Catch the Ten (Scotch Whist)

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Playing the tricks
5. Scoring
6. Winning the game
7. Tips for beginners
8. Variants

Overview

Catch the Ten was the favourite card game of Edinburgh and the south of Scotland around 1800. Despite its other name, Scotch Whist, it has little to do with Whist: it is played with 36 cards, the Jack is the highest trump, and the points come from capturing the top trumps – above all the Ten of trumps, worth 10 points to whoever "catches" it. Tricks also score: every card you take beyond your share is a point. The first player or side to reach 41 points wins.

The rules here follow R. F. Foster's Complete Hoyle (1897), which repeats the first published rules of 1830.

• Players: 2–8. With 4, 6 or 8 you play in partnerships; with 2, 3, 5 or 7 everyone plays alone.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, and paper and pencil.

The cards

Take out all 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s; you play with the 36 cards from 6 to Ace.

A trick is one round in which each player plays one card; the best card wins it. Trumps are one suit, chosen for each hand by turning up a card: any trump beats any card of another suit. The cards rank:

• Trump suit: J A K Q 10 9 8 7 6 – the Jack is the best card in the game.
• Other suits: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6.

Only five cards score points, all of them trumps:

The Jack always wins, so its owner is sure of 11 points. But the Ten is only the fifth-best trump – any trump face card or Ace can catch it. That is the heart of the game.

Setup

Players cut the deck; the lowest card deals first. After each hand the deal passes to the left.

Partnerships are decided by cutting: with four players, the two lowest play against the two highest. Partners never sit next to each other – with two teams, players of the two teams sit alternately; with three or four pairs, there are opponents between each pair of partners. Partners share one pile of tricks and one score.

Dealing: the dealer deals the whole deck one card at a time, clockwise, starting with the player on the left. The last card belongs to the dealer and is turned face up: its suit is trumps. The dealer leaves it on the table until it's their turn to play to the first trick, then picks it up. After that, you may ask which suit is trumps, but not which card was turned.

Two or three players: the dealer deals each player's cards as separate hands of six, one set after another (the last card dealt – with two players the third set's, with three the second set's – is the trump card). You play the hands in the order they were dealt: everyone picks up their first hand and plays it out; then everyone picks up their second, and so on. The winner of the last trick of one set leads to the next. The trump card stays on the table until the dealer picks up the last hand.

Playing the tricks

The player on the dealer's left leads (plays the first card) to the first trick. Then everyone in turn, clockwise, adds a card:

• You must follow suit – play a card of the suit that was led – if you can.
• If you can't, you may play a trump or any other card.

The highest trump wins the trick; if nobody played a trump, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner collects the trick and leads to the next.

Revoking – not following suit when you could – costs the player or side who did it the whole game if it is noticed before the next deal.

Example: Four play; diamonds are trumps. Anna leads the K♣, Ben has no clubs and trumps with the 10♦ to save it, Carla (Anna's partner) has no clubs either and trumps higher with the Q♦, and Dan follows with the 7♣. Carla's Queen beats Ben's Ten – Anna and Carla have caught the Ten and score 10 + 2.

Scoring

At the end of each hand, every player or side scores:

• Honours: the points of the J, 10, A, K and Q of trumps in their tricks – 30 points in all.
• Cards: count the cards in your tricks. You score 1 point for each card above the number dealt to you (or to your side).

Example: Four play, spades are trumps. Each got 9 cards, so a side's share is 18. Anna and Carla take 6 of the 9 tricks – 24 cards – and score 24 − 18 = 6 for cards. Anna held the J♠ (11) and they won the A♠ (4): 21 points in this hand. Ben and Dan took 3 tricks (12 cards, less than their share, so nothing for cards) including the 10♠, the K♠ and the Q♠: 15 points.

With two or three players every set of six-card hands is scored as its own hand (your share is 6 cards). With five players, each dealt 7: a player who takes 15 cards scores 8 for cards, one who takes 10 scores 3.

Winning the game

The first player or side to reach 41 points wins. If more than one could reach 41 in the same hand, the points are counted in this order, and whoever passes 41 first wins:

1. the Ten of trumps,
2. cards,
3. the Ace, King and Queen of trumps, in that order,
4. the Jack of trumps last.

Tips for beginners

• Everything turns on the Ten. If you hold it, look for a safe moment: play it on a trick your partner is already winning with a higher trump, or trump with it when you are the last to play.
• Hunt it with honours. With the J and A (or A and K) of trumps, lead two rounds of trumps at once to draw the Ten out.
• Don't forget the cards. A side that wins most of the tricks can score more for cards than for the Ten.
• Watch the score. Near 41, the order of counting decides – the Ten counts out first, the Jack last.

Variants

Agree on these before you start.

• Game at once: according to English Wikipedia's reading of the 1830 rules, a side that reaches 41 during a hand – for example by catching the Ten – wins at once, without playing on.
• Everyone alone: The Card Games Bible (2014) also lets 4, 6 or 8 players play each for themselves.
• Keep the 6♠: with 5 or 7 players, deal the full 36 cards except the last: the dealer turns up the 35th card for trumps, shows everyone the 36th and lays it aside.
• Milder revoke: The New Complete Hoyle (1991) suggests that a revoking side loses only its points for that hand, and the opponents score everything they made.