Welcome to Boston!

I want to tell you about an exciting card game called Boston. It was created in France during the 1700s and has become popular worldwide. Boston offers different variations, which means you can enjoy many different ways to play, and it allows for a larger number of players to join in on the fun. The objective of the game is to earn the highest number of points. Unlike other trick-taking games, Boston doesn’t have teams, so each player is on their own!

Let’s Get Started – Setup

Before we start playing, we need to set up the game. First, we need to decide on the seating positions and determine who will be the dealer for the first round. To do this, we’ll draw cards to see who gets the highest card. The person who draws the highest card will become the dealer and get to choose their set first. The person with the lowest card will choose their seat last.

Once we’ve determined the dealer, they will thoroughly shuffle the deck and deal out all the cards, one by one, to each player. After the first hand, the dealer position will rotate clockwise among the players. It’s important to note that we won’t shuffle the cards again after the first hand.

In a game of scoring chips, each chip is given a specific value, such as 100, 50, or 5 points. Once the values have been assigned, the chips are distributed evenly among the players. Now, it’s time to start the game!

How to Play

Once the cards have been dealt, each player must place five chips into the center of the table. The bidding phase begins as soon as all players have contributed their chips. The player sitting to the left of the dealer will be the first to start the bidding. Going around the table clockwise, each player will have the choice to play or pass.

If a player decides to pass, they cannot bid for the rest of that round. However, if a player chooses to play, they can declare a bid of the same category as long as it ranks higher. The suits are ranked from highest to lowest as follows: Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades. The bidding process continues until there have been three consecutive passes.

Alright, here’s the deal – the moment the bid ends, the real action starts. It all kicks off with the player sitting on the left side of the dealer, who gets to make the first move and determine the trump suit. Then, you keep going clockwise, with each player contributing one card to the trick. Here’s the catch: your card needs to be higher than the one played before. But hey, don’t worry, if you don’t have a higher card, you can play any card from your hand.

Once all the tricks have been played, it’s time to see if the highest bidder actually hit their mark. If they did, well, they get to collect all the chips that have been piled up in the center of the table. But hold on – if they met their bid, everyone else at the table needs to cough up some chips and pay the winner.

Player’s Bid	Trump Suit for Hand
Spades (♠)	Clubs (♣)	Hearts (♥)	Diamonds (♦)
5	10	10	20	30
6	30	30	40	50
7	50	50	60	70
8	70	70	80	90
9	90	90	100	110
10	110	110	120	130
11	130	130	140	150
12	150	150	160	170
13	400	400	450	500

If you don’t meet your bid, you have to pay the same amount of chips you could have won to each player. After twelve hands, we tally up the points. The player with the most points, or chips, wins the game!

Types of Bids

Simple Boston- 2 points- you have to declare a suit, win five or more tricks, and play a five

Six Levees- 4 points- you have to win six tricks and declare the trump suit

Little Misere- 4 points- you have to win zero tricks

Seven Levees- 8 points- you have to win seven tricks

Picolissimo- 8 points- you will win exactly one trick during the hand

Eight Levees- 8 points- you will win eight tricks

Grand Misere- 8 points- you will not win any tricks

Nine Levees- 8 points- you will win nine tricks

If you win ten tricks in a game of levees, you’ll earn eight points. Win eleven tricks, and you’ll get sixteen points. And if you can pull off winning all twelve tricks, that’s worth sixteen points too. But the grand prize goes to the player who can sweep all thirteen tricks in a game of grand Boston – that’s a whopping thirty-two points!

The End Game

After playing twelve hands, the levees game comes to an end. The player with the most chips at the end of the game is crowned the victor!

After playing twelve hands, the levees game comes to an end. The player with the most chips at the end of the game is crowned the victor!