Rules of the 56 card game

Origin

56 is a popular card game played in India, especially in the southern state of Kerala, with variations played in other parts of the world. The number is the maximum points a team can score in a single game. It is a team game that rewards strategy and memory.

Players and cards

56 is always played in teams, sitting alternately around the table. The standard format is two teams of 3 (6 players); 4-player (2 v 2) and 8-player (4 v 4) games are also supported. The game uses two standard decks, but only some of the cards:

In the 4-player game each player gets 8 cards from the 32-card set (J, 9, A, 10). In the 6-player game each player gets 8 cards from the 48-card set (K and Q join). In the 8-player game the same 48-card set is used and each player gets 6 cards.

Which card beats which

Card power runs J, 9, A, 10, K, Q — strongest first, and independent of the points above. A King beats a Queen in a trick even though both score nothing. Because there are two decks, two identical cards can meet in one trick: the one played first wins. A trump card beats every non-trump card; otherwise the highest card of the suit that was led wins the trick.

How a game runs

The goal is for your team to capture the most card points. Games are grouped into a match (for example 6 games) and the match points from each game accumulate. Each game has two phases:

• Bidding — players bid in the allowed formats (below) to tell their partners what they hold, raising the target their team must reach and settling a possible trump suit.
• Card play — each player in turn puts one card on the table; one full round is a trick. The trick is won by the most powerful card (trump beats all; otherwise the led suit's strongest card; first-played wins ties), and the points in the trick go to the winner's team. If you hold a card of the led suit you must play that suit.

Play ends when the bidding team reaches its target, when the points still left are not enough for it to get there, or when every card has been played.

Order of play

Cards are shuffled and dealt by the table. The player to the dealer's right opens the bidding, and that same player leads the first trick — whoever won the bid. After that, each trick is led by the winner of the previous one. Play moves anticlockwise.

Bidding formats (International rules)

Bids are visible to both teams — remembering them is a big part of the game. Every bid must go above the current highest. These are the allowed formats:

Number followed by a suit

28♥ — bid value 28, trump becomes ♥ One Jack with at least 3 other cards of the same suit. To show extra strength in the same suit, raise the number: +2 over the previous bid for a second Jack, +3 for two Jacks and a 9.

Suit followed by a number (reverse bid)

♥28 — bid value 28, trump becomes ♥ No Jack, but 4 or more cards in this suit.

Plus, number and suit

+1♥ — raises the bid by 1, trump becomes ♥ A singleton (exactly one card) in the suit. If this is the first bid in the suit, or a Jack there was already claimed, it means the singleton Jack; if both Jacks are spoken for, the next highest single card (the 9, and so on). As the opening bid every plus form counts from the minimum: +1♥, +♥ and ♥+ open at 28♥, +2♥ at 29♥, +3♥ at 30♥.

Suit, plus and a number

♥+1 — raises the bid by 1, trump becomes ♥ A singleton of lower order — you hold one card in this suit and can cut the second round of play in it.

Number followed by NT (no trump)

32NT — bid value 32, no trump suit Three or more Jacks, but not enough cards together in any one suit.

Plus, number and NT

+1NT — raises the bid by 1, no trump suit Same meaning as a number with NT — keeps the auction at no-trump, or shows one more Jack or 9 that could win a trick without a trump suit.

Number followed by Noes (NS)

33NS — bid value 33, no trump suit Tells your partners you hold no cards of the last suit that was bid. If it stands as the final bid, the game is played no-trump.

Number followed by Pass

28-Pass — bid value 28, no trump suit The forced opening bid. The first bidder must say something; this shares nothing about the hand.

Plus followed by a suit

+♥ — raises the bid by 1, trump becomes ♥ At least 2–3 cards in this suit. If a Jack was already bid here (or this is the first bid in the suit), it means a Jack plus one or two more of the suit; if both Jacks are gone, the next highest card plus one or two more.

Plus, number and Noes (NS)

+1NS — raises the bid by 1, no trump suit No cards in the suit bid before, with the number showing how many bids back. A quiet way to make the Noes call.

Plus followed by Noes (NS)

+NS — raises the bid by 1, no trump suit No cards in a suit that nobody has bid yet. Also written N+.

Pass

Pass — no effect on value or trump Nothing more to say — either no useful cards to share, or you are happy with the current highest bid. Passing does not knock you out: your turn keeps coming around until the bidding closes.

Bidding formats (Kerala rules)

A table can be set to Kerala tournament rules when it is created (Bidding rules: Kerala). The cards, the card play and the scoreboard are the same; only the bidding differs:

• Only two kinds of bid — a number followed by a suit (28♥) or a number followed by NS (30NS). There are no reverse bids, no plus bids, and no NT or N-Pass.
• NS does two jobs — it tells your partners something about your hand (for example, that you hold no cards of the suit just bid), and if it stands as the final bid the game is played with no trump.
• Nobody is forced to open — the first player may pass. But if everyone before them passes, the last player of the opener's team in the first round (the 3rd player of 4, the 5th of 6, the 7th of 8) must bid: their Pass counts as a bid of 28NS. The others may then bid higher as usual.
• One raise of your own bid — the highest bidder may raise their own bid to 40, 48 or 56 in the same suit (shown as 40♦↑) only once. After that nobody can bid higher: the rest of the bidding is Pass, Double or Redouble. When Pass is all you can do, the table passes for you.
• A Redouble does not end the bidding — the others may still bid higher, and a higher bid clears the Double and the Redouble.
• As at every table, you cannot name a trump suit you hold no card of.

Bidding tips

• Watch who will lead the first trick — the leader has the most control.
• Every bid raises your team's target, so share only what genuinely helps win tricks.
• Support your partners' bids where you can.
• Sometimes just listening to the other team's bids is enough — especially if they will be leading.
• A low target is easier to make but pays less. With a very strong hand, raising the bid brings a bigger reward — see the scoreboard below.

Double and redouble

A Double challenges the bidding team: "you will not make that". A Redouble is the challenge thrown back. Both multiply the points at stake, as the scoreboard shows. After a double the other players may still overbid; a redouble ends the bidding at once (at a Kerala table the bidding goes on after a redouble).

Scoreboard — match points per game

* A negative number means those points are awarded to the other team — nobody ever scores below zero.

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