Thousand (1000)

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Bidding
5. The widow
6. Playing the tricks
7. Marriages and trump
8. Scoring a hand
9. The barrel (880)
10. Zero penalty
11. Winning the game
12. Tips for beginners
13. Variants

Overview

Thousand is a trick-taking game for three, each playing for themselves. In every hand the players bid for the right to take three extra cards, the widow, and to play alone against the other two. Points come from the cards you win in tricks and from marriages – a King and Queen of the same suit, which also make that suit trump. The first player to reach 1000 points wins.

• Players: 3 (with 4, one player sits out each hand – see Variants).
• You need: one standard 52-card deck and paper and pen for scoring.

The cards

Take out everything from 2 to 8 and the jokers. You play with 24 cards: A, 10, K, Q, J and 9 in every suit.

In every suit the cards rank from high to low, and each card has a point value:

Note the 10: it ranks below the Ace but above the King. All the cards together are worth 120 points.

Setup

1. Dealer: decide the first dealer at random; after each hand the deal passes to the left.
2. Deal: the dealer shuffles and deals one card at a time, clockwise starting on the left: 7 cards to each player. During the first three rounds, one card each round goes face down into the middle – these 3 cards are the widow.
3. Your 7 cards are your hand – keep them hidden.

Bidding

A bid is a promise: "I will score at least this many points" – card points from tricks plus your marriages.

• The player left of the dealer starts and must bid at least 100.
• Then, in turn clockwise, each player either bids higher (in steps of 5: 105, 110 …) or passes. Once you have passed, you are out of the bidding for this hand.
• Bidding ends when two players have passed. The last bidder is the declarer.
• You may only bid more than 120 if you hold at least one marriage (K + Q of the same suit).

The widow

1. The declarer turns the 3 widow cards face up for everyone to see and takes them into their hand (10 cards).
2. The declarer then gives one card face down to each opponent. Now everyone has 8 cards.
3. The declarer may now raise the bid (in steps of 5), but never lower it.

Giving up: if the declarer thinks the bid can't be made, they may give up now without playing. Each opponent scores 60 points. The first two times in a game this costs the declarer nothing; the third time, the declarer loses 120 points.

Four 9s: if a player now holds all four 9s, they may show them and have the hand abandoned without score.

Playing the tricks

A trick is one round in which each player plays one card face up, clockwise. The highest card wins all three cards.

1. The declarer leads (plays the first card) to the first trick. Afterwards, the winner of each trick leads to the next.
2. At the start there is no trump.
3. You must follow suit: play a card of the suit that was led if you can. You don't have to beat it.
4. If you can't follow suit and there is a trump suit, you must play a trump if you have one. Otherwise play any card.
5. Who wins: the highest trump; if there is no trump in the trick, the highest card of the suit that was led.

Marriages and trump

A marriage is a King and Queen of the same suit in your hand. It is worth:

• You can only announce a marriage when you are about to lead, having just won a trick. Say "marriage" and lead the King or Queen of it. So it can't happen on the very first lead.
• You score the marriage points, and that suit immediately becomes trumps – starting with the trick you just led.
• A later marriage (by anyone) makes its suit the new trump. Trump can change several times in a hand.
• Once you have played the K or Q without announcing, that marriage is gone.

Example: Anna wins a trick with A♠. She holds K♦ and Q♦, so she says "marriage" and leads the Q♦: she scores 80, and diamonds are trumps from this trick on. Ben has no diamonds – and since diamonds are now trumps, no trump card either – so he discards 9♣.

Scoring a hand

After all 8 tricks, everyone adds up the card points in their tricks plus their marriages.

• Declarer: if the total is at least the bid, the bid is added to their score (not the actual total). If not, the bid is subtracted. Scores can go below zero.
• Opponents: each rounds their own total to the nearest 5 and adds it.

Example: Anna bid 150 and announced the ♦ marriage (80). Her tricks are worth 74: 80 + 74 = 154 ≥ 150, so she scores +150. Ben took 32 card points → 30. Carla took 14 and announced ♠ (40): 54 → 55. Had Anna taken only 62 (142 < 150), she would have lost 150.

The barrel (880)

Nobody can have a score between 880 and 999. If your score reaches 880 or more but less than 1000, it is set to 880 and you are on the barrel (mark it on the score sheet).

• While on the barrel, points you take as an opponent don't count.
• To win, you must become declarer and make a bid (at least 120) that takes you to 1000.
• If you are declarer and fail, the bid is subtracted as usual and you are off the barrel.
• You may stay on the barrel for three hands. If you haven't won after the third, you drop to 760.
• You may not give up without playing while on the barrel.

Zero penalty

If, as an opponent, you win no points at all in a hand, mark a line. The third time this happens (not necessarily in a row) you lose 120 points. A single trick with J, 9, 9 (2 points) doesn't count as a zero. Hands played while you are on the barrel don't count.

Winning the game

The first player to reach 1000 points or more wins. It is possible to jump straight to 1000 without stopping on the barrel.

Tips for beginners

• Bid on your marriages. A ♥ marriage alone is worth 100 – but only if you can win a trick to announce it.
• Aces and 10s win tricks and hold most of the points. A hand with several Aces is a good start.
• Pass on cards wisely as declarer: give away cards that could help an opponent least, such as lone 9s.
• Opponents should work together against the declarer, even though each scores for themselves.
• Watch the Kings and Queens. Once one of a pair has been played, that marriage can no longer be announced.

Variants

Thousand has many local rules – agree before you start.

• Four players: only three play each hand; one player sits out (often the dealer, in some places the player right of the dealer).
• Four Aces may be announced like a marriage for 200.
• Giving up gives each opponent half the bid instead of 60.
• No zero penalty.
• Other barrel scores: at some tables the barrel is at 850, 870 or 900.
• Dumping: a score of exactly 555 drops to zero.
• Redeal if the widow holds fewer than 5 points.