WHIST, a game at cards, believed to be of English origin; probably a development of the game of trump (or, more properly, triumph), which was played in England at least as early as the time of Henry VIII. Trump (or triumph) is mentioned in a sermon delivered by Latimer on the Sunday before Christmas, 1529. The game of trump is also mentioned by Shakespeare punning on the word triumph (see Douce's Illustrations, and Antony and Cleopatra, act iv. scene 12). The game of whist is not mentioned by Shake speare, nor by any writer of the Elizabethan era.
The earliest mention of whist (or, more properly, whisk) is in the poems of Taylor the water-poet (1621). In the first edition of Cotton's Compleat Gamester (1674), whist has no place; but it is added in the second edition (1680) as a game " commonly known in England." Cotton says that "the game of whist is so called from the silence that is to be observed in the play;" and this derivation of the word has been generally accepted, and was adopted by Dr. Johnson, to the extent of explaining whist to be a game requir ing silence. But if the original name of the game was whisk, Cotton's derivation fails. The derivation from an interjection signifying silence seems to have been taken for granted somewhat hastily.
The game was formerly played nine-up. The change to ten-up seems to have taken place in the first quarter of the 18th century. Whist played ten-up is called tong whist. About 1785 the experiment of dividing the game into half was tried, and short whist was the result. The short game soon came into favor; and in 1864 the supremacy of short whist was acknowledged by nearly all and by many country clubs, the clubs adopting as their standard the laws of short whist as framed by committees of the Arlington and Portland.
Edmond Hoyle, the first writer of any celebrity ou whist (commonly called the father of the game), was born in 1672—it is said in the neighborhood of Halifax, Yorkshire, but on insufficient grounds. He was educated as a barrister. He first published his Short Treatise about 1742. He used to give lessons in whist at a guinea a lesson. His Short Treatise ran through many editions (16 or more) during his lifetime; and since his death his works have been reproduced in numberless ways. Hoyle died in Welbeck street, Cavendish square, on Aug. 29, 1769, aged 97.
The game of whist is played by four person; two being partners against the other two. The partners sit opposite to each other. The partnership is determined by cutting.
The two lowest are partners against the two highest, and the lowest has the deal and the choice of scats and cards. In cutting, the ace is reckoned lowest. Each player has a right to shuffle the pack once before each deal, the dealer having the privilege of a final shuffle. The shuffling being concluded, the player to the dealer's right cuts the pack. The dealer, having reunited the packets, is bound to deal the cards one at a time, to the players in rotation, beginning with the player to his left. He turns up the bottom card (called the trump card). The deal being completed, the players sort their cards, and the player to the dealer's left (or leader) plays a card face upward on the table. The other players follow in rotation, being bound to follow suit if they can. When all have played, the trick is complete. It is then gathered and turned over by the winning side. The highest card wins the trick. The ace is highest in playing; and the other cards reckon in the order, king, queen, knave, ten, etc., down to the deuce, or two, is lowest. If any player cannot follow suit (i.e., has none of the suit led), he may play any card he pleases, If he plays a card of the suit turned up (called trumps), he wins the trick, unless another player also, having none of the suit led, plays a higher trump. The player who wins the trick becomes the leader for the next trick, and so on till the whole hand (consisting of 13 tricks) is played out. After scoring., the mode of which will be presently described, the player to the last dealer's left deals in his turn; and in subsequent deals, each player deals in turn, the rotation going to the left. After the hand is played out, the scoring is thus performed: The side who win more than six tricks reckon one for each trick above six; and the side who either separately or conjointly hold more than two of the following cards, ace, king, queen, and knave of trumps (called honors), reckon as follows: If they hold any three honors, they score two (that being the excess of their honors over their opponents); and similarly if they hold four honors, they score four. At short whist, players who are at four, cannot score honors. The same at long whist with players who are at nine. The side who thus in one hand or in a succession of hands first reach five at short whist, or ten at long, score the game.