How to Play

A British 4-player trick-taking card game that blends partnership and solo contracts. Each player is dealt 13 cards; an auction sets a contract ranging from Prop-and-Cop (partnership 8 tricks) up to Abundance Declared (solo 13 tricks). Payments are in units exchanged directly between players.

Solo Whist is a British trick-taking card game for 4 players that evolved in the mid-19th century from the older partnership Whist via Boston and the Belgian game Whist de Gand (Ghent Whist), blending partnership and cut-throat (solo) contracts in a single hand. Each player is dealt 13 cards from a standard 52-card deck, with the last card turned face-up to indicate the trump suit for the hand. An auction then determines the contract: players bid on increasingly ambitious targets, from 'Prop-and-Cop' (two players team up for 8 tricks) up through solo contracts like 5-trick Solo, 0-trick Misère, 9-trick Abundance, and the top contract of 13-trick Abundance Declared (winning every trick). The winning bidder must meet their trick target; the other three players form a temporary 'defending' alliance to prevent them. Scoring is in chips or units paid directly between players (not a running score): a successful 5-trick Solo pays +3 units from each defender (total +9 to the solo player, -3 from each defender), while a failed Solo costs -3 units to each defender. The contract hierarchy (low to high) creates a tension-filled auction where no single contract dominates. Solo Whist was a staple of British pubs, working men's clubs, and railway carriages through the late 19th and 20th centuries; its decline paralleled the rise of Contract Bridge but it remains a living tradition in British social clubs.

Players

Exactly 4 players, each for themselves for most contracts. In the Prop-and-Cop contract, two players form a one-hand partnership against the other two. Deal rotates clockwise after each hand; the auction winner is the 'declarer', the other three form a 'defending' alliance for that hand only. A typical session runs 20 to 40 hands (90 to 120 minutes); stakes are kept by chip exchange between players rather than a running score.

Card Deck

• One standard 52-card French-suited pack, jokers removed.
• Card rank within a suit (high to low): A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.A♠K♠Q♠J♠10♠
• Suits are equal except during trump play, when the named trump suit beats all others.
• In the Misère contracts, NO TRUMP SUIT applies; the turn-up is ignored.

Objective

Bid a contract you can make; a successful contract pays you by the contract's scoring table, a failed contract costs you the same amount. The game has no fixed match score; players track unit or chip balance across hands, and the session winner is whoever has the highest net balance at the agreed stop point. Tight bidding discipline matters more than raw card strength: bidding the right contract given your hand is more rewarding than winning tricks in a bad bid.

Setup and Deal

1. Choose first dealer by cut (lowest card deals). Deal rotates clockwise each hand.
2. The dealer shuffles; the player to the dealer's right cuts.
3. Deal cards in the traditional 3-3-3-3-1 pattern clockwise starting with the player to the dealer's left: three packets of 3 cards each, then one packet of 4 cards on the fourth pass. The LAST card (the dealer's 13th) is turned face up in front of the dealer to indicate the trump suit for the hand.
4. Each player examines their hand privately.
5. After the auction (next section), the turned-up trump card is added to the dealer's hand, and play begins.

Auction (Bidding)

1. Bidding starts with the player to the dealer's left and proceeds clockwise. Each player in turn may call a contract higher than any previous bid, or pass.
2. Contracts in ascending order (lowest to highest):
3. Prop (Proposal, ± 1 unit): the bidder proposes a partnership with anyone willing to join; partner aims to win 8 tricks with the declared trump. The proposer's Prop is completed when any later bidder calls 'Cop'.
4. Cop (Acceptance of Prop, ± 1 unit): a player accepting the Prop; the two together commit to win 8 tricks with the turned-up trump. Payment is per player: +1 from each defender to each partner on success; -1 from each partner to each defender on failure.
5. Solo (± 3 units): the bidder alone commits to winning 5 tricks with the turned-up trump.
6. Misère (± 3 units): the bidder alone commits to winning ZERO tricks. No trump suit applies (the turn-up is ignored for this contract).
7. Abundance (± 5 units): the bidder commits to winning 9 tricks and names a NEW trump suit (not the turn-up).
8. Royal Abundance / Abundance in Trumps (± 5 units, equal to Abundance but ranks higher in auction): the bidder commits to 9 tricks with the original turned-up trump suit.
9. Spread Misère / Misère Ouverte (± 6 units): the bidder commits to zero tricks; after the first trick is led, their hand is placed face-up on the table. No trump suit.
10. Abundance Declared / Slam (± 8 units): the bidder commits to winning ALL 13 tricks. The bidder names the trump suit AND leads the first trick (normally the player to the dealer's left leads).
11. No Cops, no deal: if a player calls Prop but no one calls Cop (and no higher contract is called), the hand is thrown in; shuffle and re-deal.
12. All pass: if all four players pass without anyone calling Prop, the hand is thrown in and re-dealt.
13. A player who has passed may NOT bid again later in the same auction (in most rule sets).

Trick Play

1. Lead to the first trick: the player to the dealer's left leads FIRST in all contracts EXCEPT Abundance Declared (slam), where the DECLARER leads first.
2. Follow suit: every player must follow the suit led if they can. If void of the led suit, they may play any card including a trump.
3. Winning the trick: highest trump wins; if no trump is played, highest card of the led suit wins. Winner leads the next trick.
4. Misère exposure (Spread Misère only): after the FIRST trick is played to completion, the declarer lays their remaining hand face-up on the table. Play continues with the hand exposed to all players. Normal misère has no exposure.
5. Reneging (revoking): failing to follow suit when able is a major foul. Penalty is either forfeiture of the hand or a fixed 3-trick penalty against the revoker, per house rule.
6. All 13 tricks played: unless the declarer has clearly won or lost the contract early, all 13 tricks are played to settle over-tricks / under-tricks.

Scoring

• Unit values (per trick made or failed, each defender pays or is paid):
• Prop-and-Cop (partners win 8 tricks): +1 unit per partner from each defender on success; -1 per partner to each defender on failure. Each partner settles separately with each defender.
• Solo (5 tricks): +3 units from each defender to the declarer on success; -3 to each defender on failure.
• Misère (0 tricks): +3 from each defender to the declarer; -3 on failure.
• Abundance (9 tricks, declarer's trump): +5 from each defender; -5 on failure.
• Royal Abundance (9 tricks in turn-up trump): +5 from each defender; -5 on failure.
• Spread Misère (0 tricks, exposed hand): +6 from each defender; -6 on failure.
• Abundance Declared (13 tricks, slam): +8 from each defender; -8 on failure.
• Over-tricks / under-tricks: some house rules add +1 per trick beyond contract AND -1 per trick short. Others score only pass/fail.
• Session tally: each hand produces a small unit settlement; balances are tracked across the session (typically 20 to 40 hands).

Winning

Solo Whist has no fixed match-win condition; the session winner is whoever has the highest net balance at the agreed stopping point. Traditional British pub and club sessions lasted the length of the evening, stopping at closing time or after an agreed number of hands (often 20 or 40). Some groups play to a target score (e.g., first to +50 units wins) for a shorter session.

Common Variations

• Belgian Whist (Wiezen): the Belgian cousin with slightly different contracts such as Schachtel and Durch, using the Dutch/Flemish name. Players sometimes group Wiezen and Solo Whist together though the contract ladders differ.
• Ghent Whist (Whist de Gand): the direct Belgian ancestor; similar structure but Prop-and-Cop is called a Proposal and Acceptance, and Abundance is sometimes capped at 10 tricks.
• Boston Whist (18th-century French ancestor): the most elaborate bidding ladder (up to 30+ distinct contracts); the direct Atlantic ancestor of Solo Whist.
• No Prop-and-Cop variant: strict Solo Whist without the partnership bid; every contract is solo. Increases individual stakes.
• Turn-up-less variant: no trump card is turned up; the auction winner always names trumps. Simplifies the bidding ladder.
• Variable stakes: scale unit values by a house-agreed factor (e.g., 5× for competitive play; 0.1× for beginners).
• Over/under-trick bonuses: every trick above or below contract target adds or subtracts 1 unit per defender.

Tips and Strategy

• Only bid Solo with 5 or more sure tricks. A Solo requires 5 tricks, plus you must defend against 3 opponents who will coordinate against you. Count at least 5 near-certain winners (Aces, Kings supported by Queens, high trumps) before calling.
• Misère is about VOIDS. The defenders will try to force you to win a trick by leading suits where you are known to be long. A misère hand needs ideally ZERO long suits (4+ of one suit) and the Ace or King of each suit you DO have. Short, weak hands make for safe misères.
• Abundance needs a long strong suit. 9 tricks is hard: you need the Ace and King of your trump suit plus one long side suit you can also dominate. The named trump in Abundance lets you pick your strongest suit, so a 5+ card suit with top honours is the minimum.
• Prop-and-Cop is the safest partnership bid. If you have 4 to 5 tricks in hand, calling Prop and hoping for a Cop lets you get paid while sharing the risk. Two partners defending 8 tricks is nearly always manageable.
• Defenders coordinate via leads. As a defender, leading a suit where you are short tells your partners to preserve their cards in that suit. The defending alliance wins more often than novices expect because 3-on-1 communication matters.
• Lead trumps against Abundance bidders. Removing the declarer's trumps early limits their ability to ruff side-suit losers; if they bid with long trumps, stripping trumps is the key defensive move.
• Watch for Spread Misère escalation. A player who bids Spread Misère is revealing their hand intentionally; the +6 unit stakes are high and defenders have perfect information. Only bid Spread Misère with a hand that is mathematically certain to lose every trick.
• Don't over-bid late in an auction. A higher bid risks paying the higher unit penalty on failure. Solo (+3) with a solid hand is almost always more profitable than an ambitious Abundance (+5) with the same cards.

Glossary

• Declarer: the player who wins the auction and must make the contract.
• Defenders: the three (or in Prop-and-Cop, two) opponents trying to prevent the contract.
• Contract: the bid won in the auction, one of Prop-and-Cop, Solo, Misère, Abundance, Royal Abundance, Spread Misère, or Abundance Declared, specifying the declarer's target and the trump or no-trump rule.
• Prop-and-Cop: a partnership contract; Prop proposes, Cop accepts. Target is 8 tricks.
• Solo: a 5-trick solo contract using the turned-up trump. The game's namesake.
• Misère: a 0-trick contract with no trump.
• Spread Misère / Misère Ouverte: a 0-trick contract with the declarer's hand placed face-up after the first trick.
• Abundance: a 9-trick contract with the declarer naming a new trump suit.
• Royal Abundance: a 9-trick contract using the turn-up trump suit (ranks above regular Abundance in the auction).
• Abundance Declared / Slam: a 13-trick contract; declarer names trumps and leads first.
• Turn-up: the last card dealt, placed face-up to indicate the trump suit for non-naming contracts.