How to Play

Russia's signature 19th-century trick-taking game for three, with a formal auction, a two-card talon, optional defender whisting, and a distinctive three-column pool/dump/whist scorepad played to a bullet limit.

Preferans (also spelled Preferanc or Prefa) is the 19th-century Russian descendant of the Austrian game Préférence, itself a descendant of Spanish Ombre. It is a three-player plain-trick game played with a 32-card Piquet pack, in which one player (the declarer) bids a contract to take a specific number of tricks while the other two act as defenders. Each deal follows a fixed sequence: deal, auction, exchange with the two-card talon called the prikup, optional defender whisting, play of ten tricks, and settlement. A unique three-column scorepad with pool, bullet (pulya), and dump (gora) sections is kept throughout a long session: declarers add to the pool when they make their contract and add to their own dump and pay whists when they fail, while defenders earn whist points for tricks won against a contract they chose to defend. The game typically runs until every player's bullet is filled to an agreed pool value (usually 10 each), which can take an evening. Preferans is widely considered one of the most intellectually demanding trick-taking games in the family and has been played continuously in Russia and across Eastern Europe for over 150 years.

Players

Three active players at each deal. A four-handed variant, 'Gusarik' or 'four-handed Preferans', has the dealer sit out each hand. Players sit in fixed seats and the deal rotates clockwise. The player to the dealer's left is eldest hand and speaks first in both auction and play.

Card Deck

A 32-card French-suited Piquet pack (standard deck with 2s through 6s removed). In each suit, ranks from high to low are Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7. The permanent suit order for bidding is spades (lowest), clubs, diamonds, hearts, no-trumps (highest). [♠][♣][♦][♥]

Objective

As declarer, win the auction and then take exactly at least the contracted number of tricks. As defender, combine with the other defender (by whisting) to stop the declarer and capture your required trick share. Over a long session, fill your bullet (pulya) to the agreed pool value (usually 10 points, abbreviated as the 'bullet limit') before the other two do.

Setup and Deal

1. Determine the first dealer by drawing cards; the lowest card deals. The deal rotates clockwise each hand.
2. Shuffle the 32-card pack and deal in the fixed pattern 2-talon-2-2-2-2-2: two cards to each player going clockwise, two cards face-down to the centre as the prikup (talon), then two more cards to each player, and so on until every player has ten cards.
3. Players pick up and arrange their hands. Nobody touches the prikup yet.
4. The auction begins with eldest hand (the player left of the dealer).

Bidding

1. Bids consist of a minimum trick count (6 to 10) combined with a trump proposal. Valid trump suits in ascending order: spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts, no-trumps (bez). So the lowest bid is 'Six spades' and the highest is 'Ten no-trumps'.
2. Misère is a special bid ranking between '8 no-trumps' and '9 spades'. The misère declarer aims to lose every trick, with no trump and the other two hands exposed as a dummy.
3. Each bid must be higher than the previous one. A player may pass; a player who has passed may not bid again in the same auction.
4. All pass: If every player passes, the deal becomes a raspasovka (all-pass): played at no trumps with nobody picking up the talon, and the aim is to take as few tricks as possible. Each trick won scores 1 dump point; a zero-trick player gains 1 pool point.
5. Auction winner: The highest bidder becomes the declarer and names the trump suit, picks up the prikup, and discards two cards face-down. The discards count as captured tricks for the declarer at settlement.

Whisting (Defender Choice)

1. After the declarer commits to trump and discards, each defender in turn (starting with the one on declarer's left) announces 'whist' (I will defend) or 'pass'.
2. If both defenders pass, the declarer wins the contract without play, writes the pool value to their bullet, and collects no whist points.
3. If one defender whists and the other passes, the whister plays alone but with the passer's hand turned face-up as a dummy to help them.
4. If both defenders whist, both play normally against declarer; each takes half the whist points they earn, rounded up.
5. Whist decisions are binding for the whole deal; you cannot unwhist after seeing a trick.

Trick Play

1. Eldest hand leads the first trick regardless of who is declarer. The winner of each trick leads the next.
2. Must follow suit. If unable, must trump if possible. If unable to follow suit and holding no trumps, play any card.
3. Must overtake if possible. When following suit or trumping, you must play a higher card of the suit already led than any card so far played to the trick, if you hold one.
4. Highest trump wins the trick; if no trump, highest card of the led suit wins.
5. Tricks are kept face-down in front of the winning side. Play proceeds until all 10 tricks are resolved.

Scoring

• The scorepad has three sections per player: a pool (pulya) that fills upward, a dump (gora) that fills upward, and whist scores for payments between defenders and declarer.
• Contract values in pool points: 6 tricks = 2, 7 tricks = 4, 8 tricks = 6, misère = 10, 9 tricks = 8, 10 tricks = 10.
• Declarer succeeds: Writes the contract value into the pool (pulya) column. Receives whist points equal to the pool value from each defender who did not whist; defenders who whisted earn whist points equal to tricks they won.
• Declarer fails: Writes pool-value × undertricks into the dump (gora) column, and pays each defender whist points equal to pool-value × undertricks.
• Misère: Declarer succeeds by taking zero tricks (10 pool points). Each overtrick is 10 dump points.
• Raspasovka: Players who took 0 tricks gain 1 pool point each; players who took 1 or more tricks gain 1 dump point per trick.
• Whist points are tracked as small numbers separated by dots; they are cashed out at the end of the session against the bullet.

Winning

Preferans is played to a bullet limit, usually 10 points. The session ends as soon as at least two players fill their pool columns to the target; whist points and dump points are then converted back into pool equivalents at agreed conversion rates (commonly 10 whist points = 1 pool point). The player with the largest net positive score wins; the largest net negative loser pays the others. Sessions commonly last a full evening.

Common Variations

• Sochi rules: The most common modern ruleset; the one described above. Relatively permissive on minor bidding; dump penalties at standard multipliers.
• Rostov rules: Whister trick-shortage penalties are halved; dump is replaced with whist-point equivalents (5 whist points per opponent per undertrick).
• Leningrad rules: All dump and whist scores are doubled when recorded; pool scores are doubled only when cashed out. Rewards bold declarations.
• Gusarik: A four-player sit-out variant where the dealer does not play and scores only through whist obligations.
• Greek Prefa: Retains many earlier Ombre-style contracts and has its own bidding ladder; played widely in Greece and the Balkans.

Tips and Strategy

• Bid with both sides in mind: The prikup contains two unknown cards. Count your likely tricks with and without help, and only bid if the minimum is safe even on an unhelpful prikup.
• Misère is safer than it looks: A hand with long weak suits and no aces is often unbeatable as misère, even though it looks weak for normal play.
• Defenders must count together: Watch which defender whisted; their discards and leads signal where the declarer's weak suit lies. The non-whister, if any, is a silent dummy.
• Track the Piquet deck: With only 32 cards, every missing card is significant. Keep a mental tally of each suit's distribution.
• Know the scorepad: The difference between a declarer making 8 tricks and making 9 can be four extra pool points; the difference between going down by one undertrick versus two is a six-point dump swing. Pay attention to these edges before bidding.

Glossary

• Prikup (talon): The two face-down cards set aside after the deal. Taken by the declarer, who then discards two.
• Pulya (bullet): The main pool-score column; the target of the game.
• Gora (dump): The penalty column. Failed contracts and raspasovka tricks go here.
• Whist: Defender's choice to oppose the contract; also the name of the point type earned by successful defenders.
• Raspasovka (all-pass): A deal where nobody bids; played at no-trump with the goal of taking zero tricks.
• Misère: A special contract bid with the aim of losing every trick, played at no-trump with defenders' hands exposed.
• Bez: No-trumps. Ranks above hearts in the bidding ladder.
• Eldest hand: The player to the dealer's left; first to speak in the auction and first to lead.
• Overtake obligation: The rule that requires you to play a higher card of the same suit if you can, when following suit or trumping.