Minnesota Whist: A Team-Based Trick Taking Game

Minnesota Whist is an exciting trick-taking game that requires four players to form teams. This popular game is widely enjoyed in Minnesota and South Dakota, having been brought over by Norwegian settlers.

The Cards and the Deal: Unveiling the Game’s Foundation

To play Minnesota Whist, you’ll need a standard deck of 52 cards. Gather four players and divide them into two teams. It’s crucial for teammates to sit across from each other around the table.

To determine the dealer for the first round, each player cuts the deck, and the one with the highest card becomes the dealer. Once decided, the dealer shuffles the cards and hands out 13 cards to each player.

For each subsequent round, the deal rotates to the left.

Bidding: Strategy is Key

So, here’s how it works: once we all get our cards, we have a choice to make. Do we want to go for the tricks or avoid them? Going for the tricks is called “granding”. If you decide to grand, just pick a black card from your hand and place it face down in front of you.

On the other hand, if you want to avoid the tricks and pass, simply choose a red card from your hand and place it face down as well.

Once everyone has made their choice, we reveal our cards one by one, starting from the player on the left side of the dealer. If a red card is shown, that means the player is passing and it moves on to the next person’s turn. But, if a black card is turned over, that’s it! Bidding is over and no one else needs to show their card.

If a black card comes up, we call it a “Grand Hand”, and the team that bid the black card is aiming to take at least 7 tricks or more.

If all four cards are red, you’ve got what’s called a “Nula Hand,” and the goal is to capture six tricks or fewer.

Here’s How to Play:

Starting the Game:

In a “Grand Hand,” the player to the right of the person who declared the Grand starts the first trick. In a “Nula Hand,” it’s the player to the left of the dealer who leads.

The first player can play any card they want from their hand. The other players must follow suit if they can. If they don’t have a card in the same suit, they can play any card. The highest card of the lead suit wins the trick.

Playing the Game:

The player who won the last trick leads the next one with a card from their hand. The game continues like this until all the tricks have been played.

Ending the Game:

Keep playing rounds until one team has 13 points or more.

SCORING

Okay, so let’s talk about scoring in Nula Hand. You know, in this game, it’s all about capturing tricks. And I’ll tell you a little secret – you can earn points for each trick you capture. Exciting, right?

Now, in a Nula Hand, things work a little differently depending on how many tricks your team captures. If you capture six tricks, you’ll get one point. And guess what? If you capture five tricks, you’ll get two points! The points keep piling up as you capture fewer tricks.

But wait, there’s more! In a Grand Hand, the team that does the granding gets to earn points for capturing tricks over six. So, if they manage to capture eight tricks, that’s two points for them.

Now, here’s an interesting twist. If the non-granding team manages to capture more than six tricks, they also earn points. And it’s a whopping two points for each trick captured over six. For example, let’s say the non-granding team captures nine tricks – that’s a sweet six points for them!

WINNING

Now, let’s talk about winning. The ultimate goal in the game is to be the first team to earn 13 points or more. Once you reach that magic number, victory is yours! So, keep playing, capturing those tricks, and don’t forget to tally up those points. The finish line is 13 points away!