Rules for Peasant Bridge

Peasant Bridge is a popular game that combines strategy, prediction, and a bit of luck. It’s for 2–5 players (best with 3–4) and typically takes 30–45 minutes per game. You’ll need a standard 52-card deck (no jokers) and something to keep score with.

The goal is to bid and win exactly the number of tricks you declare in each round to score points. The player with the highest total after all rounds wins the game!

The game normally consists of 20 rounds, but there are several variants:

• Version 1 (most common): Rounds 1–10: players receive 1–10 cards. Rounds 11–20: players receive 10–1 cards.
• Version 2: The number of rounds is determined by (52 cards ÷ number of players), rounded down. E.g. 3 players = 17 rounds.

The dealer role rotates. Who starts as dealer can be decided by rock-paper-scissors or similar.

The trump suit varies during the game:

• Version 1: Rounds 1–3 and 18–20 are played with no trump. Rounds 4–17 follow a fixed rotation: ♣️-♦️-♥️-♠️-♣️-♦️-♥️-♠️ etc.
• Version 2: Before each round, a card is drawn from the deck. If it’s a 2–10, its suit becomes the trump. Face cards mean “grand” (no trump).

Trump rules: You must always follow suit if possible. If you don’t have the suit, you may either trump or discard.

Bidding is done in a special and fun way:

1. All players look at their cards
2. Everyone clenches their fist(s) and holds them forward
3. One player counts to three
4. On three, everyone shows the number of tricks they want using their fingers
5. The scorer records all bids

Important: The total number of bids must NOT equal the number of cards in that round. If it does, the player to the left of the dealer must change their bid.

After bidding, the round is played as follows:

• The player to the left of the dealer plays first
• Play proceeds clockwise
• You must follow suit if possible
• If you can’t follow suit, you may discard or play trump
• The highest card of the led suit wins the trick (or highest trump if one is played)
• The trick-winner collects it in a visible pile and leads the next

This continues until all cards have been played.

You only earn points if you take exactly the number of tricks you bid:

• Standard rule: 10 points + 1 point per trick (e.g. bid 4 tricks = 14 points)
• Alternative rule: 5 points for a successful zero-bid, 10 points for other successful bids
• Missed bids: Taking more or fewer tricks than bid gives 0 points

There are several exciting variants of Peasant Bridge:

• Blind first/final round: In round 1 (or final round), each player places their card on their forehead (without seeing it) and bids based on others’ cards
• Setesdal variant: Played with undertrump and overtrump. Before each bidding round, two cards are drawn: one for undertrump and one for overtrump. Both trump suits must be followed if possible, but overtrump beats undertrump in the same trick regardless of card value. Example: Undertrump ♣️7, overtrump ♠️10. Player 2 wins with ♣️10 over Player 3’s ♠️9. If the same suit is drawn for both, a new overtrump is drawn.
• Large player count: If more than 5 players, the lowest-ranked player may be eliminated mid-game and play continues with fewer participants
• Dice bidding: Some use dice for bidding where everyone reveals at once. A six may mean 0, 6, or more than 6 tricks — clarified by the player

The game ends after all 20 rounds (or the number chosen by variant):

• The scorer calculates total points for each player
• The player with the highest total wins
• Some groups track ATH (all-time high) and ATL (all-time low) scores
• If played across multiple sessions, cumulative score determines the overall winner

The game has developed a rich vocabulary:

• Stand: Successfully match your bid
• Break: Fail your bid (score 0)
• Twist: Focus on sabotaging others rather than succeeding yourself
• Flat-out: When all players fail their bids simultaneously
• Perfect: Successfully match your bid every round
• Pos: Positional advantage — sitting left of a rival
• Saturation: When all players hit their bid exactly
• Overbid/Underbid: When total bids exceed/fall short of card count

Here are some useful tips to succeed at Peasant Bridge:

• Pay close attention to all bids — underbidding creates chances for twists
• Remember you must follow suit — plan your tricks accordingly
• Use positional advantage (“pos”) — sit to the left of key rivals
• When unsure, bid low — it’s easier to take too few tricks than too many
• In large rounds, focus on one trick at a time
• In small rounds, pay extra attention to face cards and Aces
• Remember everyone needs their tricks — twisting can be powerful