Oh Hell

How to play Oh Hell

3 to 6 players · 52 cards · bid exactly

Goal

• Bid how many tricks you will take, then take exactly that many: not one more, not one fewer.
• Also called Oh Heck, Oh Pshaw, Oh Well, Contract Whist, Nomination Whist, Blackout, Blob, Elevator and Up and Down the River.

Rounds

• The number of cards changes every round. In the standard game each player gets 10 cards in the first round with 3 to 5 players (8 with 6 players, 7 with 7), then one card fewer each round down to 1, then one more each round back up.

Deal and trump

• The deal moves one seat clockwise each round. After the deal, the next card is turned face up. Its suit is trump for the round.

Bidding

• Starting left of the dealer, each player bids a number from 0 up to the number of cards in hand. Zero is a real bid: you try to take no tricks.
• The hook: the dealer bids last and may not bid the number that makes all the bids add up to the number of tricks. So at least one player will miss.

The play

• The player left of the dealer leads. Follow suit if you can; if you can’t, play any card, a trump included.
• The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump is played, the highest card of the suit led wins. Aces are high. The winner leads next.

Scoring

• Take exactly your bid: 10 points plus your bid (a bid of 0 made scores 10, a bid of 3 made scores 13). Miss it, over or under: 0.
• A common alternative: 1 point for every trick you take, plus 10 for an exact bid.
• The highest total after the last round wins.

The rules used here

• Players: you and 2 to 5 computer players. They see only their own cards.
• Rounds: 10 cards down to 1 and back up to 10 (19 rounds); with 6 players, 8 down to 1 and back up (15 rounds).
• Trump: the card turned up after the deal.
• Bidding: left of the dealer first, the dealer last, with the hook rule.
• Scoring: 10 + bid for an exact bid, 0 for a miss. The highest total after the last round wins.

All of these can be changed under Settings below the table. A new game starts with the new rules.

Common variants

• No hook (Oh Pshaw): the dealer may bid anything. Bicycle’s Oh Pshaw rules play this way, and the scorekeeper just says whether the bids are over, under or even.
• Up only: start with 1 card and add one each round. Bicycle gives 13 deals for 4 players, 10 for 5, and suggests stopping at 15 for 3.
• Other hand sizes: up then down, two 1-card rounds in the middle, or a fixed top such as 7 cards whatever the number of players.
• Trump: instead of turning a card, some go through the suits in a fixed order (in India, Kachuful uses spades, diamonds, clubs, hearts), some always use spades, and rounds where every card is dealt are played with no trump.
• Scoring: 1 point per trick plus 10 for an exact bid is just as common. For a made bid of zero, some score 10, some 5, and some 5 plus the number of cards in the round.
• Bidding at the same time: everyone shows their bid with their fingers on “three”. There is no hook then.
• Play: in some groups the dealer leads the first trick, and in La Podrida and Romanian Whist you must trump when you can’t follow suit.

Tips

• Aces and high trumps usually win. A king in a short suit often doesn’t: someone may be out of the suit and trump it.
• In big rounds, bid a little low: not every high card wins. In 1-card rounds, a low card is a good zero bid.
• Watch the bids. When the total is over the number of tricks, players will fight for tricks; when it is under, someone will be forced to take more than they wanted.
• Once you have your tricks, get rid of high cards when you can’t win anyway, and play under the winning card.

Questions

Is Oh Hell the same as Oh Heck or Up and Down the River?

Yes. They are the same game under different names. It was first called Oh Well in England around 1930; American books also call it Oh Pshaw or Oh Heck, in Britain it is often Contract Whist or Nomination Whist, and in Australia and New Zealand it is Up and Down the River. House rules differ a little, so you can change them in the settings.

What is the hook rule?

The dealer bids last and may not bid the number that makes all the bids add up to the number of cards in hand. That way at least one player will miss their bid every round. Some groups, and the Bicycle rules for Oh Pshaw, play without it; you can turn it off in the settings.

How many cards are dealt in each round?

In the standard game each player gets 10 cards in the first round with 3 to 5 players, or 8 with 6 players. Every round has one card fewer down to 1, then one more each round back up. You can also play up first, or with at most 7 or 5 cards for a shorter game.

How does scoring work?

Here the standard is 10 points plus your bid when you take exactly the number of tricks you bid, and 0 when you take more or fewer. The other common way, 1 point per trick plus 10 for an exact bid, is in the settings.

Print the Oh Hell rule sheet (PDF) or see all rules. Like bidding with a partner? Try Spades.

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