Minnesota Whist Help

Minnesota Whist Rules

Minnesota Whist is played with 4 players using a standard 52-card deck. The default rules are described here. See Rule Options for the supported variations.

You form a team with the player sitting across from you. The game consists of multiple hands. Each team accumulates points as the hands are played. The first team to reach 13 points wins.

There are four stages to a hand: dealing, bidding, playing, and scoring.

Dealing

At the start of the game, the dealer is chosen randomly. The deal then rotates clockwise after each hand. Each player is dealt 13 cards.

Bidding

Bidding determines whether the hand is played high, also called grand, or low. In a high hand, players try to take tricks. In a low hand, they try to avoid tricks.

Each player selects a card to indicate their bid and places it face down on the table. A black card indicates high, while a red card indicates low. Beginning with the player to the dealer's left and proceeding clockwise, the bid cards are turned face up one at a time. As soon as a high bid is revealed, no more bid cards are shown and the hand is played high. The player who made that bid is the declarer, also called the bidder. If every player indicates low, the hand is played low and there is no declarer. All bid cards are then returned to their players' hands.

In the rare case that a player wants to bid high but holds no black card below 10, they may show two red cards instead. Similarly, a player who wants to indicate low but holds no red card below 10 may show two black cards.

Play

Minnesota Whist is played without a trump suit. The hand consists of 13 tricks. Each trick contains 4 cards, 1 card from each player. The player who plays the first card is the leader, and the suit of that card is the suit led. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick.

Cards rank from low to high as follows.

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A.

For a high contract, the player to the declarer's right leads the first trick. For a low contract, which has no declarer under the default rules, the player to the dealer's left leads first. The initial leader may lead any card.

Play proceeds clockwise, with each player playing one card. Players must follow the suit led when able. A player who cannot follow suit may play any card.

After each player has played a card on the trick, the winning player takes the trick and places it aside until the scoring stage. This player is the leader of the next trick. The play stage continues until players have no cards left in their hands.

Scoring

After all tricks have been played, the number taken by each team is counted. Scoring is based on odd tricks. In a high contract, odd tricks are tricks taken over 6. If the declarer's team takes more than 6 tricks, they score 1 point per odd trick. If the defenders take more than 6 tricks, they score 2 points per odd trick.

In a low contract, there is no declaring team under the default rules. The team that takes fewer tricks scores 1 point for each trick over 6 taken by the opponents. For example, if one team takes 9 tricks and the other takes 4, the team with 4 tricks scores 3 points.

For additional high-contract examples, if the declarer's team takes 8 tricks, they score 2 points. If the defenders take 9 tricks, they score 6 points: 3 odd tricks at 2 points each.

The scores for the hand are added to the teams' total scores. The first team to reach 13 points wins the game.

Web Links

There are many helpful websites discussing Minnesota Whist. Here are a few we found especially useful.

• Wikipedia
• Pagat.com
• Britannica

Preset Game Rules

NeuralPlay includes the following ready-to-play presets. See Rule Options to customize the rules.

• Minnesota Whist. Uses the rules described in the Minnesota Whist Rules section.
• Norwegian Whist. Players do not show cards to bid. Beginning with the player to the dealer's left, each player bids high, low, or pass. The first non-pass bid determines the contract and that bidder becomes the declarer. If everyone passes, the hand is played low without a declarer.

  For a high contract, the player to the declarer's left leads first. For a declared-low contract, the player to the declarer's right leads first. For a passed-out low hand, the player to the dealer's right leads first.

  High contracts score 4 points per odd trick. Low contracts score 2 points per odd trick. When a declaring team fails, the defenders receive twice the normal score. This doubled score does not apply to a passed-out low hand. The game ends at 50 points.

Learning Features

NeuralPlay Minnesota Whist offers many features to help you learn and improve your play. These features may be enabled, disabled, or adjusted in Settings. The features include the following.

• Hints. By default, the AI shows a hint when you ask for one. In Settings, you may ask the AI to always show a hint, or ask the AI to check your bid or play and show a hint only when its choice differs from yours.
• AI tricks taken estimate. When enabled, each hint shows the estimated number of tricks that will be taken for each legal play. This is an expected value averaged across many simulations. The AI-suggested play may differ from the play with the highest estimate in a high contract or the lowest estimate in a low contract because of partnership strategy or simulation noise.
• Card counter. When enabled, a counter shows which cards have been played.

Rule Options

NeuralPlay Minnesota Whist offers popular rule options so you can customize the game to your liking. Options include the following.

Bidding

• Bidding style. Choose whether cards are shown during bidding.
  • Show cards. This is the default Minnesota Whist style. You show a red or black card to indicate your bid. Black normally indicates high; the Bidding card style option may reverse the colors. When you have no cards below a 10 of the desired color, you may use two cards of the other color to show your bid.
  • Bid high or pass. Instead of showing cards, choose a bid directly. Bidding stops and the contract is determined as soon as a player bids high. If everyone passes, the hand is played low without a declarer.
  • Bid high, low, or pass. Choose high, low, or pass directly. Bidding stops as soon as a player bids high or low, and that player becomes the declarer. If everyone passes, the hand is played low without a declarer.
• Bidding card style. Choose the meaning of the red and black bid cards.
  • A black card is high. A black card indicates a high bid. A red card indicates a low bid.
  • A red card is high. A red card indicates a high bid. A black card indicates a low bid.

Playing

• High leader. For a high contract, choose the player to the declarer's right or left.
• Low leader (no declarer). For a low contract produced when everyone shows a low card or passes, choose the player to the dealer's left or right.
• Low leader (with declarer). For a low contract produced by a direct low bid, choose the player to the declarer's left or right.

Scoring

• High points per odd trick. In a high contract, odd tricks are tricks over 6. Award 1 or 4 points per odd trick.
• Low points per odd trick. In a low contract, a team's odd tricks are the number by which its trick total falls below 7. Award 1, 2, or 4 points per odd trick.
• Failed high (grand) contract. When the defenders take more than 6 tricks, award them the normal score or twice the normal score.
• Failed declared-low contract. When the defenders take fewer tricks than the declaring team, award them the normal score or twice the normal score. This setting applies only to a low contract with a declarer, which occurs when Bid high, low, or pass is enabled and a player bids low. It does not apply to a passed-out low hand.

Game Over

• Game over at. End the game when a team reaches a selected number of points, or after a selected number of hands. In a fixed-hand game, the team with the higher score after the final hand wins; the game may end in a tie.
• Points to game over. Choose the point target.
• Hands to game over. Choose the number of hands to play.

Computer Players

NeuralPlay computer players offer 6 levels of play. Level 1 is reasonably easy and good for beginners. Level 3 should be fun for most players. Level 6 is the most challenging.

The computer players use different AI methods depending on the level. Levels 1 and 2 use simple methods designed for beginners.

Level 3 uses a rule-based AI. Its rules include examples such as "In third seat, do not overtake partner's winning card" and "In fourth seat, play just high enough to take the trick when trying to win it." These rules provide consistent, logical play.

Levels 4 through 6 use Monte Carlo simulation to determine the best play. The AI deals the unknown cards randomly, tries each legal play, and plays the hand to the end to get a result. This is repeated for many possible deals. The average result for each legal play is computed, and the play with the best average result is chosen.

Levels 4 through 6 differ in how many possible deals they simulate. In general, more simulations produce more accurate estimates and better play. The tradeoff is that more simulations take more time, so level 6 may play more slowly than level 4, depending on the device.

Because levels 4 through 6 do not follow a fixed set of rules, you may observe either surprisingly good plays or odd mistakes that do not appear logical. Overall, our tests show that these levels play better than the rule-based level 3. The randomness also makes the computer players feel more human and less predictable.

If you prefer more consistent, logical, and predictable computer partners or opponents, level 3 may be best.

Whichever level you choose, you may adjust bidding aggressiveness. For individual control, choose Custom, which provides separate settings for North, East, South, and West. For each seat, you may adjust play thinking, bid thinking, and bidding aggressiveness. South's custom settings control the strength of the hints you receive.

We are continuing to research and develop improvements to the computer players.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I change the hand sorting?

See Settings → Hand Sorting. You can change the rank order and suit order, and choose to alternate red and black suits.

How do I reset my game settings to the defaults?

Go to the main screen and choose Menu → Reset.

What are North, South, East, and West (and N, S, E, and W)?

These are the player positions around the table. You are always South. North is your partner, and West and East are your opponents.

What does "claim" mean?

Claiming means that you or your team expect to take all the remaining tricks. When your hand is clearly high, you may claim to speed up play. The AI checks the claim; if it succeeds, the remaining tricks are awarded and the hand ends.

How do I contact NeuralPlay with suggestions and feedback?

Please contact us at support@neuralplay.com.