Dracula’s Whist — a card game
A partnership trick-taking game for 4–6 players. Hearts are always trump, and Dracula is in the deck.
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Overview
Two ways to score
Teams of two play a series of rounds. Each round is a hand of whist, and there are two ways to earn points:
Winning tricks
Win more tricks than your “book” and you score, but only if your team wins at least as many tricks as it bid.
Filling in your Set Sheet
Tricks that contain a Blood card go into a shared pile called the thrall. Once per round one team claims it and uses its cards to check off boxes on their Set Sheet. Completed sets earn bonus points.
Winning the gameThe first team to reach 27 points wins.
Setting up
Hearts and Blood
Hearts are trumps in every round: any Heart beats any card of another suit. The four even Hearts are the Blood cards. A trick that contains one goes into the thrall instead of a team’s trick pile.
1
2 · Blood
3
4 · Blood
5
6 · Blood
7
8 · Blood
The odd Hearts are ordinary trumps: a trick that holds only odd Hearts stays with the team that won it. The 1 of Hearts has a job of its own. The team that wins the trick containing it claims the thrall for the round.
What you need
- 4 players: the 32-card deck (Spades, Clubs, Diamonds and Hearts, each running 1 to 8). Two teams of two.
- 6 players: the 48-card deck, which adds Cups and Trees. Three teams of two.
- A Set Sheet and a pencil for each team. Printable sheets are in the rulebook.
Reference
A round at a glance
- Deal · 8 cards each. The deal passes to the left each round.
- Bid · The holder of the 2 of Clubs speaks first; then, clockwise, pass or raise. A team’s bid is the highest number either partner said. If neither partner bids, it is 0.
- Transfusion · The winning bidder passes 2 cards face down to their partner, who passes any 2 back.
- Play 8 tricks · The winning bidder leads first. Follow suit if you can. Hearts are trump and can’t be led until broken. Any trick holding a Blood card goes to the thrall, but still counts for the team that won it.
- Claim · The team that wins the trick containing the 1 of Hearts claims the thrall.
- Score tricks · Bid not made: 0. Otherwise 1 point per trick beyond the book (3 tricks with 4 players, 1 trick with 6).
- Take the thrall · Shuffle it and remove 3 cards per overtrick (tricks won beyond the bid). The claiming team keeps the rest.
- Fill in the Set Sheet · Check off the kept cards, then discard them. Score each newly completed set at once.
Reference
Scoring at a glance
| Tricks | 4 players | 6 players |
|---|---|---|
| The book (tricks that score nothing) | 3 | 1 |
| Each trick beyond the book | 1 pt | 1 pt |
| Team won fewer tricks than it bid | 0 | 0 |
| Completed set | Bonus |
|---|---|
| All Hearts | 1 |
| All 1s, 2s, or 3s | 1 |
| All 4s, 5s, 6s, or 8s | 2 |
| All 7s | 3 |
| Any other complete suit | 3 |
Winning
First team to 27 points. If two teams get there in the same round, the higher total wins; if still tied, play one more round.
The full rules
Bidding, the transfusion, claiming the thrall, the Set Sheet, a glossary and printable Set Sheets: everything you need to play, in a 24-page rulebook that prints two-up on Letter paper.