Call Break Rules and Bidding Strategy

The deal and the call

Each of the four players receives thirteen cards. Starting with the player to the dealer's right (play goes anti-clockwise in the traditional game; here the order is handled for you), each player calls a number of tricks from 1 to 8 (up to 13 in the settings). There are no partnerships: everyone plays for themselves. A hand with no spades, or with no jack, queen, king or ace, is traditionally thrown in and redealt; the setting can be switched off.

The rules of play

These are the rules that trip up players who know Spades or Whist:

1. Follow suit, and beat the trick if you can. You must play a card of the suit led, and if you hold a card of that suit higher than any already played, you must play one that beats the current highest card. You may not throw a low card while holding a winner in the suit.
2. No card of the suit led? You must trump. If you have any spade you must play one, and if a spade has already been played to the trick you must play a higher spade if you hold one.
3. No card of the suit and no spade? Play anything.
4. If the trick has already been trumped and you have the suit led, you must still follow suit, but you need not beat the trick (you cannot).
5. The highest spade wins the trick; if no spade was played, the highest card of the suit led. The winner leads next.

Rule 1 is the heart of the game. It means a high card is a liability as well as an asset: you may be forced to win a trick you did not want, and your opponents can force you to play your ace when they lead the suit.

Scoring

• Winning at least your call scores the call plus 0.1 for each extra trick: a call of 4 with 6 tricks scores 4.2.
• Winning fewer scores minus the call: a call of 4 with 3 tricks scores −4.
• A game is five rounds. The highest total wins.

Because an extra trick is worth only 0.1 while a missed call costs the whole call, the scoring punishes overbidding far more than underbidding. A player who calls 3 and makes 5 scores 3.2; a player who calls 5 and makes 4 scores −5. Over five rounds, the steady caller wins.

Counting your tricks

Count sure tricks first, then likely ones, then call slightly below the total.

Sure tricks:

• Every ace in a side suit (hearts, diamonds, clubs), provided you are not void elsewhere in a way that gets it trumped early.
• The ace of spades, and the king of spades with at least one lower spade to protect it (so the ace cannot drop it bare).
• Each spade beyond the third or fourth in a long spade holding, because once the others are out of spades yours win.

Likely tricks:

• A king in a side suit with two or more cards beneath it (a "protected" king): it wins unless the ace is led before you can use it, or it is trumped.
• A short side suit (a singleton or a void) with spare spades: you will ruff that suit when it is led.
• A queen with three cards beneath it, half a trick at best.

Not tricks:

• Low spades when you hold only two or three; they will be drawn out by higher spades.
• Kings and queens in suits where you hold four or more cards: the suit will run out before your honours win, and the must-beat rule can force you to waste them.

Playing the hand

• Lead aces early in suits where you fear a ruff. An ace is a sure trick only until someone is out of the suit.
• Lead low from a long side suit to force others to beat each other; the must-beat rule makes them waste honours.
• Count the spades. Thirteen are out; when you know how many are gone, you know whether your small spades have become winners.
• Use your voids. When a suit you lack is led and you hold spades, you win the trick (unless out-trumped). Try to be void in a suit that others hold long.
• Watch others' calls. A player who called 6 will be leading spades to draw trumps; a player who called 1 is hiding and will try to dodge tricks.
• If your call is already made, play to deny the others theirs: the 0.1 bonuses matter little, but pushing a rival into a missed call swings the game.

Common mistakes

1. Calling the number of honours you hold. Count tricks, not pictures. A queen with no protection is not a trick.
2. Overbidding by one for the bonus. The 0.1 is not worth the risk of −5.
3. Forgetting the must-beat rule when leading. Leading a suit forces others to play high; use it to pull out their winners when you hold the next card down.
4. Hoarding spades. When you are void in a suit, a ruff is a trick; take it.
5. Ignoring the round number. In round five, a bold call may be needed to overtake the leader; in rounds one to four, steadiness wins.

Glossary

• Call: the number of tricks a player promises to win in a round.
• Trump: spades, always, in Call Break.
• Ruff: winning a trick with a trump after being unable to follow suit.
• Void and singleton: no cards, or one card, of a suit.
• Must-beat rule: the obligation to play a higher card of the suit led when you can.
• Protected honour: a king or queen with enough lower cards beneath it to survive the ace being led.