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Oh Hell

Each round, everyone gets the same number of cards, starting at seven, shrinking to one, then growing back to seven. A card flipped from the deck sets trump. Everyone bids exactly how many tricks they'll win, and only exact bids score. The dealer is never allowed to make the bids add up perfectly, so somebody always misses.

Set up · 1 of 2

Deal seven cards each for the first round.

Set up · 2 of 2

Turn the next card face up. Its suit is trump for this round.

How to play · 1 of 4

Bid

Starting left of the dealer, everyone says how many tricks they'll win. The dealer bids last and can't pick the number that would make the bids add up to the number of cards in each hand.

How to play · 2 of 4

Play tricks

The player left of the dealer leads. Follow suit if you can. The highest trump wins, or if there's no trump, the highest card of the suit led. The winner leads next.

How to play · 3 of 4

Score

Win exactly what you bid and score 10 points plus your bid. Miss by any amount and score nothing.

How to play · 4 of 4

Change the hand size

The deal passes left, and each round gets one card fewer, down to one card each. Then work back up to seven.

How to win

After the last seven-card round, the highest score wins.