Israeli Whist is a four player card game. It is a variation of the classical Whist, that evolved among Israeli IDF soldiers in the nineteen eighties, and is still popular among soldiers and travelers. In Israel, it is simply known as "whist". Rules of the game Ranking of the cards in whist The cards are ranked by number and suit. The ranking by number, from strong to weak: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9,..., 3, 2 The ranking by suit, from strong to weak: NT (No Trump), ♠, ♥, ♦, ♣. Dealing of the cards A round begins by dealing out all the cards (without jokers) to four players. The dealer is switched every round in a clockwise direction, so that the player to the left of the current dealer is the next dealer. Each player receives 13 cards that remain hidden from the other players. Bidding In Israeli whist there are two rounds of bidding: a round to determine the trump suit and a round to determine the contract. The bidding that determines the trump suit After the dealing of the cards, the player sitting to the left of the dealer "calls". He can choose one of two options: Say "pass", or to bid. Bidding includes the number of future tricks (contract) given a certain trump suit. For example: "5 hearts" means "If the trump is hearts, I will contract at least 5 tricks". The minimal bid at this point is 5, in other words, if a player will not obligate himself to take at least 5 tricks, he will say "pass". Next, the player to the left of the previous "caller" makes his "call". He can say "pass", or bid higher than the highest bid so far. A higher bid can be stronger in suit (for example 5♠ is stronger than 5♦), or in number (6♥ is stronger than 5♠). The "calling" continues in a clockwise direction. The bid that determines the trump is the one that after it there are three "passes" in a row. Meaning, all the other players declare that they do not want bid higher. At this point the trump suit is determined. An interesting thing happens when all four players say "pass". In this situation, there is a "Frisch" round. "Frisch" In a Frisch round, every player passes three cards to the player to his left. The cards are laid on the table