Tarneeb rules

Players and cards

Four players in two teams; partners sit across from each other. One deck of 52 cards, no Jokers, and each player gets 13. Aces are high: A, K, Q, J, 10 and down to 2.

Bidding

1. Starting with the player after the dealer, everyone bids or passes.
2. A bid is a number from 7 to 13 and a suit, like 8 Spades: your team will take at least 8 of the 13 tricks, with Spades as trump.
3. Each bid must be a higher number than the one before. The suit doesn't count, so after 8 Spades the next bid is 9 or more.
4. Once you pass, you're out of the bidding.
5. When everyone else has passed, the last bid wins and its suit is trump. If all four pass, the cards are dealt again.

Playing the tricks

1. The player who won the bidding plays the first card.
2. Everyone plays one card in turn. Follow suit: if you have a card of the suit that was led, you must play one.
3. If you don't have that suit, play any card, a trump included.
4. The highest trump wins the trick. With no trump in it, the highest card of the suit that was led wins.
5. Whoever wins a trick plays first in the next one, until all 13 are played.

Scoring

• Made it: the bidding team took at least its bid. It scores the tricks it took; the other team scores nothing.
• Fell short: the bidding team loses its bid, and the other team scores the tricks it took.
• All 13 tricks score 26.

Bid 8, take 9: you score 9. Bid 8, take 6: you lose 8, and the other team scores 7.

Winning

Hands go on until a team reaches 41 points; that team wins. A table can agree on another target before it starts.