Clubs (version 3)
Created by Michael Lamar who writes: "If you like Spades, you will love Clubs. The chief differences are that you must make an exact bid instead of a minimum bid, and, clubs are trump. Strategy increases as the "Lucky Hand" factor is greatly reduced. Any hand can win. The scoring system rewards the accurate bid more so than the quantity of tricks taken."
[Editor's note: this game is very similar to Oh Hell, except that the number of cards dealt does not vary, and clubs are permanent trumps. JM]
Deal
| 2 players: | Deal each player 13 cards and set the rest aside. |
| 3-5 players: | Deal all the cards. Remove as many twos as necessary to even up the deal. |
| 6 or more players: | Add a deck and apply the cancellation rule (identical cards played in a trick cancel each other out). |
Bidding
Begin to left of dealer. Bid the exact number of tricks that you believe you can take, no more, no less. The final bidder may not make a bid that raises the total of the tricks bid to exactly the number of tricks available. For example, if the bid reaches 10 in a 13-trick hand, the final bidder may not bid 3, as this would raise the bid total to an even 13.
Note: This bidding method makes the hand more interesting: at least one player is always going to get clubbed (go set). This rule also helps to negate the dealer advantage of bidding last.
Play
(like Spades, except clubs are trump [and there is no restriction on leading trumps])
Player to left of dealer starts. Any suit may be led, including clubs. Each player must then follow suit if possible. High card takes trick, unless a club is played, which trumps other suits. Winner of trick then leads the next trick in any suit.
Scoring
| Correct bid: | 10 points, plus 1 point for each trick taken. Nil is worth 10 points. |
| Incorrect bid: | Zero (no negative scoring) |
The first player to reach 100 wins.
Scoring Hint: Placing a 1 in front of each successful bid and add it to the previous score. Cross out the clubbed bids.