Kings Whist

Rules overview

King’s Court Whist

A partnership game of humility and triumph

The court is gathered, the trump is chosen, and the least shall overcome the greatest. In King’s Court Whist, two partnerships battle for honor in a trick-taking contest where low cards prevail, trumps command respect, and the Humble King of Hearts may turn victory into triumph.

Game Overview

• Players: 4 (2 partnerships)
• Ages: 10+
• Time: 30–40 minutes
• Goal: Win the most points before the game ends.

Components

• 1 standard 52-card deck
• Paper and pencil for scoring

Setup

1. Form two partnerships of two players each. Partners sit opposite each other.
2. Deal out the entire deck, 13 cards to each player. The last card dealt is turned face up. Its suit is trump for that hand. The dealer keeps this card in their hand.
3. The player to the dealer’s left leads the first trick.

Trick Play

• Follow suit: If you can, you must play a card of the same suit as the lead card.
• Inverse value: Within a suit, the lowest card wins. A 2 is strongest, an Ace is weakest.
• Trump: A trump card beats any non-trump. The lowest trump wins among trumps.
• The Humble King: The King of Hearts overrides all other cards, including trumps, and wins the trick if legally played.
• Trick winner: The player who wins the trick collects it for their partnership and leads the next trick.

Scoring

• After all 13 tricks are played, count how many tricks each partnership won.
• To score, a partnership must win at least 7 tricks.
• Score points equal to the number of tricks above 6.

• Example: 8 tricks = 2 points; 10 tricks = 4 points.

• The Humble King bonus: If a partnership wins a trick with the King of Hearts, that trick counts as 2 tricks total when calculating points.

• Example: 7 tricks including KH = counts as 8 → 2 points.
• Example: 9 tricks including KH = counts as 10 → 4 points.
• Example: 6 tricks including KH = still counts as 6 → 0 points.

End of Game

A game of King’s Court Whist ends when either:

• A partnership reaches 7 points or more at the end of a deal, or
• Four deals have been played (so each player has dealt once).

The partnership with the highest score wins. If tied, share the victory. For tournament play, a single extra deal may be used as a tiebreaker.