How to Play

The Belgian national bidding game in the Boston-Whist family, with a ladder of contracts from the humble vraag up to Solo Slim and the special Troel three-ace bid.

Wiezen is the classic Belgian bidding game of the Boston-Whist family, played by four with a standard 52-card deck. Each player is dealt 13 cards in packets of 4, 4, and 5; the very last card is exposed to name the provisional trump suit before the dealer gathers it into their hand. Bidding then works its way up a ladder of contracts: the smallest is a vraag (proposal) to win 8 tricks with any partner who says meegaan (I join), then solo contracts, abondance, miserie, solo slim, and the special Troel ("trio", three aces) bid that forces the fourth-ace holder to be partner. Each contract has a fixed chip payout. Players play their own cards only (no dummy). Everyone pays everyone: the winning side collects the tariff from the losing side, and overtricks or undertricks shift extra chips. Over many deals, the chip leader wins.

Players

Exactly four players. Partnerships are temporary and form deal by deal from the bidding: one vs three, two vs two, or four bound by a Troel. The dealer rotates counter-clockwise each deal (or clockwise in some regional houses).

Card Deck

• One standard 52-card pack, no jokers.
• Card ranking in every suit, high to low: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.A♠K♠Q♠J♠10♠9♠8♠7♠6♠5♠4♠3♠2♠
• Trump suit is determined during the deal: the last card dealt is exposed, its suit becomes the provisional trump, and the card then returns to the dealer's hand.
• Players keep a chip bank for the match; contracts are paid in fixed units.

Objective

Win chips across many deals by successfully fulfilling contracts (or defeating opponents' contracts) and by avoiding overbidding. The bidder declares what they intend to do with or without a partner, and the side that carries out its pledge wins the stake.

Setup and Deal

1. Agree on a stake unit (commonly 1 bet per trick, with higher contracts paying more).
2. Deal the 52 cards counter-clockwise in three packets: 4, 4, then 5 cards to each player.
3. The very last card is turned face up to the dealer and becomes the provisional trump for the deal; the dealer picks it up into their hand.
4. Between deals, the dealer offers the cards to the right to be cut; traditional Wiezen does not reshuffle every deal because the prior hand's play is considered to have randomised the pack.
5. The player to the dealer's left opens the bidding.

Bidding

• Bidding proceeds once around the table; each player must bid or pass on each pass.
• Troel ("trio"): A player dealt three or more aces must announce Troel before bidding begins. The holder of the fourth ace is revealed and automatically becomes partner; together they must win at least 8 tricks with the suit of the fourth ace as trump.
• Vraag and meegaan (proposal / acceptance): "I ask" to find a partner for 8 tricks. A later player says "I accept" to become partner. Together the pair must take 8 or more tricks with the provisional trump.
• Alleen (solo): Play alone against the three others with the provisional trump; must take at least 5 tricks. Outbids a simple vraag/meegaan.
• Miserie: No trump; declarer must lose every trick, playing alone. Other misere variants include Open miserie (the declarer plays with the hand exposed) and Kleine miserie (discarding one card first).
• Abondance: Play alone, choose any trump suit, and win at least 9 tricks. Higher levels include Abondance in trump (10 tricks), Abondance in colour (9 tricks with stated trump), and Klein abondance (8 tricks with chosen trump).
• Solo Slim: The highest bid; play alone and take all 13 tricks, choosing trump. Leads to the first trick.
• Passing: If all four players pass on the first round and no one declared Troel, the cards are thrown in and the same dealer redeals.

Trick Play

1. The player to dealer's left leads to the first trick in most contracts (the declarer leads in Solo Slim; the holder of the fourth ace leads in Troel).
2. Follow suit if possible. A player void in the led suit may play any card, including a trump.
3. Highest trump wins the trick; if no trump is played, the highest card of the led suit wins. The trick winner leads to the next trick.
4. In miserie contracts no trump exists; the highest card of the led suit always wins.
5. Play continues until all 13 tricks are resolved; both pairs in a vraag/meegaan count their tricks jointly.

Scoring and Payment

• Each contract has a fixed tariff paid in chips. Standard Belgian tariffs use one unit as the baseline bet.
• Vraag/meegaan: 1 unit per trick above 8 from each opponent (and an equal amount owed to opponents per trick short of 8). Typical fixed value: 1 unit made, 2 units failed.
• Alleen (solo): Higher than vraag/meegaan; a 5-trick solo typically pays 3 units from each opponent on success and costs 3 units each on failure.
• Miserie: Fixed tariff of 5 to 10 units from each opponent on success; kleine miserie and open miserie earn more (typically 10 and 20 units respectively).
• Abondance: 4 to 8 units from each opponent depending on the level.
• Solo Slim: 24 units from each opponent on success; the largest tariff in the ladder.
• Troel: A partnership contract whose tariff sits between vraag and alleen; overtricks past 8 are paid at 1 unit per extra trick, undertricks at 2 units per missing trick.
• Match play: Typically played for a fixed number of deals or to an agreed chip threshold; the player holding the most chips at the end wins.

Winning

Every deal is settled immediately with chips moving between winners and losers according to the contract's tariff. The overall match ends after a fixed number of deals (commonly 16 or 24) or when the agreed chip threshold is passed. The player with the most chips at that point wins; ties, though rare, are broken by playing one further deal.

Common Variations

• Kleurenwiezen (Colour Whist): The trump suit is chosen by the bidder rather than set by the last dealt card; uses a slightly different bid ladder and is common in Flanders.
• Wiezen 1 vs 3 (solo-only): Only single-player contracts (solo, abondance, miserie) are available; removes the partner-finding bids for a sharper, faster game.
• Pico: An optional mini-bid to win exactly one trick at no trump; outranks vraag but not miserie.
• Open miserie / kleine miserie: Variants of the misere contract. Open miserie plays with the declarer's hand face up; kleine miserie asks the declarer to lose all but one trick after discarding one card.
• Rotterdam rules (Dutch-border): Slight changes to the bidding order and overtrick payouts, popular near the Dutch frontier.

Tips and Strategy

• Count your certain tricks before bidding. Honours in the provisional trump (A, K, Q) count almost always; side-suit aces count sometimes; low cards in long suits count if you have at least four of a suit.
• A vraag is tempting with five probable tricks, but remember a "meegaan" partner is expected to add three more; do not propose unless your own share is 4 or better.
• For solo or abondance, require at least one very long suit (five or more cards) plus two outside winners. Single aces rarely survive against three opponents.
• Miserie success hinges on having no long mid-range holdings. A 5-3-3-2 hand with a 6 or 7 as the lowest in a short suit is the classic trap.
• As a defender, lead through trump strength. If the declarer's trump suit is hearts, lead from your longest non-trump suit to force declarer ruffs and burn their trumps before their long-suit winners cash.

Glossary

• Vraag (proposal): A bid to win 8 tricks with a partner to be found.
• Meegaan (I join): Accepting a vraag as partner.
• Troel: A holder of three aces forces a partnership with the fourth-ace holder.
• Alleen (solo): Play alone for 5 tricks with provisional trump.
• Miserie: Lose every trick playing solo with no trump.
• Abondance: Play alone for 9 or more tricks, choosing the trump suit.
• Solo Slim: Play alone for every trick, choosing trump; highest bid in the ladder.
• Provisional trump: Suit of the last card dealt, exposed to all and then returned to the dealer's hand.
• Pico: Optional mini-contract to win exactly one trick with no trump.