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How to Play Bismarck

A Swedish 3-player quota-whist compendium game across 12 deals with four rotating contracts (Spel, Spader, Valfri, Pass) in which each player acts as forehand four times and scores +1 or -1 per trick above or below their quota.

Players
3
Difficulty
Medium
Length
Long
Deck
52
Read the rules

How to Play Bismarck

A Swedish 3-player quota-whist compendium game across 12 deals with four rotating contracts (Spel, Spader, Valfri, Pass) in which each player acts as forehand four times and scores +1 or -1 per trick above or below their quota.

3-4 players ​​Medium ​​​Long

How to Play

A Swedish 3-player quota-whist compendium game across 12 deals with four rotating contracts (Spel, Spader, Valfri, Pass) in which each player acts as forehand four times and scores +1 or -1 per trick above or below their quota.

Bismarck is a Swedish 3-player quota-whist compendium game in which players cycle through four different contract types across a 12-deal session, scoring one point per trick above or below a fixed quota. The cornerstone innovation is that forehand (the hand acting as dealer in each deal) always draws a 4-card kitty from the remaining cards after the initial 16-card deal and may discard and replace those 4 before play begins. The four contracts are Spel (plain tricks, no trump), Spader (Spades are trumps), Valfri (forehand picks any trump), and Pass (misère, lose tricks instead of winning). Each player acts as forehand exactly four times across the 12 deals and must play each of the four contracts once from that position. Quotas are asymmetric: in positive contracts forehand must take 8 of 16 tricks while each non-forehand must take 4; in Pass the quotas invert to 4 for forehand and 6 for each non-forehand. Highest cumulative score after 12 deals wins.

Download rules (PDF)

Quick Reference

Goal
Score the highest cumulative point total across 12 deals by beating your quota in positive contracts (Spel, Spader, Valfri) and undershooting it in the negative contract (Pass).
Setup
  1. 3 players, 52-card deck, 16 cards each plus a 4-card kitty.
  2. 12 deals; each player is forehand four times.
  3. Forehand exchanges with the kitty and declares (or accepts) the contract.
On Your Turn
  1. Player to forehand's left leads; clockwise play, follow suit if able.
  2. Highest trump (or highest of suit led) wins the trick.
  3. In Pass, avoid winning tricks instead.
Scoring
  • Positive quota: forehand 8 tricks, non-forehand 4 tricks.
  • Pass quota: forehand 4 tricks, non-forehand 6 tricks.
  • Score = +1 per trick above quota, -1 per trick short (inverted in Pass).
Tip: As forehand aim squarely for your 8-trick quota; overbuilding wastes effort and exposes you to catastrophe hands.

Players

Exactly 3 players. Each player takes the forehand role four times across the session (rotating around the table). Play proceeds clockwise; deal rotates clockwise after each hand. Approximate session length is 45 to 90 minutes.

Card Deck

One standard 52-card French-suited pack with jokers removed. Cards rank Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (low) in each suit. In Spader, Spades are permanent trumps; in Valfri, the forehand chooses the trump suit (including a no-trump option if agreed in advance); in Spel and Pass there is no trump suit.

Objective

Score the greatest cumulative point total across 12 deals by exceeding your quota in positive contracts and undershooting it in the Pass contract. Each trick above (or below in Pass) your quota earns +1 point; each trick short (or excess in Pass) costs -1 point. Highest running total at the end of the 12th deal wins.

Setup and Deal

  1. Choose first forehand by high card. The forehand seat rotates clockwise each deal; every player acts as forehand exactly four times.
  2. Deal 16 cards face down to each of the three players (48 cards total), in packets of 4. The remaining 4 cards are set face down aside as the kitty (hand-over).
  3. Announce the contract for this deal. Each player must play every contract exactly once while sitting as forehand, so the choice is constrained as the session proceeds.
  4. Forehand kitty exchange: After the contract is announced, the forehand picks up the 4-card kitty and discards any 4 cards from their combined 20-card hand, face down to one side. These discards count as the forehand's tricks for scoring purposes (the 4 cards themselves count 0 tricks; forehand still needs to win tricks normally from the remaining 16). Exchange is optional except in Valfri, where the forehand must exchange before declaring the trump suit.
  5. The player to the forehand's left leads the first trick.

Gameplay

  1. Trick-taking: Each trick consists of one card played by each player clockwise starting with the trick leader. Players must follow suit if able; if unable, they may play any card (including trump in Spader or Valfri).
  2. Winning a trick: The highest trump in the trick wins; if no trumps are played, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner leads the next trick.
  3. No trump in Spel and Pass: These contracts are no-trump, so only cards of the suit led can win a trick.
  4. Spader: Spades are trump; when void of the suit led, a player who holds a spade may (but is not forced to) play one.
  5. Valfri: After kitty exchange, the forehand declares a trump suit (or no-trump, if the group agreed to allow it). Otherwise mechanics match Spader.
  6. Pass (misère): No trump. The goal is to AVOID tricks. All other mechanics (follow suit, highest of suit led wins) remain the same; quotas invert.
  7. 16 tricks per deal: Because each player has 16 cards after the kitty exchange, 16 tricks are played per deal. The discarded kitty cards do not enter play.

Scoring

  1. Positive contract quotas (Spel, Spader, Valfri): Forehand quota = 8 tricks; each non-forehand quota = 4 tricks. Total = 16 tricks, matching the deal.
  2. Pass (negative) quotas: Forehand quota = 4 tricks (tries to take FEWER); each non-forehand quota = 6 tricks.
  3. Scoring formula: For each player, score = tricks won minus quota. In Pass, score = quota minus tricks won (so taking fewer earns positive).
  4. Worked positive example: In Spel, forehand takes 10 tricks (+2), Player B takes 4 tricks (0), Player C takes 2 tricks (-2).
  5. Worked Pass example: In Pass, forehand takes 3 tricks (quota 4, so +1), Player B takes 5 tricks (quota 6, so +1), Player C takes 8 tricks (quota 6, so -2).
  6. Zero-sum property: In each deal the three players' scores sum to 0 (minor rounding aside), so the game is a pure redistribution of points across the table.
  7. Match end: After 12 deals, highest cumulative score wins. Ties may be broken by an extra Valfri deal with forehand rotated onward, or by declaring a tied win.

Winning

The player with the highest cumulative point total after all 12 deals wins the match. In case of a tie at the top, tradition plays one extra round of Valfri (forehand rotating to the next untried player) to break the tie, or declares a shared win.

Common Variations

  • Estonian Bismarck (8-round, 6-contract): An older variant with 8 deals and 6 contract types including trick-avoidance of specific cards (such as a 'no Hearts' and 'no Queen of Spades' contract). Rounds 7 and 8 are free-choice by forehand.
  • No-trump Valfri: Some groups require Valfri to be played at no-trump rather than allowing forehand to pick a trump suit.
  • 24-deal Grand Bismarck: Each player acts as forehand 8 times (each of the 4 contracts twice) for a longer match.
  • Fixed kitty-take: Forehand must take the kitty (no declining); discarding fewer than 4 cards counts as a misdeal.
  • Short Bismarck: A simplified pedagogical version with 8 deals using only Spel and Pass contracts, each played by each forehand twice.

Tips and Strategy

  • As forehand in a positive contract, prize the 8 tricks you need; do NOT overbuild (winning 12 or 13 tricks gives only +4 or +5 but risks a disaster if your hand is weaker than expected).
  • As a non-forehand in a positive contract, you need just 4 of 16 tricks. Conservative play (duck low, grab 4 safe winners) beats aggressive play. Avoid picking up more than 4 tricks unless the forehand is clearly underdelivering.
  • In Pass, non-forehand quotas are 6 each; that means you must WIN 6 tricks (because the point of Pass is to lose tricks). Non-forehands actively work to dump tricks onto the forehand or onto each other.
  • Kitty exchange is the forehand's biggest lever. In Spel or Spader, keep your long strong suit and dump isolated middle cards; in Pass, dump dangerous high cards (Aces, high trumps equivalents).
  • Track which contracts each player has left to play while as forehand. A player who has Pass left is usually desperate for a hand with no high cards; exploit their nervous play in earlier deals.
  • In Valfri, pick the trump suit where you have both the Ace and at least four total cards; a 3-card trump holding is often too short for the 8-trick quota.

Glossary

  • Forehand: The player acting as dealer for the current deal, who receives the kitty exchange and has the asymmetric 8-trick quota.
  • Kitty: The 4 extra cards set aside after dealing 16 to each player; picked up by forehand, who discards 4 in exchange.
  • Quota: The target number of tricks a player must win (or avoid, in Pass). Exceeding the quota (or undershooting in Pass) scores positive points; missing it scores negative points.
  • Spel: The plain no-trump positive contract.
  • Spader: The positive contract with Spades as trumps.
  • Valfri: The positive contract in which forehand picks the trump suit (or plays no-trump, by agreement).
  • Pass: The negative (misère) contract; quotas invert and fewer tricks is better.
  • Compendium game: A game made up of a sequence of sub-contracts (Barbu, Quodlibet, Herzeln, and Bismarck are all compendium games).

Tips & Strategy

As forehand in a positive contract, aim squarely for 8 tricks rather than chasing overtricks; overbuilding exposes you to disaster hands. As a non-forehand, you need only 4 tricks in positive contracts, so duck early rounds and grab 4 dependable winners. In Pass, remember non-forehand quotas are 6 each, so aggressive trick-shedding is as important as trick-stealing.

Bismarck rewards both tactical trick-play and meta-level contract scheduling. On the tactical level, the asymmetric quotas mean forehand plays a high-variance hand while non-forehands play a conservative one; that alone changes card choice. On the meta level, which contract each player reserves for their final forehand deal is a planning problem because some hands support some contracts better than others, and the final forehand contract must be whatever is still unplayed.

Trivia & Fun Facts

Because each player must play each of the four contracts exactly once while sitting as forehand, the session has a Latin-square structure: the order in which each player chooses contracts is itself a strategic decision, because leaving the Pass contract for your final forehand deal is risky (you might be stuck with a high-card hand). Advanced tournament Bismarck sessions include a draft phase where players claim contract slots in advance.

  1. 01In the standard 12-deal Bismarck session, how many times does each player act as forehand, and why?
    Answer Each player is forehand exactly four times, because each must play each of the four contracts (Spel, Spader, Valfri, Pass) exactly once from that seat.
  2. 02Why are quotas asymmetric between forehand and non-forehand?
    Answer Forehand benefits from the 4-card kitty exchange, so positive contracts set forehand's quota at 8 tricks (versus 4 each for the non-forehands); in Pass the asymmetry inverts for the same structural reason.

History & Culture

Bismarck developed in Sweden in the early 20th century as part of a European vogue for quota-whist compendium games (its British cousin is Solo Whist, its German cousin is Skat, its Estonian sibling is the 8-round Bismarck variant). The game is named after the German statesman Otto von Bismarck, reflecting the 19th-century Scandinavian fashion for naming card games after European political figures. The modern 12-deal four-contract form stabilised in the 1960s in Stockholm gaming clubs.

Bismarck is one of the canonical Swedish card games alongside Femkort and Jass variants, played in Stockholm gaming clubs since the early 20th century. The game is rarely played outside Sweden and Estonia, making it something of a Scandinavian regional specialty; it is documented on pagat.com (the canonical online card-game reference) under the quota-whist family where it shares DNA with British and American compendium games.

Variations & House Rules

Estonian Bismarck plays 8 deals with 6 contract types (including no-Hearts and no-Queen-of-Spades trick avoidance). Grand Bismarck doubles the session to 24 deals. Short Bismarck uses only Spel and Pass for a beginner-friendly 8-deal session. No-trump Valfri forbids trump selection. Fixed kitty-take removes the forehand's option to decline the exchange.

For a shorter session, play Short Bismarck (8 deals, Spel and Pass only). For a longer tournament match, play Grand Bismarck (24 deals). Beginners should start without Valfri to reduce the trump-selection cognitive load. Keep a scoring grid with one column per contract per player to make the Latin-square completion easy to track.