Keep score tonight. Keep the night for good.
Tabletales adds up every hand, then saves the whole night: the games, the scores, the photos and who was there.
