Learn the History of Whist

Series Summary

Playing cards date back to ancient China, where they are believed to have originated, when paper currency was both the vehicle for the card games...and the bet. One popular card game that incorporates playing cards is Whist. Whist is a trick-taking card game which was played widely in the 18th and 19th centuries. Whist developed from the older game Ruff and Honours. It is played and is very popular in Britain and share many similarities with bridge, which replaced Whist as the most popular car game among many players.

In this free video series, our expert Joe Andrews will teach you how to play strait Whist. He will tell you about the history of whist, the terminology, the rules, and card rankings. Joe will also teach you the varying scoring systems, several bidding strategies, and all about opening leads. Joe will teach you about the common conventions of whist and take you through a full demonstration of several hands to get your feet wet.

Video Transcript

"The roots and history of Strait Whist and the game of Whist in general go back to about 1700. This is one of the oldest organized card games of all the classic card games, and it was mentioned in a book by Edmund Hoyle, A Treatise on Bid Whist, approximately 1767 or 1768. Those of you who don't know the card games in general certainly know the name Hoyle because Hoyle has written books on a number of card games, including Cribbage and Whist and some of the games that were popular in England during that time. The classic card games in general, and Whist in particular, where imported to America during the colonial period in the late 1700s, and Whist became a very popular game, particularly in the African-American community in the mid-1800s. Whist then evolved into Bridge, about 1904, and became the mainstay game in America. Bridge was for several years, but there are many devotes of Whist who really enjoyed the game and kept it going during the Thirties, Forties, Fifties, and so forth. Therefore, the history of the game is very rich and varied and goes back about three-hundred and fifty years. It's a tremendous game, and it's one of the classic card games."