Minnesota Whist

Q: Is Minnesota Whist really played without trumps?

Yes. There are no trumps in Minnesota Whist. Players bid High (black card) or Low (red card) to set the style of play for the hand.

Q: What does it mean to ‘grand’?

When the first black bid card is revealed, that player has ‘granded’ and the hand is played High. Their team aims to take 7+ tricks; the other team tries to set them under 7.

Q: How does scoring work in High vs Low?

High: the granding team scores +1 per trick over 6; if they take fewer than 7, their opponents score per trick over 6 (with optional set bonus). Low: your team scores +1 per trick under 7.

Q: What is the set bonus?

If the granding team fails to reach 7, you can enable a ‘set bonus’ so the defending team earns 2 points per trick over 6 instead of 1.

Q: Who leads the first trick?

In High hands, the player to the right of the grander leads. In Low hands, the player to the dealer’s left leads. Winners of tricks lead the next.

Q: Can I change the win target or difficulty?

Yes. Choose a win target of 13 (standard) or 7 for faster games, and play against Easy, Medium or Hard AI.

Q: Does it work offline?

Yes. The apps play fully offline against AI-great for practice anywhere.

Play Minnesota Whist online free - no trumps, High/Low bidding, granding & set bonus vs smart AI.

Free • No Sign-Up
No Trumps • High/Low Bids
Granding & Set Bonus
Play Online or Offline

Minnesota Whist

Play Minnesota Whist online free - no trumps, High/Low bidding, granding & set bonus vs smart AI.

Free • No Sign-Up
No Trumps • High/Low Bids
Granding & Set Bonus
Play Online or Offline

Available on App and Play Stores

About Minnesota Whist

Minnesota Whist is a variant of whist that is popular in Minnesota and South Dakota. It's a partnership game but unlike other whist variants it does not have trumps.

To win, you and your partner must be the first pair to reach 13 points.

Minnesota Whist is a little more complex to learn, but rewarding as you improve your strategy over time to defeat your opponents. 'High' and 'Low' bid types keep the landscape different every session. Choose between easy, medium and hard mode and make sure to track your all time and session stats to follow your improvement as you learn!

Quickfire Rules

After the cards are dealt evenly between four players, each player bids either high (a black card), or low (a red card). Each bid card is revealed one by one starting left of the dealer. The player who bid the first black card turned over is said to have 'granded' and the round is played 'high' (teams try to win as many tricks as possible). No other cards are turned over after the first black card. If all of the bid cards are red, the game is played 'low' (teams try to win as few tricks as possible).

In a high bid round, the player to the right of the player who 'granded' leads the first trick. In a low bid round, the player to the left of the dealer leads the first trick. Each player then plays one card in turn, following suit if they can. If they cannot follow suit, they may play any other card in their hand. The player who plays the highest card matching the suit of the led card in the trick wins the trick. The player who wins the previous trick leads the next trick.

At the end of each round, points are scored by the number of tricks each partnership has collected. In a high bid round, a point is awarded to the team who 'granded' for every trick taken over 6. If the team who 'granded' fail to make 7 tricks, the other team are awarded either 1 or 2 points per trick taken over 6 depending on the 'set bonus' setting. In a low bid round, a team is awarded 1 point per trick taken less than 7.

Available on App and Play Stores

Minnesota Whist Terms

Trick: Each player plays a card in turn, and the best card played wins that trick.

High Bid: Indicated by bidding a black card. In a high bid round players try to win as many tricks as possible.

Low Bid: Indicated by all bidding cards being red. In a low bid round players try to win as few tricks as possible.

Granded: The player/team who granded is the player who bid a black card.

Set: If the team who granded fail to take 7 tricks, they are said to have been 'set'.

How Your Partner Plays

Playing with a partner you can't communicate with can be frustrating, but here are some tips on how you can get along:

When bidding, your partner will bid their lowest value red (when bidding low) or black (when bidding high) card as to not give away any more information about their hand than necessary
With the lead, your partner will play low in their strongest suit to tell you which suit they want you to bring back (invite)
They will watch your lead and try to bring that suit back for you if they can
If your opponents are out of a particular suit, your partner will run that suit if they can

Strategy Tips

Bidding: choose High with concentrated high cards; choose Low with long, safe suits and few standalone honors.
In High, count winners; in Low, protect suits and keep middling spot cards to avoid accidentally taking tricks.
Signal gently: lead low from strength to invite partner’s return; return partner’s indicated suit when safe.
Track voids: if opponents are out of a suit, push that suit in High; avoid feeding partner tricks in Low.
When granded in High, pull opponents’ safe exits early; when defending, steer leads to partner’s strength.
Score awareness: in Low, once you’ve secured <7 tricks for your team, avoid extra winners; in High, press for over-six bonuses.

Minnesota Whist FAQs

Is Minnesota Whist really played without trumps?

Yes. There are no trumps in Minnesota Whist. Players bid High (black card) or Low (red card) to set the style of play for the hand.

What does it mean to ‘grand’?

When the first black bid card is revealed, that player has ‘granded’ and the hand is played High. Their team aims to take 7+ tricks; the other team tries to set them under 7.

How does scoring work in High vs Low?

High: the granding team scores +1 per trick over 6; if they take fewer than 7, their opponents score per trick over 6 (with optional set bonus). Low: your team scores +1 per trick under 7.

What is the set bonus?

If the granding team fails to reach 7, you can enable a ‘set bonus’ so the defending team earns 2 points per trick over 6 instead of 1.

Who leads the first trick?

In High hands, the player to the right of the grander leads. In Low hands, the player to the dealer’s left leads. Winners of tricks lead the next.

Can I change the win target or difficulty?

Yes. Choose a win target of 13 (standard) or 7 for faster games, and play against Easy, Medium or Hard AI.

Does it work offline?

Yes. The apps play fully offline against AI-great for practice anywhere.

How To Play

Minnesota Whist is a classic four-player partnership game using one standard deck of 52 cards. Ace (high) to 2 (low). There are no trumps.

The aim of the game is to be the first partnership to reach 13 points (or 7, depending on the win target setting).

At the end of each round, points are scored by the number of tricks each partnership has collected.

Deal

The dealer is initially chosen at random, and then moves clockwise round the table for subsequent rounds.

13 cards are dealt to each player.

Bidding

Before each hand commences, every player must bid high (black card) or low (red card).

Play

Whoever is left of the dealer leads a card to start a low bid round, or whoever is right of the grander leads in a high round. Each player must play one card in a clockwise order, following suit where they can.

The winner of each trick is the player who plays the highest card matching the suit of the first player to play.

If you cannot follow suit you may play any other card from your hand.

The winner of the previous trick leads the first card for the following trick.

Scoring

At the end of each hand, the tricks each partnership collects are totalled.

In a high bid round, 1 point is awarded per trick won by a team over 6. If the team that did not grand wins more than 6 tricks, they are awarded a bonus of 1 point per trick taken over 6 depending on the 'set points' setting value.

In a low bid round, 1 point is awarded per trick won by a team less than 7.

The game is won when the first team reaches a points total of 13.

Settings

Choose from the following settings (defaults shown in italics):

Sound: On, off.

Speed: Normal, fast.

Orientation: Portrait, landscape left, landscape right or landscape free. (Tablet only)

Card sort order: ascending, descending.

Single click play: On, off.

AI level: Easy, medium or hard.

Win target: 13, 7. The score a partnership much reach to win the game.

Set points: Two, one. If the granded team has been set, the opposing partnership is awarded an extra point per trick taken over 6 when set to two. Listed as 'set bonus'.

Cards: Classic, coppercod or modern.

Deck: Choose from 18 different deck designs for classic and coppercod, 16 for modern.

Mobile Cards: Off or on. (Phone only).

Theme: Green, merlot, dark red, light blue, black, purple, teal, pink, orange or blue.

Interface

Home screen:

From the home screen you can access the following options:

Start new game
Continue game: if there is a game in progress it can be continued
Settings (cog icon, bottom left). Once open you can close it by tapping close or tapping the left arrow in the top right.
Information (question mark icon, bottom right). Once open you can close it by tapping close or tapping the right arrow in the top right.
Stats (trophy icon, top left)
Sound: Tap the speaker icon at the top right of the home screen to toggle between sound on and off

During a game

Your cards are displayed face up at the bottom of the screen, your partner's are face down at the top of the screen, and your opponents’ cards are face down at the left and right. Your cards are ordered first by suit, then low to high from left to right. Your partner's and opponents’ cards are ordered at random.

During play, each player’s score for the game is shown in front of their hand. A green light is displayed next to your score to display when it is your turn to act. A bid panel is shown each round when it is your turn to bid.

When it is your turn to act, tap on a card from your hand that you want to select, and then tap it again to play the card (or tap it just once if the 'single click play' setting is turned on). You can change which cards are selected before playing by tapping on other cards.

At the end of the hand the scores each player partnership receives are displayed, as well as the total score for each partnership for the game.

Thank you for playing Minnesota Whist!

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