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Sundar


Goal

Bid and achieve maximum points for a given distribution of cards. Players make a series of bids to ascertain what a reasonable target is and how it can be reached. Most importantly it is to socialise and have fun!


Game information

  • Two decks
  • J,9,A,10,K,Q of each suit
  • Total of 6X4X2 = 48 cards
  • Number of players: 6
  • Cards per player =8

Points and values

  • Points: J-3, 9-2, A-1,10-1,Others-0
  • Total points = 7 X4 X2 =56
  • Values (highest to lowest): J,9,A,10,K,Q
  • Trump: Trump suit  has higher value than the rest of the suit

Terms used

  • Suit: There are 4 suits Clubs, Diamonds ,Hearts, Spades
  • Trick: Trick is a set of 6 cards played, In a game there will be 8 Tricks
  • Trump: suit that is decided upon in the last bid. Sometimes there will be no trumps at all
  • Ruff: You can play trump when you don’t have a suit being played. Trump supersedes the highest value card of the suit being played. There is no Ruff in case of “No Trump” bids
  • NO's(NS) - A bid indicating void of a suit
  • No Trumps(NT) – A bid indicating intent to play without trumps
  • Double - challenge bid to earn more points
  • Redouble - challenge double bid
  • PASS-multiple meanings, contextual

Rules and conventions

Bidding is the most interesting aspect of playing 56. In a series of declarations or bids, each player exposes his/her hand with the intent of letting the team mates and opposition know the strengths/weakness of his hand. This information is utilised to make decisions. This can be how to reach a milestone (say 48) or how to overcome your opposition (say Double).

Being such a popular game spanning the whole of Kerala, and all Malayalees globally, there are different variations to bidding. International tournament conventions (ITC) and Kerala tournament conventions (KTC) are attempts bring some sort of discipline to bidding process. It is important to distinguish between rules and conventions. Rules are mandatory while conventions are guidelines.

While conventions lay a framework for bidding, it is up to the player’s imagination, logical thinking and his collaboration as a team that differentiates a player’s calibre. Happy bidding!


Bidding Rules- Common for all conventions

Rules are mandatory principles; have to followed

  • Bidding levels are 28,40,48 and 56
  • Bidding happens in counter clockwise direction starting with the lead for the round
  • Allowed bids are NO's(NS), Pass, No trumps (NT) , suits, Double, Redouble
  • Double, Redouble does not increase value
  • Pass bid can be with or without adding bid value (Example if current Bid is 32 C, you can Pass, or bid 33 Pass
  • Pass with a bid value sets the bid to No trump state ( Example 32 Pass means there is no trump)
  • Maximum bid is 56
  • Cannot bid on a void suit – Example cannot bid 28 Hearts if Hearts is void
  • If all partners pass a bid only options available are pass or self-raise to the current suit.
  • Self-raise is allowed to next or higher levels only
  • Double is a bid. Does not matter even if it done by the last person from the bidder. This allows further bidding to proceed
  • Cannot double a bid from same team
  • Bidding finishes when everyone passes or a redouble has happened
  • If you pass during your turn, you will get another chance only if someone else bids
  • Only bids available after self-raise are double and redouble.

Bidding Rules- KTC Specific

  • Lead can start with PASS or a number greater or equal to 28 - Can be PASS,(28 or higher) NS,(28 or higher) NT or (28 or higher) of a suit.
  • First PASS bid by lead will not increase Bidding level. in this case ether of Lead's partners must bid 28 or higher.
  • Redouble is a considered only as bid.

Bidding Rules- ITC Specific

  • Lead should bid at least 28 - Can be (28 or higher) Pass,(28 or higher) NS,(28 or higher) NT or (28 or higher) of a suit.
  • Redouble finishes the bidding process

Playing

  • Lead (person right to dealer) will start the game.
  • If you have a suit being played, you have to play it.
  • Trick belongs to the team who plays the most valued card of the given suit
  • If two players play the same card of the same suit, first is more valued
  • Player who wins the trick have to lead the next trick

Ruffing

  • You can Ruff only if you do not have the suit being played.
  • You can Ruff only with trump
  • In case of a Ruffed trick, player who has Ruffed with highest value trump gets the trick
  • There is no Ruffing if the final bid is no trump

Bidding conventions

Conventions are guidelines that help others understand your bid. In the end the goal is to share information about the bids to maximise the final bid. We have tried to capture International and Kerala conventions in a single document.

Straight bid with suit

Increase by X - have next X number of highest of the suit with 4 cards

Examples:

Bidder Bid Meaning Convention
Player 1 28 Clubs Has 4 or more Clubs with one Jack of Clubs ITC,KTC
Player 2 30 Hearts Has 4 or more Hearts with 2 Jacks of Heart ITC
Player 3 31 Clubs Given 1 Jack of Clubs has been bid, has the next highest - other Jack- of Clubs with  4 or more Clubs ITC
Player 4 33 Hearts Given 2 Jacks of Hearts has been bid, has two 9s of Hearts with 4 or more Hearts  ITC
Player 5 34 Clubs Given 2 Jacks of Clubs have been bid, by Payer 1 and player 2, have a 9 of C with 4 or more Cs ITC

Note that the bids follow a pattern, it is not absolute. It is in the context of what has been revealed about a particular suit. Straight bid by a partner to your suit bid shows very strong support.

Plus bids (ITC only)

Have the next highest of a suit with 2 or more suit length. Applicable only for International tournament conventions

Examples:

Bidder Bid Meaning Convention
Player 1 28 Clubs Has 4 or more Clubs with one Jack of Clubs ITC,KTC
Player 2 Plus Hearts Has 2 or 3 Hearts with 1 Jack of Hearts ITC
Player 3 Plus Clubs Given 1 J of C has been bid, has the next highest - other J- of Clubs with  2 or three Clubs ITC
Player 4 Plus Hearts Given 1 Jack of Hearts has been bid, has the next highest - other Jack- of Hearts with  2 or three Hearts ITC

Plus bid by a partner to your suit bid shows good support but not as strong as straight bid 


Plus X bids (ITC only)

This is an explicit bid. Have exactly next X number of highest of the suit. (ITC)

Examples:

Bidder Bid Meaning Convention
Player 1 28 Clubs Has 4 or more Clubs with one Jack of Clubs ITC,KTC
Player 2 Plus 2 Hearts Has 2 Jacks of Hearts and nothing else in Hearts ITC
Player 3 Plus 1 Club Given 1 J of Clubs has been bid, has exactly 1 Jack of Clubs. ITC
Player 4 Plus 3 Hearts Given 2 Jack of Hearts has been bid, has the next 3 highest of Hearts – Meaning Jack, and two 9s-Has exactly 3 Hearts in total ITC


Reverse bids (ITC only)

Reverse bids on a suit indicate support without having next highest value card of a suit.Reverse bids are not used in KER convention

Examples:

Bidder Bid Meaning Convention
Player 1 28 Clubs Has 4 or more Clubs with one Jack of Clubs ITC,KTC
Player 2 Hearts 29 Strong hearts with no Jacks of Hearts. At least 4 or more Hearts with 9s(not mandatory) ITC
Player 3 Clubs 30 Given 1 J of Clubs has been bid, has at least 4 Clubs with a 9 ITC


Reverse Plus bids (ITC only)

Reverse plus bids show a weak support. Indicates that the bidder has 2-3 cards of a suit but not next highest value card of a suit.

Examples:

Bidder Bid Meaning Convention
Player 1 28 Clubs Has 4 or more Clubs with one Jack of Clubs ITC,KTC
Player 3 Clubs Plus Given 1 Jack of Clubs has been bid, has 2-3 Clubs with a 9 (not mandatory) ITC


Reverse Plus X bids (ITC Only)

This is an explicit bid similar to Plus X bid. Difference being the absence of next highest value card.

Examples:

Bidder Bid Meaning Convention
Player 1 28 Clubs Has 4 or more Clubs with one Jack of Clubs ITC,KTC
Player 3 Clubs Plus 2 Has exactly 2 Clubs card without a Jack ITC


NS (NO's) bids

NS bid indicate void of a suit. Increasing the bid level by 1 in conjunction with NS denotes the previous suit of previous bid is void. Increasing bid level by 2 along with NS indicates void for the bid before previous bid.

Examples:

Bidder Bid Meaning Convention
Player 1 28 Clubs Has 4 or more Clubs with one Jack of Clubs ITC,KTC
Player 2 29 Hearts Has 4 or more Hearts with 1 Jacks of Heart ITC,KTC
Player 3 30 NS Hearts is void ITC,KTC
Player 4 31 Diamond Has 4 or more Clubs with one Jack of Diamond ITC,KTC
Player 5 33 NS Hearts is void (Note that there is no need to increase by 3. Can’t be NS to NS) ITC,KTC
Player 6 36 NS Clubs is void ITC,KTC


It is a common practice to bid NS in place of NT bid. For example a 48 NS bid or 56 NS bid normally refers to 48 NT or 56 NT. This has nothing to do with void suit. For the sake of clarity, it is advisable to use NT bid if the intent is to play without trumps.


Pass bids
  • Pass bids serve multiple purposes
  • Pass without increasing value of the bid - pass on the bidding to next player.
  • Pass with value increase - provide bid continuity; To make sure that bidding does not stop
Examples:

Bidder Bid Meaning Convention
Player 1 28 Clubs Has 4 or more Clubs with one Jack of Clubs ITC,KTC
Player 2 PASS Nothing to bid ITC,KTC
Player 3 PASS Nothing to bid ITC,KTC
Player 4 PASS Nothing to bid ITC,KTC
Player 5 29 PASS PASS to give another opportunity to Player1 ITC,KTC
Player 6 PASS Nothing to bid ITC,KTC
Player 1 30 Clubs Happy with Clubs ITC,KTC


Second or higher round bids
When a partner supports in second or higher round bids, this cannot be taken as a straight support. There are exceptions. See the examples below Examples:

Bidder Bid Meaning Convention
Player 1 28 Clubs Has 4 or more Clubs with one Jack of Clubs ITC,KTC
Player 4 29 Spades ITC,KTC
Player 1 30 Clubs Happy with Clubs ITC,KTC
Player 5 31 Clubs This cannot be considered as a straight support. Player 5 had chance to support in round 1 ITC


Bidder Bid Meaning Convention
Player 1 28 Clubs Has 4 or more Clubs with one Jack of Clubs ITC,KTC
Player 3 29 Hearts ITC,KTC
Player 4 30 Spades ITC,KTC
Player 5 Plus Hearts Supporting Player3 ITC,KTC
Player 1 32 Clubs Happy with Clubs ITC,KTC
Player 5 33 Clubs This is direct support. First round was used to support Player 3 ITC


Correction Bids

Correction bids are used to bring clarity to previous bids.

Examples:

Bidder Bid Meaning Convention
Player 1 28 Clubs Has 4 or more Clubs with one Jack of Clubs ITC,KTC
Player 4 29 Spades ITC,KTC
Player 5 Plus Clubs Supporting Player 1 ITC,KTC
Player 1 31 Hearts Announcing another opportunity ITC,KTC
Player 5 Clubs +1 Clarification bid. Indicates that Player 5 has 3 Clubs cards ITC,KTC


Special bids

There are some bids which does not fall into any of the categories above.

Bid Meaning Convention
28 PASS Not a good hand. No suit to bid ITC,KTC
28 NS Has 2 Jacks ITC
28 NT At least 3 Jacks. Good supporting hand ITC
29 NT (29 NS) 4 Jacks. Very good supporting Hand ITC
Plus NS NS to a suit that has not been bid yet ITC


ITC-KTC Differences
  • Lead can start bidding with PASS without increasing bidding level in KTC.
  • No reverse or plus bids in KTC.
  • Only straight bids starting with a number from 28-56 in KTC.
  • No PASS bids with number prefix or suffix (28 PASS,PASS 28) in KTC
  • No separate NT bid allowed in KTC.
  • NS bid covers both no trump and void in KTC.
  • KTC uses correction bids instead of plus bids

KTC specific bids
  • Opening PASS bids
    • Lead can bid PASS as the first bid. This makes it mandatory for one of the partners to bid if no one else in between has made a bid.
    • If Lead makes a PASS bid at the start of the game, bid level does not go up. The next bid starts from 28
  • Increase by 1 followed by NS in the next round shows singleton Jack
  • Increase by 2 followed by NS in the next round shows singleton shows two and only two of next highest
  • NS Followed by bid on the suit shows strong support (round1-P1 28C, P3 NS,Round-2 P3 bids C)
  • If there is support, have to do in first opportunity. That is the norm.

Game points

  • There are two popular variations for redouble.
  • Double of double (4 times)
  • Three times the actual points
Bid Win Lose Double Redouble Redouble
28-39 1 -2 X 2 X 3 X 4
40-47 2 -3 X 2 X 3 X 4
48-55 3 -4 X 2 X 3 X 4
56 4 -5 X 2 X 3 X 4


 

Goal

Goal is to win the match. Even if you have good hands, some decides to leave the calls for defeating the opponents which will get more points.


Game information - Game 28 - 6 Chairs

  • 1 Deck
  • J,9,A,10,K,Q,8,7,6
  • Total of 9X4 = 36 cards
  • Number of players= 6
  • Cards per player = 6

Game information - Game 40

  • 1 Deck + 1 J from other Deck
  • J,J,9,A,10,K,Q,8,7
  • Total of 9X4 = 36 cards
  • Number of players= 6
  • Cards per player = 6

Points and values

  • Points: J-3, 9-2, A-1,10-1,Others-0
  • Total points (28) = (3+2+1*2) * 4 = 28
  • Total points (40) = (3*2+2+1*2) * 4 = 40
  • Values (highest to lowest): J,9,A,10,K,Q,8,7,6
  • Trump: Trump suit  has higher value than the rest of the suit

Terms used

  • Suit: There are 4 suits Clubs, Diamonds ,Hearts, Spades
  • Trick: Trick is a set of 6 cards played, In a game there will be 6 Tricks
  • Trump: Suit that is decided upon in the last bid. Only for SOLO, there wont be any trump
  • Ruff: You can play trump when you don’t have a suit being played. Trump supersedes the highest value card of the suit being played. There is no Ruff in case of “No Trump” bids
  • SOLO: Traditionally its also called "Thani". In this mode, player himself (NOT even his team mates) who bid has to get all tricks and there wont be any trump in this call.
  • PASS: Pass the bid

Rules and conventions

There are many conventions followed for Game 28. Each group follows their own rules and conventions and they say thats the only way they should play!

Rules followed in this website takes into consideration for providing flexibility to majority of the groups.


Bidding Rules

Following are the bidding rules followed in this website

  • There are 3 Stages for BIDS. Normal, Honours, Seniors
  • NORMAL bids are between 16 to 19 for Game 28 and 20 to 29 for Game 40. Points for win is 1 and for loss is 2
  • HONOURS bids are between 20 to 23 for Game 28 and 30 to 33 for Game 40. Points for win is 2 and for loss is 3
  • SENIOR bids are between 24 to 27 for Game 28 and 34 to 39 for Game 40. Points for win is 3 and for loss is 4
  • For SOLO and 28 Bid for Game 28 and 40 Bid for Game 40, win point is 4 and loss is 5
  • LEAD player starts bidding and after each game, LEAD player rotates anti-clockwise.
  • Minimum call is 16 for Game 28 and 20 for Game 40
  • PASS for the first call will be defaulted to Minimum call value
  • Bidding chance will be given based on the the PASS/BID action from the current player
  • If a player BID, then bidding chance will go to the opponent team who hasn't BID in the same STAGE
  • If he/she PASS, bidding chance will go to next available team member who hasn't BID in the same STAGE
  • If all persons PASS or exhausted the BID in the same stage, STAGE of the game will be incremented and opportunity is given to the teams again until all stage calls are completed. ie, If Bid stage is Normal and all players PASSED in the same team, then Bid Stage will be promoted to HONOURS. As opponents already passed, same team members who hasn't called will get a chance to call HONOURS
  • If a person BID in Normal stage, he will not be allowed to call in Honours stage
  • If a person BID in Honours stage, he will not be allowed to call in Senior stage
  • Bidding will end in any stage when NO more players are available to bid in the same stage

Following are some examples for bidding


Example 1 - Game 40

Team 1 player 1 calls 20 and ALL passed. Each Row represents the order of BID/PASS

Bidder Bid Stage Meaning
Team 1 - C1 20 Normal Default call
Team 2 - C2 PASS Normal
Team 2 - C4 PASS Normal Same Team
Team 2 - C6 PASS Normal All team members passed, STAGE promoted HONOURS
Team 1 - C3 PASS Honours
Team 1 - C5 PASS Honours Stage promoted to SENIOR
Team 1 - C1 PASS Senior C1 is the winning Bidder


Example 2 - Game 40

Team 1 player 1 calls 20 and Team 2 Pass, Team 1 player 2 called Honours and others passed. Each Row represents the order of BID/PASS

Bidder Bid Stage Meaning
Team 1 - C1 20 Normal Default call
Team 2 - C2 PASS Normal
Team 2 - C4 PASS Normal Same Team
Team 2 - C6 PASS Normal All team members passed, STAGE promoted HONOURS
Team 1 - C3 30 Honours
Team 1 - C3 PASS Honours Stage promoted to Senior
Team 1 - C1 PASS Senior C1 gets a chance to call Senior
Team 1 - C3 PASS Senior C3 gets a chance to call Senior. Call ends with C3 as winning bidder.


Example 3 - Game 40

All players make a BID

Bidder Bid Stage Meaning
Team 1 - C1 20 Normal Default call
Team 2 - C2 21 Normal
Team 1 - C3 22 Normal
Team 2 - C4 23 Normal
Team 1 - C5 24 Normal
Team 2 - C6 25 Normal Stage promoted to SENIORS as all players are not eligible for HONOURS as they have made a Normal stage call
Team 1 - C1 34 SENIOR
Team 2 - C2 35 SENIOR
Team 1 - C3 36 SENIOR
Team 2 - C4 37 SENIOR
Team 1 - C5 38 SENIOR
Team 2 - C6 39 SENIOR Call ends as no more players eligible to call in Senior stage with C6 selected as Bid winner


Example 4 - Game 40

2 persons from each team bid and participate in Senior round

Bidder Bid Stage Meaning
Team 1 - C1 20 Normal Default call
Team 2 - C2 21 Normal
Team 1 - C3 PASS Normal
Team 1 - C5 22 Normal
Team 2 - C4 23 Normal
Team 1 - C5 24 Normal
Team 2 - C6 PASS Normal Stage promoted to SENIORS as all players are not eligible for HONOURS as they have made a Normal stage call
Team 1 - C1 PASS SENIOR Eligible for Senior
Team 1 - C5 PASS SENIOR Eligible for Senior
Team 2 - C2 PASS SENIOR
Team 2 - C4 PASS SENIOR Call ends as no more players eligible. C5 is selected as Bid winner


Playing Rules

Following are the playing rules followed in this website

  • Before play begins, trump card should be selected by the winning bidder.
  • Player who bid the trump cannot play the trump if he is initiating the trick unless all cards in his/her had are trump cards.
  • Open trump is allowed only for following conditions.
  • - Ony when player gets chance to play and its not before first card in the trick.
  • - If player don't have suit which is being played.
  • After opening the trump card, the player who opened the card should play trump card(any) if he/she has got the trump in the hand.
  • Player who bid cannot open the trump if the trick being played is trump.
  • Before opening the trump, point calculations are based on NO trump

Demos/Videos

Following are demos and education videos prepared by CheettuKaliClub admin team



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