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English Rules
wizard - 8-22-2007 at 09:52 PM

THE RULES

The rules shown here are an expanded version of the rules provided with the game. The rules included with the game assume that players are familiar with the terms, "trump" and "trick" because they are terms commonly used in other games. Space now affords me the luxury of briefly explaining these two terms.
"Trump" : Normally one of the 4 suits is made trump by turning over the top card of the deck after the deal has been made. If the card turned up is a spade then that is the trump suit. Cards of the trump suit will always win over any other suited cards.
"Trick" : The total of the cards played after each player has played 1 card makes up a "trick". If there are 5 players a trick will consist of 5 cards. If there is "no trump" the highest card of the same suit as the first card led will normally win the trick. If there is a trump suit played it will win over any other suited card.

Object of the Game

The object is to correctly predict the number of tricks you will take in each round. You receive points for being correct, and the person with the most points wins the game. (If you take more tricks, or fewer tricks than you bid you lose points.)

The Deal

To determine a dealer, each player is dealt one card. High card deals. On the first deal each player receives one card. All of 60 of the cards are shuffled before dealing the next hand. Two cards are dealt on the second deal, three on the third and so on. Each player must play one card when it is his/her turn to play during a hand. The deal passes to the left after each round and the new dealer shuffles all 60 cards.

Determining the Trump Suit

After the deal, the next card is turned up to determine the trump suit. If the card turned up is a Jester, it is turned down and there is no trump for that round. If the card turned up is a Wizard, the dealer chooses one of the 4 suits as the trump suit. The dealer cannot choose "no trump". On the last round of each game all cards are dealt out so there is no trump.

Bidding

Each player in turn beginning to the left of the dealer states the number of tricks he/she will take (zero or 1 on the first round) and the scorer records the bid on the score pad. The total number of tricks bid may or may not equal the total number of tricks available.
See Canadian Rule below.

Canadian Rule
This is often abbreviated to CR.
It is an optional rule but is used in all official Wizard Tournaments. If playing online the Host can select it or not.
CR: If the last player to bid has the highest score recorded on the score pad (not tied for the lead) he/she cannot bid so as to make the bids "even" unless the bid made is "zero". The dealer can bid zero at any time even it makes the bids 'even'.(An "even" bid is when the total tricks bid equals the total tricks available.)

The Play

The play begins to the left of the dealer. Any card may be led. Players continue to play in clock-wise order and must follow suit if possible. There are 2 exceptions to this rule. A Wizard or a Jester may be played at any time, even if the player is holding a card of the suit led.
A trick is won:
(a) by the first Wizard played
(b) if no Wizard is played, by the highest trump card played.
(c) if no trump is played, by the highest card of the suit led.
The winner of the trick leads next.

Leading Wizards & Jesters

If the lead card is a Wizard, it wins the trick and players may play any card they wish, including another Wizard. (You may want to discard a Wizard to avoid taking an extra trick.)
If the lead card is a Jester, the next non-Jester card played determines the suit for that round. If a Wizard is the first non-Jester card played after the lead of a Jester, then all subsequent players may play any card. Jesters always lose. The one exception to this is that if only Jesters are played, the first Jester played in the round wins the trick. (Of course there are only 4 Jesters so that this can only happen in 3 & 4 player games.)

Scoring

For correctly predicting the number of tricks taken, a player scores 20 points and receives 10 additional points for each trick taken. A player whose prediction is incorrect loses 10 points for each over or under trick.
i.e. If you bid zero tricks and take no tricks you have made your bid and score 20 points.
If you bid 1 trick and take 1 trick you have made your bid and score 20 points plus 10 for a total of 30 points.
If you bid 2 tricks and win 3 tricks you have not made your bid because you took an extra trick. You lose 10 points on the scorecard.
If you bid 4 tricks and take 1 trick you did not make your bid. You lose 30 points because your bid was off by 3.


Bidding Variations
1. Hidden Bid: All players simultaneously reveal their bid. (Players often use coins held in the hand to simultaneously reveal their bids.)
2. Delayed Reveal Bid: All players record their bid. After the hand has been played the bids are revealed. (Players often write their bids on a paper scrap and place it face down on the table.)

Note: The deluxe version of Wizard provides scoring wheels which are very useful when using either of the bidding variations.
Wizard "bidding coins" are recommended for the regular game.


gaillynn - 12-25-2007 at 10:33 PM

If you don't have a card that is the same as the suit, or a trump card, do you not lay any cards down? Or do you pick from the pile until you have a card of the suit or a card to trump?

Answer: If you have the suit that was led, you must play it or a Wizard or Jester. If you don't have a card in the suit that was led, you can play any card, including trump, Wizard or Jester.


andrewpb - 1-2-2008 at 11:48 PM

If a card is led, in which I do not have the suit am I forced to play trump? Or can I throw any other card?


Answer: Throw any card


dustinroller - 3-9-2012 at 06:33 AM

I am first-time try to play this game, and I don't know rules of this game. So this post is very helpful for me. Thanks for sharing.


shrikant44 - 4-3-2012 at 10:58 AM

The rules shown here are an expanded version of the rules provided with the game.


dblackmon76 - 1-27-2018 at 12:34 AM

If no one has a trump or wizard who wins the trick?


Ziffster - 4-1-2019 at 10:20 PM

The printed rules only states that the order of play begins with the player to the left of the dealer and continues in a clockwise order.

In other trick based games, like Euker, after a trick is won, the player who won the round leads on the next round. However the rules do not explicitly state that this is the case... and there are other round based card games where the order of play is not altered by winning a round.

Question is, for each trick after the first, does the player who one the trick lead the next round, or does the person to the left of the dealer always lead?