Games - Oh Hell

	Games - Oh Hell

Oh Hell is an easy-to-learn trick-taking card game. As with many popular social card games, it has many local variants and is known by many different names (listed below).

The object of Oh Hell is to take exactly the number of tricks bid; unlike contract bridge and Spades, an overtrick downs the contract.

Rules

Note: There are many variations to this game; a common set of regulations is given here. See below for the variants.

Oh Hell can be played with almost any number of players (3+) although 4-7 is considered optimal. The game is played using a standard 52-card deck, with ace being the highest rank, two the lowest. With six or more players, the game can be played with two decks combined or with a 63-card deck from six-player 500.

The first hand is played with one card dealt to each player. On each succeeding deal one more card is dealt out to each player, until there aren't enough cards for another round. After this, the number of cards per player decreases by one every round. The game is complete when the last round (with one card per player) has been played. For example, a four-player match of Oh Hell consists of twenty-five deals, from hand size 1 up to 13 and back down to 1. Three-player and double-deck variants go up to a maximum hand size of 15 cards.

The dealer (initially determined by cutting cards) deals out the cards one by one, starting with the player to the left, in a clockwise direction, until the required number of cards has been dealt. After the dealing is complete, the next card is turned face up, and the suit of this card determines the trump suit for the deal. (If there are no unused cards, the largest hand is played without a trump suit. Alternatively, the maximal round trump suit can be determined in a variety of ways: for instance, by revealing the dealer's last card as in whist.)

Each player is now obliged to bid for the number of tricks he believes he can win. The player to the left of the dealer bids first. Bidding is unrestricted except for the screw the dealer rule: the number of tricks bid cannot equal the number available. Every deal must either be overbid or underbid. For example, if five cards are dealt, and the first three bids are two, zero, and one, then the dealer may not bid two. However, if five cards are dealt, and the first three bids are three, one, and two, then the dealer is free to make any bid.

When every player has made a bid, the player to the left of the dealer places the opening lead. Play then proceeds as usual in a trick-taking game, with each player in turn playing one card. Players must follow suit, unless they have no cards of the lead suit, in which case they may play any card. The highest card of the lead suit wins the trick unless ruffed, when the highest trump card wins. The player who wins the trick leads for the next trick.

Scoring

# Basic scoring: Each player scores the number of tricks he takes. A player that wins the exact number of tricks bid receives an additional 10 points for making the contract. # Exact scoring: A player who makes the exact number of tricks bid scores 10 plus the amount bid. Players who overbid or underbid score nothing. # Reduced 0 bid: Similar to basic (or exact) scoring, with the modification that making a zero contract scores only five points. (Zero bids are often the easiest to make.) # Adjusted 0 bid: Similar to basic scoring, with the change that a zero bid is worth five plus the number of cards dealt out to a player. For example, in the first round, a successful zero bid is worth 6 points, while a successful one bid is worth 11 points. (Zero bids are harder to make in larger hands.) # Progressive scoring: As in basic scoring, a player that fails to make the contract receives a number of points equal to the number of tricks he takes. However, a successful bid is worth the 10-point threshold plus the square of the bid, thereby rewarding a person bidding and making four tricks with 26 (10 plus 16) points. This has the advantage of rewarding riskier bids, and making it possible for someone to catch up from behind more easily. # Negative scoring: The scoring system is reversed, as in golf, lowest score winning. Satisfying the contract scores zero points. The first undertrick or overtrick costs one point, and each additional undertrick/overtrick costs a point more than the one before it. For instance, 3 overtricks would add 6 points (the sum of 1, 2, and 3) to a player's total. This rewards sacrifices, for it is now often beneficial to risk an overtrick (1 point) to cost a person that is already down to get an additional undertrick (which will cost many more points). # Simplified negative scoring: Each player scores the square of the number of overtricks or undertricks taken. # Spades double: In variations where the trump card is chosen randomly, some play that if a spade is turned up, the points for that round double.

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