

The other team members are allowed to ask how many points each other has. If this happens, any points the other team may have in meld is given to them and another round of bidding begins. The team will also lose points equal to their bid if they do not have 20 meld points. If the team does not pull the required number of points during play, they will lose points equal to their bid at the end of play. If the number is less than 20, or the team has more meld than their bid, the minimum number of points that the team must pull will always be 20. Both the bid and meld should be written down. The difference between the bid and meld tells the number of point cards that the team must take during play. As long as a person plays the highest trump if trump is played, he/she takes the trick and any points with it.īoth players on the team that took trump lay down any cards that are worth meld. When a person runs out a suit that is led during play, they must use trump in order to "cut" the leading cards. For this round, trump will be the suit that beats out any other suit.

When everyone else passes, the person who was the last to bid "takes the bid." The player then declares one suit to be trump. Once the bid reaches 60, ever bid thereafter must be increased by 5. If the bidding continues long enough, or if a player feels confident about the playability of his/her hand, he/she can bid 60 right away. The number the bid is increased by times ten signifies the number of points in the player's hand. When a person increases a bid my a number other than one, the player is letting his/her partner know how many points he/she has in his/her hand. This will become important when the hand is to be played, since having aces usuall guaruntees points will be pulled. If the first person to bid declares 51, he/she is signaling to his/her partner that he/she has an ace in every suit. Other types of bids include simply increasing the bid by one, increasing the bid to signal your partner how points you have in your hand, and bidding 51 right away. In order for a person to declare trump, there must be a marriage for the person to declare trump in. A player may choose to not bid if they don't have a strong playing hand or don't have a marriage. Bidding is the act of declaring a number that you think you and your partner can make between your melds and the ability to pull points during tricks. After the cards have been dealt, the player to the left of the dealer begins the bidding.
