trick-taking games

Trick-taking games are a type of card games, and include bridge, spades, and hearts.

The basis of these games is the trick, a round in which each player plays a card from his hand. The highest trump played wins the trick, or if no trump was played, the highest card from the suit of the card that was led (played first) wins the trick. The player who played that card leads to the next trick. Players must follow suit if possible.

Another relatively big trick-taking game is Euchre. This is definately my favorite game, as it is fast paced and requires guts. Not as boring as hearts or as lumbering as spades. . And you can teach your friends the game quickly, unlike bridge.

This is the largest group of card games and the most familiar to people. Typically, each player is dealt a hand (in most games, an equal number of cards). A single trick consists of each player in turn playing one card face up (some games have multiple tricks where several cards may be played simultaneously). The first card played is the leading card. There is a rule to determine which card wins the trick (typically the highest card of the suit led). The cards that made up the trick are then captured and placed in front of the winner of the trick. The winner of the trick then leads the next.

There are two major groups of trick taking games:

Plain Trick Games - the value of the trick does not depend on the cards it contains.

Point Trick Games - the individual cards have different values.