Napoleon (card game)

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This page is about the British game known as Napoleon or Nap. For other uses of the name Napoleon see Napoleon (disambiguation)

Napoleon or Nap is a trick taking game in which players receive five cards each; whoever bids the highest number of tricks chooses trumps and tries to win at least that many.

1 Set-up
2 Bidding
3 Play
4 Scoring
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Set-up

Nap is played with 2-7 players. A standard 52 card pack is used, the cards in each suit ranking from high to low (Ace high). The dealer deals five cards to each player. Deal and play are clockwise, and the turn to deal passes to the left after each hand.

[edit] Bidding

The bidding starts with the player to dealer's left, and goes clockwise round to end with the dealer. Each player is allowed only one bid and it must be higher than the preceding bid (or a pass).

The allowed bids are as follows:

Three - the bidder undertakes to win at least three tricks.
Four - the bidder undertakes to win at least four tricks.
Nap - the bidder undertakes to win all five tricks.
Wellington - the bidder undertakes to win all five tricks, however, they must lead with their lowest value trump card. Wellington can only be bid if another player has already bid Nap.

Variations allow the following additional bids:

Two - A bid to win two tricks.
Mis, also known as Misère - A bid to lose every trick - it fails if the opponents can force the bidder to win a trick. It is worth 3 points and ranks between Three and Four in the bidding.
Blücher - A bid to win all five tricks. It can only be bid after another player has bid Wellington, and is worth 20 units.

[edit] Play

The high bidder makes the opening lead, and the suit of this lead becomes trump. The hands are played out in tricks with clockwise rotation. A player must follow the suit led if able. If unable to follow lead suit, any card may be played. A trick is won by the highest trump card in it or if no trump is in the trick the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner of the trick leads for the next trick.