The ranking of these cards in any non-trump suit is as follows (from highest to lowest): Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. Scotch Whist is usually played with a deck of 36 cards, which consists of a deck consisting of 4 each (one of each suit) of the following card denominations: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. When four play, the partners should sit directly across from each other such as to alternate play between members of each partnership.įor six players, the members of a particular partnership should sit evenly around the table such that two opponents sit between the two partners.įor eight players, the members of the partnership should sit such that there are three opponents between each member of a partnership.

Any players who draw cards of the same denomination should replace the card and draw another, continuing this until there are no tied cards. The two highest cards form the first partnership, the two next highest the next partnership and so on. To determine these partnerships, each player should cut a card from a shuffled, face down deck. If there are an even number of players (more than two), the players will be divided into a number of two person partnerships. With two players, each player also plays for himself and the play alternates between each player who should sit across from each other at the table. The format of the game and style of play is dependent on if there are an odd or even number of players:įor an odd number of players, there are no partnerships and each player plays for himself and may sit anywhere around the table. Scotch Whist is designed to be played by from two to eight participants. This game is also commonly called Catch the Ten due to the players attempts to capture high point value trump cards in tricks, such as the ten.

Although having Whist in the name, Scotch or Scottish Whist is more related to the Skat family of games (being of Germanic origin) than it is to Whist.

Can you play whist with 2 player