Ruff and Honours

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ruff and Honours was a card game, the forerunner for Whist, which in turn was the forerunner of Bridge. This game is very rarely played, as it died out in the 18th century, replaced by whist.

It was a successor of the French game Triumph with many different spellings. It was played thus:

1. Four players in two opposing pairs, the partners sitting opposite each other.
2. The 52-card deck was used and the dealer dealt every player 12 cards each.
3. The four cards remaining became "the stock".
4. The upcard of the stock was turned and the suit of that card became the trump suit.
5. The holder of the trump ace had the priviligue of "ruffing" the stock's four cards into his own hand, and discarding four others as he liked. If the upcard was an ace the dealer earned the priviligue of ruffing.
6. After the ruffing the player to the dealer's left would lead any card he liked to the first trick. The other players had to follow suit.