How to Play

Napoleon (Nap) is a classic British pub trick-taking game for 3 to 7 players. Each player gets 5 cards and bids for the right to name trump through their opening lead; the bid winner plays alone against the rest and must capture at least the declared number of tricks. Nap and Napoleon are the same game.

Napoleon (commonly called Nap) is a classic British pub trick-taking game for 3 to 7 players (4 or 5 is ideal). Each player receives 5 cards and bids for the right to name trump through their opening lead. The bidder must then win at least the declared number of tricks; success pays stakes from every opponent, failure costs the bidder the same stakes in reverse. The special bids Misère, Nap, Wellington, and Blücher raise the drama. A hand takes under two minutes; a pub session commonly lasts 30 to 90 minutes.

Players

3 to 7 players; 4 or 5 is ideal. Every player plays individually (no partnerships). The first dealer is chosen by dealing one card to each player; lowest card deals (Ace = low for this draw). Deal rotates clockwise after each hand. The player to the dealer's left (eldest hand) bids first and leads if they win the bid.

Card Deck

One standard 52-card deck, no jokers. All four suits (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades) and all thirteen ranks are used. Ranks within each suit: Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, ..., 2 (low). The trump suit is set each hand by the bid winner's opening lead (see Setup and Deal); there is no permanent trump.

Objective

As the bid winner, capture at least the declared number of tricks (or the precise opposite number in a Misère bid). Success collects stakes from each opponent; failure pays stakes in reverse. Across many hands, finish with the highest stake total to win the session.

Setup and Deal

1. Shuffle the 52-card deck thoroughly; the dealer offers a cut to the player on the right (minimum 4 cards per packet). Some variants shorten the deck to 28 to 40 cards depending on player count, but the 52-card version is the widely played standard.
2. Deal 5 cards face-down to each player in two rounds: three cards first, then two. No stock is left; the remaining cards are set aside untouched.
3. Bidding phase: Starting with eldest hand and proceeding clockwise, each player either bids once or passes. Bids ascend strictly (each bid must be higher than all previous bids), and any bid must be at least Three (fewer-than-three bids are not used in standard Nap). The legal bids from lowest to highest are: Three, Misère, Four, Nap, Wellington, Blücher (see Bidding section for specifics).4♠3♠
4. Trump by lead: After bidding ends, the highest bidder leads any card to the first trick. The suit of that first led card becomes trump for the hand. (Misère bids are played with no trump; see Bidding.)
5. Misdeal: If a card is exposed during the deal or a player is dealt the wrong number of cards, the deal is void and the same dealer redeals.

Bidding

1. Three: Bidder undertakes to win at least 3 of the 5 tricks.3♠
2. Misère (Mis): Bidder undertakes to lose every trick (win zero tricks). No trump suit applies; the lead merely opens the hand. Ranks between Three and Four in Nap's auction.4♠3♠
3. Four: Bidder undertakes to win at least 4 tricks.4♠
4. Nap (Napoleon): Bidder undertakes to win all 5 tricks. Stakes are 10x for success, 5x penalty for failure (see Scoring).
5. Wellington: Bidder undertakes to win all 5 tricks at double stakes; may only be bid after someone has already bid Nap. Acts as an over-bid on Nap.
6. Blücher: Undertakes to win all 5 tricks at triple stakes; may only be bid after someone has bid Wellington. The highest possible bid.
7. Passing: A player who does not want to bid passes. A player who has passed cannot re-enter the auction. If every player passes, the deal is thrown in and the next dealer deals fresh.
8. One-chance bidding: Each player gets only one chance to bid; once you pass or state a bid, you cannot revise.

Gameplay

1. Leading the first trick: The bid winner (the highest bidder) leads any card to the first trick. Trump is set by that card's suit (Misère bids play no trump, so the first lead only opens the hand).
2. Trick structure: Play proceeds clockwise. Each player plays one card face-up. You must follow suit if you hold any card of the led suit; if void, you may play any card.
3. Winning a trick: The highest trump card played wins; if no trump is played, the highest card of the led suit wins (off-suit non-trump cannot win). The trick winner leads the next trick.
4. Misère play: No trump applies; the highest card of the led suit wins every trick. The bidder aims to take zero tricks. A Misère bidder who captures even one trick loses the bid.
5. End of hand: The hand ends as soon as all 5 tricks have been played.
6. Renege (revoke): Failing to follow suit when able is a renege. If the bidder reneges, they pay opponents as though they lost the bid (full settlement) and play stops. If an opponent reneges, they pay the bidder as though the bidder won the bid.

Scoring

• Stake system: Every player antes an equal number of chips before the session. Each deal settles individually in chips.
• Standard bids (Three or Four): If the bidder meets their bid, each opponent pays the bidder 1 stake per trick bid (3 bid wins 3 stakes from each; 4 bid wins 4 from each). If they fail, the bidder pays each opponent the same amount.
• Nap (5 tricks): Success pays 10 stakes per opponent to the bidder; failure costs the bidder 5 stakes per opponent. Asymmetric because Nap is risky.
• Misère: Success (zero tricks) pays the bidder 3 stakes from each opponent; failure costs the bidder 3 stakes to each opponent. Some houses pay the same as Nap (10/5); agree before play.
• Wellington: Double Nap stakes: success 20 per opponent, failure 10 per opponent.
• Blücher: Triple Nap stakes: success 30 per opponent, failure 15 per opponent.
• Renege penalty: A reneging bidder pays the full failure stakes to every opponent; a reneging opponent pays the bidder the full success stakes. Play stops at the moment the renege is identified.
• Overtricks and undertricks: There is no bonus for winning more tricks than bid, and no extra penalty for winning one or two fewer (the bid is binary: made or set).

Winning

• Hand winner: The player on the positive end of each hand's settlement (the bidder if they made their bid, or each opponent if the bidder failed).
• Match winner: After an agreed number of deals (commonly until a pub round ends or a fixed number of hands per dealer), whoever has the most chips wins.
• Tie-breakers: If two or more players are tied on chips at match end, play one extra hand among only the tied players; highest chip total at the end of that extra hand wins.
• Bust: A player whose chips run out is eliminated (or may ante another round to re-enter, by group agreement).

Common Variations

• Seven-Card Nap: Deal 7 cards each; bids range from 3 to 7 (with 7 paying 24 stakes per opponent). Wellington and Blücher are usually dropped in this variant.
• Purchase Nap: Before bidding, each player may pay one stake to exchange a designated number of cards with the unseen remainder of the deck, sharpening their hand.
• Peep Nap: An extra 'peep' card is dealt face-down; players pay to look at it before bidding, and the bid winner may swap one card with it.
• Écarté Nap: Before bidding, players pay per card to exchange unwanted cards for fresh ones.
• Misère only variants: Drop Wellington and Blücher; allow only Three, Misère, Four, Nap.4♠3♠
• No Misère: Drop Misère entirely; simplifies auctions at the cost of Nap's strategic depth.

Tips and Strategy

• Bid based on certain tricks: Aces and Kings in short suits, or an Ace plus a second-highest card that cannot be trumped by a long hand. Count only tricks you are sure to win, not hopeful ones.
• Your opening lead sets trump, so if you win the bid, lead from your strongest suit, ideally one where you hold two or three high cards plus a low card to force the issue.
• With five tricks total, a 3-bid usually needs four plausible winners and one hope; a 4-bid needs five plausible winners; Nap needs five near-certain winners.
• Misère is a specialised bid that works with a hand of very low cards, ideally no Ace or King anywhere, and a void or singleton in each suit so you can discard high cards when forced.
• Track the cards played. Nap hands are only 5 tricks long, so remembering which trumps are out is easy and useful.
• Wellington and Blücher are over-bids used mainly to escalate against an opponent's Nap; bid them only when you genuinely hold a certain five tricks, since failure costs proportionally more.

Glossary

• Trick: One round of play in which every player plays one card; the highest trump (or highest card of the led suit, if no trump) wins.
• Follow suit: Play a card of the led suit if you hold any; mandatory.
• Trump: The special suit set each hand by the bidder's opening lead (or absent in Misère); beats any non-trump card regardless of rank.
• Bid: A pre-play declaration of how many tricks the bidder will win.
• Nap (Napoleon): A bid to win all 5 tricks; the game's namesake.
• Misère: A bid to win zero tricks; played with no trump.
• Wellington: An over-bid on Nap at double stakes; available only after someone has bid Nap.
• Blücher: An over-bid on Wellington at triple stakes.
• Eldest hand: The player to the dealer's left; first to bid and the default first leader if they win the bid.
• Renege / revoke: Failing to follow suit when able; heavily penalised.
• Stake / ante: A unit of chips (cash or tokens) used for settlement; pre-paid equally by all players into a pool.