Forty-Five
What Is Forty-Five?
Forty-Five is Ireland’s national card game, played at kitchen tables and in pubs across the country for centuries. It is famous for having the most unusual trump card ranking of any card game — the Five of the trump suit is ALWAYS the highest card in the game, outranking even the Ace. The trump hierarchy is completely different from anything else you have played. Once you master the ranking, the game is an exciting trick-taking race where the first team to reach 45 points wins.
What You Need
- One standard deck of 52 playing cards
- Two to six players — best with four or six in partnerships
- Score pad
The Trump Hierarchy — The Most Important Thing to Learn
In Forty-Five, when a suit is trump, the cards rank in this order from highest to lowest:
- Five of trump (always the highest card in the game)
- Jack of trump (second highest)
- Ace of Hearts (ALWAYS the third highest trump regardless of what suit is trump — even when Hearts is not trump)
- Ace of trump (fourth, unless Hearts is trump in which case the Ace of Hearts is already counted above)
- King of trump
- Queen of trump
Then the remaining trump cards depending on the suit color:
- Red trump suits (Hearts or Diamonds): After Queen, ranking continues 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2
- Black trump suits (Clubs or Spades): After Queen, ranking continues K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2 — note that in black suits, the King and Queen rank HIGHER than lower numbers, unlike red suits
Non-trump suits rank normally: King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9… down to 2.
Setting Up the Game
- Deal five cards to each player.
- Place three cards face-down in the center as a kitty.
- Bidding begins with the player to the left of the dealer.
Bidding
Each player bids in multiples of 5 (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30) representing how many points their team will score, or passes. The highest bidder names trump and may exchange cards with the kitty — pick up all three kitty cards, then discard any three cards from your expanded hand.
How to Play
- The highest bidder leads first.
- In Forty-Five, you are NOT always required to follow suit — this is a key difference from most trick games. You may play any card.
- However, if a higher trump than any you hold is led, you must either play a higher trump or play a card of a different suit (reneging). You cannot play a lower trump when a higher trump is led.
- The highest trump wins any trick where trump was played. If no trump, the highest card of the led suit wins — but only cards of the led suit compete.
- Play all five tricks.
Scoring
- Each trick won: 5 points
- Capturing the Five of Trump in a trick: 5 bonus points
- If the bidding team makes their bid: score their points
- If they fail: lose their bid amount
Winning
First team to reach 45 points wins.
Tips for New Players
- Memorize the trump hierarchy before playing — especially that the Five of trump and Ace of Hearts are always powerful regardless of what’s named trump.
- The Five of trump wins absolutely any trick — it is your most powerful card and should be saved for when it matters most.
- Since you don’t have to follow suit, use this freedom to preserve your trump for winning key tricks rather than wasting them on low-value plays.