How to play Auction 45s
The complete rules, from shuffling to the last trick. If you only read one page, read this one.
What you need
- Four players in two partnerships. Partners sit across from each other, so play alternates between the teams. (Other numbers of players work too; see 2, 3, 5 or 6 players.)
- A standard 52-card deck with the jokers taken out.
- Something to keep score with. Games go to 120, and scores can go below zero.
The deal
Cut for the first deal; after that the deal passes to the left after every hand. The dealer shuffles, the player on the right cuts, and the dealer deals clockwise starting on their left.
Everyone gets five cards, dealt in packets of three and then two. The dealer also deals four cards face down to the middle of the table. This is the kitty. The rest of the deck stays beside the dealer for the draw.
Bidding
Starting on the dealer's left and going around once, each player either passes or bids higher than the bid before. Bids go up in fives: 15, 20, 25 or 30. A bid is a promise that your team will take at least that many of the hand's 30 points if you get to choose trump.
The dealer bids last and has a special privilege: they can hold, which means taking the bid at the same amount instead of having to go higher. The player who was outbid can then raise again, and the two of them go back and forth until one passes.
If all four players pass, the dealer is bagged: they're stuck with the lowest bid and must play it.
The details, including when you can bid 60, are on the bidding page.
Naming trump and the kitty
Whoever wins the bid names the trump suit. You have to hold at least one card of the suit you name. Then you pick up the four kitty cards, so you're holding nine.
Discard and draw
Starting on the dealer's left and going around, every player throws away the cards they don't want, face down. The bidder discards down to five. Everyone else may throw away as many as all five, and the dealer deals them replacements from the deck so they're back to five.
Most players throw away everything that isn't a trump, unless it's a high card in another suit that might win a trick.
Playing the tricks
The player on the bidder's left leads the first trick. Everyone plays one card, going clockwise. Whoever played the best card wins the trick and leads the next one. Five tricks are played in all.
The best card is:
- the highest trump, if any trump was played, or
- the highest card of the suit that was led, if no trump was played. Cards of other suits can't win.
"Highest" uses 45s order, which is not the usual order. The top three trumps are always the five of trumps, the jack of trumps and the ace of hearts. With spades as trump, the top trumps are:
Below the queen, red trumps run high to low (10 down to 2) and black trumps run low to high (2 up to 10). The card rankings page has every suit laid out.
Following suit
When trump is led, you must play a trump if you have one. The exception is reneging: the 5, the jack and the ace of hearts can be held back when a lower trump is led.
When a plain suit is led, you must either follow suit or play a trump. You choose which. You can play any card only if you have none of the suit that was led.
Remember the ace of hearts is a trump, not a heart. If hearts are led and diamonds are trump, the doesn't count as following suit; it's a trump.
Scoring a hand
Each trick is worth 5 points. The trick that contains the highest trump played that hand gets 5 more, so it's worth 10. That makes 30 points in every hand.
- If the bidding team takes at least its bid, it scores everything it took. Bid 20 and take 25, and you score 25.
- If it takes less, it's set and loses the amount it bid. Bid 20 and take 15, and you score −20.
- The other team always scores what it took, with one exception: the over-100 rule.
A bid of 30 is special: you have to take all five tricks, and if you do you score 60. More on the scoring page.
Winning the game
The first team to reach 120 wins. Scores are only checked at the end of a hand. If both teams pass 120 in the same hand, the team that won the bid wins the game.
An example hand
North and South are partners against East and West. North dealt. East passed, South bid 20, West passed and North passed. South named spades as trump, took the kitty, and after everyone discarded and drew, the hands were:
| Player | Hand |
|---|---|
| South (bidder) | |
| West | |
| North | |
| East |
West is on the bidder's left, so West leads.
| Trick | West | North | East | South | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South | ||||
| 2 | led | South | |||
| 3 | led | South | |||
| 4 | led | West | |||
| 5 | led | West |
- Trick 1: North and East both hold clubs, so they must follow suit (or trump). South has no clubs and trumps with the 2♠. The lowest trump still beats any club.
- Tricks 2 and 3: South leads the J♠ and then the A♥. West's only trump is the 5♠, which outranks both, so West reneges: keeps the 5 and throws a junk card. North has to play a trump each time.
- Trick 4: South leads the K♠ and West finally plays the 5♠ to win it.
- Trick 5: West leads the Q♥. The A♥ is gone and it was a trump anyway, so the queen is the highest heart and wins.
The 5♠ was the highest trump played, so trick 4 is worth 10. North–South took tricks 1–3 for 15. East–West took tricks 4 and 5 for 15. South bid 20 and only took 15, so North–South are set: −20. East–West score +15.