The Instructions to the Setback Game

Setback is an exciting game with similarities to Bridge and All Fours.

Setback, also known as Pitch or High-Low-Jack, is a card game for up to four players. The game can be played by two teams of two players each, or cutthroat-style: two, three or four players on their own. The game is based on the old English card game All Fours, but with the addition of bidding. The name Setback derives from the rule stating that players or teams failing to make their bid have their score "set back" by the number of points they bid.

Instructions

1. Deal each player six cards, three at a time, using a standard 52-card deck. Set aside the remaining cards until the next hand.

2. Bid, starting with the player to the dealer's left and continuing clockwise. The possible bids are two, three, four, and smudge, and represent the number of the following items predicted to be won in this hand: High--the highest trump in play; Low--the lowest trump in play; Jack--the Jack of trumps; Game---the highest total card value, with the Ace of trumps counting as four; the King, 3; Queen, 2; Jack, 1 and the Ten literally worth 10. Smudge (or "shoot the moon") means winning all four, in addition to taking every trick in the round.

3. Bid until every player has either raised the bid or passed. The dealer can steal the bid by matching the last player's bid, instead of raising it. However, if the three other players all pass, the dealer must bid at least two. The player with the highest bid is the Pitcher, and lays a card to begin the first trick. The suit of this card becomes trump for the entire round.

4. Play the trick, following suit or trumping if possible. Note that you can trump at any time, not just when you cannot follow suit as in many other games. The highest trump, or the highest card of the opening suit, if no trumps are played, takes the trick, with card values in descending order being Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. The winner of each trick starts the following one. Proceed until all six tricks are played.

5. Tally the scores for the hand. Both teams or players score the number of points they make, with High, Low, Jack and Game each worth one point, as long as the bidder makes his bid. If the bid failed, the bidding team or player's score is set back by as many points as was bid. To win five points, Smudge must have been bid. If not, only four points are scored, even if the bidder takes all six tricks. To win the game, a total score of 21 points must be reached by a hand's bidding team or player.

References

• Pagat: Rules of Card Games --- Setback/Pitch