German Whist

What Is German Whist?

German Whist is a clever two-player trick-taking game that splits into two very different phases. In Phase 1, you play tricks to WIN good cards from a face-up deck — building the best possible hand. In Phase 2, you play tricks with your rebuilt hand to win as many of the final 13 tricks as possible. Knowing what your opponent grabbed in Phase 1 shapes your Phase 2 strategy.

What You Need

• A standard 52-card deck
• 2 players

Setup

1. Deal 13 cards to each player.
2. Place the remaining 26 cards face-down as the stock.
3. Flip the top card of the stock face-up to establish trump for the game. This card is available to the winner of the first trick.

Phase 1: Building Your Hand (26 tricks)

1. Non-dealer leads first.
2. Play standard trick rules: follow suit if able; highest of led suit wins; trump beats all others.
3. The winner of each trick takes the face-up card from the top of the stock. The loser takes the next card face-down (neither player knows what it is).
4. Flip the next stock card face-up for the following trick.
5. Phase 1 continues until the stock is empty (13 tricks played, 26 cards drawn).

Phase 2: The Battle (13 tricks)

Now both players have 13 cards. Trump suit remains the same. Play 13 more tricks with standard trick-taking rules — follow suit, trump if can’t, highest wins. No more drawing.

Scoring

Count the tricks won in Phase 2 only. The player who wins more than 6 tricks wins. Score the difference: winning 9 tricks against 4 = score of 5.

Winning

Play an agreed number of rounds (typically 5 or 7). Cumulative score wins.

Strategy Tips

• In Phase 1, winning a trick is only good if the face-up card is valuable — sometimes losing a trick (and grabbing an unknown stock card) is better than winning a bad face-up card.
• Remember what your opponent grabbed in Phase 1 — you know their Aces and trump cards.
• Lead trump early in Phase 2 to pull out opponents’ trump and free up your side suits.

▶ Watch: How to Play German Whist (YouTube)