The high bidder goes first and may lead with any card they desire. However, the suit of the card that they play will determine what trump is for the rest of the hand.

Play continues clockwise.

Players must follow suit if they are able (with one notable exception to be discussed later). If they are unable to follow suit they may play any card they choose.

The person who plays the highest ranking card takes the trick.

After the first trick is taken the players may pick up the 3 cards that they were not able to look at before and add them to their hand.^†

Whoever played the highest ranking card in the previous trick will lead the next trick. Play continues until all cards have been played. Tricks are counted and the scores are totaled (scoring is covered in more detail on the SCORING page).

TIP: It is advisable to leave one trump card from the first trick laying face up where everyone can see it. This will help alleviate confusion about which suit is trump.

There are two more rules that affect game play and they are discussed next.