29 card game

29 Card Game is one of a group of South Asian trick-taking games in which the Jack and the Nine are the highest cards in every suit. It is almost certain that they are descended from the European family of Jass games, which originated in the Netherlands. Probably they were brought to the Indian subcontinent by Dutch traders.

Twenty nine card game is popular across much of the northern part of India, including Bombay and West Bengal, and also in Bangladesh and Nepal.

29 is usually played by four players in fixed partnerships, partners facing each other.

32 cards from a standard 52-card pack are used for play. There are eight cards in each of the usual "French" suits: hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades. The cards in every suit rank from high to low: J-9-A-10-K-Q-8-7. The aim of the game is to win tricks containing valuable cards. The values of the cards are:

Jacks 3 points each

Nines 2 points each

Aces 1 point each

Tens 1 point each

Other cards (K, Q, 8, 7)       no points

Deal and play are clockwise; the cards are shuffled by the dealer and cut by the player to dealer's right. Four cards are then dealt to each player, one at a time.

Based on these four cards, players bid for the right to choose trumps. Each bid is a number, and the highest bidder undertakes that his or her side will win in tricks at least the number of points bid. The player to dealer's left speaks first, and subsequent players, in clockwise order, may either bid higher or pass. The minimum bid allowed is 16 and the maximum is 28 (assuming that the point for the last trick is not counted). If any player bids, the auction continues for as many rounds as necessary until three players pass in succession. If the first three players pass, the dealer is forced to bid 16, which ends the auction.

The player to the dealer's left leads to the first trick; players must follow suit if possible, and the winner of each trick leads to the next. Initially the trump suit is unknown to the players other than the bidder. The first player who is unable to follow suit must ask the bidder to declare the trump suit; the bidder then shows the trump indicator card to everyone. If the bidder is the first player unable to follow suit, he must declare what suit is trumps at that point. A player unable to follow suit may play any card; there is no obligation to play a trump, even for the player who required trumps to be declared. Starting from the trick during which the trump suit is declared, each trick is won by the highest trump in it, or by the highest card of the suit led if it contains no trumps.