400 (card game)

400 is a Lebanese trick-taking card game, played in partnership, with a standard deck of 52 playing cards. The object of the game is to be the first team to forty-one points. The game somewhat resembles Spades, but with subtle differences.

Basic Game Play

Number of Players: Four players divided into two teams.

The Deck: Standard 52 card deck.

Rank of Suit: Hearts are always trump. Other suits have no innate value.

Rank of cards (descending): Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

Object of the game: To accumulate the most points at or beyond 41; points are accrued by winning at least the number of tricks bid in each hand, where each trick that is bid is worth one point.

Game Play Mechanics

The Deal: The first dealer is chosen by a draw for high card, and thereafter the turn to deal proceeds anti clockwise. The entire deck is dealt two cards at a time, face down, beginning on the dealer's right (The first deal being either one card or three cards per player, in order to arrive at thirteen cards each). The players then pick up their cards and arrange them by suits.

If one player prematurely runs out of cards, that is, either extra cards were dealt elsewhere or one or more cards are missing, the hand is considered void and the deal passes to the player's right.

Bidding: Each player decides how many tricks he/she will be able to take. The player to the dealer's right starts the bidding and, in turn, each player states how many tricks he/she expects to win. There is only one round of bidding. Every player must make a bid; no player may pass. No suit is named in the bid (hearts are always trump). The minimum bid for each player is two, regardless if he/she can or cannot take two tricks. Also, when a player's point total is 30 - 39, his/her minimum bid becomes three. When a player reaches 40 points, his/her minimum bid becomes 4. When a player reaches 50 points (one can reach 50 and not win, as discussed below), his/her minimum bid becomes 5, and so on.

Unlike Spades, in 400 a hand will be considered void if the total sum of all four bids is under eleven. Should this occur, the deal automatically goes to the player's right and a new hand will begin. This process is repeated until the total amount of bid is equal to, or greater than eleven.

Game play: The game is played by hands. Each hand consists of a number of tricks(all hands contain 13 tricks i.e. 13x4=52). The player on the dealer's right makes the opening lead, and players must follow suit, if possible. If a player cannot follow suit, he/she may play any card. The trick is won by the player who plays the highest trump, or, if no trump was played, by the player who played the highest card in the suit led. The player that wins the trick gathers the cards up into their pile and leads next. Play continues until none of the players have any cards left. It is generally accepted that if one player has in his hand cards remaining such that he will take all of the remaining tricks (i.e. the A K Q of hearts when there are three cards left in his/her hand) then that player may simply lay down his hand and claim the remaining tricks, allowing the game to progress more quickly.

Although 400 is played in teams, bids are not done in "partnership"; each bid is independent of the partner's bid in a hand. (i.e. if partner 'A' bids four tricks and partner 'B' bids three tricks, bringing the total to seven, 'A' and 'B' are bound by their respective bids. Should partner 'A' take five tricks and partner 'B' take two, 'A' will be credited with their original bid, while 'B' will not.)

coring

For making the contract (the number of tricks bid), the player scores 1 point for each trick bid. Missing a contract results in results in losing 1 point for each trick bid. In addition, bidding for higher amount of tricks results in a higher value of points, as follows:

It is important to note that missing a bid of 5 tricks will result in losing 10 points, not 5, as per the table above.

One of the players is the scorer and writes the bids down, so that during the play and for the scoring afterward, this information will be available to all the players. When a hand is over, the scores should be recorded next to the bids, and a running score should be kept so that players can readily see each other's total points. If there is a tie, then all players participate in (at least) one more round of play. Once a member of the team reaches or exceeds 41 points, the game is over, provided his/her partner's points are positive. If a player is negative, play must continue until the player is positive, or if the other team reaches 41 before the former (of course, the other team must also be positive -one of them having at least 41- in order to win).

Variations

Bidding Variation: As noted above, the total bids must equal 11 in order for a hand to begin. However, some local house rules stipulate that when a member of any team reaches 30 points, the total bids in the hand must equal 12 for the hand to begin, because the person with 30 points now has a minimum bid of 3. The same occurs when a player reaches 40 points (his/her minimum bid is now 4, therefore the minimum number of bids is 13). It is important to note that should all players have 30 points, or be in the 30s, the minimum bid would still be 12.

Scoring Variation: Another variation (almost always in tandem with the scoring variation mentioned above) is when a player reaches 30 points or more, a bid of 5 is worth 5 points, not 10. A bid of 6 is still worth 12, a bid of 7 is still worth 14, and so on.

ee also

* Spades
* Tarneeb
* Trump cards

References

[http://www.letsplay400.com Let's Play 400 - The Card Game (play this game online)]