Elevator — rules card

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Elevator 3 to 6 players · one 52-card pack THE IDEA • Before a card is played, everybody says EXACTLY how many tricks they will take. • Exactly right scores 10 plus your bid. So bidding 3 and taking 3 is 13. • Wrong either way scores NOTHING. One trick too many is exactly as bad as one too few — and that is the whole game. THE CLIMB • One card each, then two, then three, up to the top of the ladder — and then back down to one. • The top hand is dealt ONCE, not twice. On the way up you are learning the deck; on the way down you are spending what you learned. TRUMP • After the deal, one more card is turned face up and its suit is trump for the hand. • It stays visible in the corner all hand. Trump was decided by a card you saw once, so nothing else on the table would tell you. THE HOOK — THE RULE THAT MAKES THE GAME • The dealer bids LAST, and may NOT make the bids add up to the number of tricks. • So somebody at this table is always going to be wrong. Without it, everybody could quietly agree to make their bid. • The barred number is greyed out but still shown, so you can see which one it was. PLAYING • Follow the suit that was led if you can. Cards you may not play go grey. • Highest trump takes the trick; with no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led. • You may lead a trump whenever you like. A hand of one to ten cards cannot afford a rule that says "not yet". WHAT TO WATCH • The chip at the top says BID / TRICKS. More bid than exist means somebody is going down. Fewer means one is going spare, and somebody is about to be handed a trick they did not want. • Every seat shows took/bid. A seat in green is exactly right — which means one more trick would ruin them. • Bidding nought and taking nothing is worth 10, and it is one of the hardest things in the game. WORDS THIS GAME USES Trick — One card from each player. You want a precise number of them. Bid — The number of tricks you promise to take. Not a minimum and not a maximum: an exact figure. Trump — The suit that beats all others this hand, decided by one card turned at the deal. The hook — The rule stopping the dealer from making the bids add up. It guarantees somebody fails. Over-bid and under-bid — More tricks promised than exist, or fewer. A fight, or hot potato. Setting somebody — Making somebody miss — usually by handing a trick to a seat already exactly right. WHERE THESE CAME FROM Pagat.com — Oh Hell. Also called Blackout, Up and Down the River and Nomination Whist. Folk-owned, with no authority. Our name comes from its one distinctive rule: the hand size climbs and then descends. w.richardpringle.com/games/elevator/ ▲ FOLD ▼ ▲ FOLD ▼ ▲ FOLD ▼ FOLD & TEAR