spades.live › Bid Whist
Play Bid Whist online with friends
Bid uptown, downtown or no-trump, take the kitty and run a Boston — with your partner and your opponents live on video at the table.
FreeNo downloadLive videoWorks on phones
How to play Bid Whist
Bid Whist is a partnership game for four players. It’s usually played with 54 cards — the standard deck plus a Big Joker and a Little Joker. Each player gets 12 cards and the remaining six form the kitty.
Bidding goes around the table once, starting to the dealer’s left. A bid is a number from 3 to 7 — how many books (tricks) over six your team will take — plus a direction: uptown (high cards win), downtown (low cards win, with the ace still on top) or no-trump. Each bid must beat the last; at many tables the dealer may take the bid at the same level.
The winning bidder picks up the kitty, discards six cards (they count as the first book), and names trumps. In suited bids the jokers are the two highest trumps. The bidder leads the first trick, and everyone must follow suit if they can.
Scoring
- Make your bid and your team scores one point for every book over six (including the kitty’s book).
- Fall short and you lose the amount you bid.
- No-trump bids usually count double, win or lose.
- Taking all 13 books is a Boston — at most tables it wins the game outright.
- Games are commonly played to 7 points, though some tables play to 11 or 21.
Why play Bid Whist on spades.live
- Live video at every seat keeps the table talk — and the celebrating — part of the game.
- The kitty, trumps, jokers and scoring are handled for you, so nobody miscounts a book.
- Popular variations are built in: jokers on or off, dealer takes, no-trump doubles, how Bostons score.
- Bots cover empty seats until your fourth arrives.
Bid Whist house rules you can turn on
- Play to — A side also loses if it sinks this far below zero. 5 points · 7 points · 11 points · 21 points
- Jokers — Big and Little Joker are the top two trumps (6-card kitty). Off: 52 cards and a 4-card kitty.
- Lowest bid 1 (7 books) · 3 (9 books) · 4 (10 books)
- Dealer can take the bid — The dealer may match the high bid instead of beating it.
- If everyone passes Dealer is stuck with the lowest bid · Throw in and redeal
- No-trump counts double
- When the bid fails Bidders lose their bid · Defenders score the bid
- Boston (all 13 books) Wins the game · Scores double · Nothing special
Ready to deal?
Start a table, share the link, and play Bid Whist face to face in under a minute.
Play Bid Whist freeBid Whist FAQ
Can I play Bid Whist online with video?
Yes. Share a link and all four players join from the browser with live video and audio. No downloads or sign-ups.
Do you use jokers?
By default, yes — Big Joker and Little Joker are the top trumps with a six-card kitty. The host can switch jokers off for a 52-card game with a four-card kitty.
What are uptown and downtown?
Uptown means high cards win (ace, king, queen…). Downtown means low cards win — ace, 2, 3 and so on up to the king, which is lowest.
Is Bid Whist on spades.live free?
Yes, it’s free, and there is no real-money play.