If more than one player lays down a trump card, the highest trump card takes the trick. For example, in a round in which spades is trump, if an eight of diamonds is led, followed by a ten of diamonds, a king of diamonds, and a two of spades, the trump card, two of spades, wins the round even though it is numerically lower.

Any trump card outranks all cards from other suits. If the same suit is not available in one's hand, a player can lay down a card from the trump suit. The player on the dealer's left begins the play by laying a card on the table face up. The last card, which belongs to the dealer, is dealt face up and determines the trump suit of hearts, diamonds, spades, or clubs for that hand. To begin, all cards are dealt out around the table, one card at a time laid face down, with each player ultimately holding 13 cards. The object is to take tricks, or earn points, by playing the highest-ranking card in each round. Whist, on which the modern card game bridge is based, is played with a full deck of 52 cards by two sets of partners. Reprinted in 14 successive editions along with numerous revised editions published after Hoyle's death, A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist ultimately became one of the best selling books of the eighteenth century. The book sold for one guinea and became a popular success, despite the fact that numerous pirated versions quickly appeared on the market. The book was entered at Stationers' Hall on November 17, 1742, with Hoyle as the sole owner of the copyright. When the manuscript handbook was well received by his students, he was encouraged to publish it. In need of a standard book of rules to assist his students, he wrote A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist. In 1741 he was residing in Queen Square, London, where he earned at least part of his income by giving lessons on the card game whist. It is commonly believed that he was a lawyer. It has been speculated that he was from Yorkshire and later owned land in Dublin, but scholars agree that the historical records are most likely referring to another Edmond Hoyle. He also published rules on backgammon, brag, quadrille, piquet, and chess.Īlmost nothing is known of Hoyle's life before 1741. Edmond Hoyle (1672-1769) was an authority on card games and is often referred to as the 'Father of Whist.' Although he did not invent the game, with the publication of his systematized book of rules and procedures, the game became widely popular, especially among the English aristocracy.

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