What Is German Whist?

German Whist is a 2-player trick-taking card game based on standard Whist. It splits the 52-card deck into two phases: a drawing phase where players alternately win face-up or face-down stock cards, and a closed-hand phase where the winner is determined by who takes more tricks.

The game is an excellent introduction to strategic card play for two — simpler than Piquet or Gin Rummy, but with more depth than War or Snap. It typically takes 20–30 minutes per game.

What You Need

  • 1 standard 52-card deck
  • 2 players

Setup

  1. Cut the deck to decide dealer (higher card deals)
  2. Dealer deals 13 cards to each player, one at a time, alternating
  3. Place the remaining 26 cards face-down as the stock pile
  4. Turn the top card of the stock face-up beside the pile — its suit is trump for the entire game
  5. The face-up card is the first “prize” available to the winner of the first trick

Phase 1 — The Drawing Phase (First 13 Tricks)

The goal: Build a stronger hand for the closed phase by winning valuable face-up stock cards.

How each trick works

  1. Non-dealer leads any card to the first trick (dealer leads in subsequent tricks — see below)
  2. Opponent must follow suit if able; may play any card if unable
  3. Highest card of the led suit wins the trick — unless a trump was played, in which case highest trump wins
  4. Winner of the trick takes the face-up card from the stock and adds it to their hand
  5. Loser of the trick draws the next card from the stock (blind — face-down)
  6. The next card in the stock is turned face-up to become the prize for the next trick
  7. Winner of the trick leads the next trick

After 13 drawing-phase tricks

  • Both players have exactly 13 cards in hand (won cards replace played cards)
  • The stock is now empty
  • The face-up trump card is taken by whoever won the last drawing-phase trick
  • Phase 2 begins

Important: Tricks won during the drawing phase do NOT count toward winning. Only Phase 2 trick counts matter.

Phase 2 — The Closed-Hand Phase (Last 13 Tricks)

The goal: Win more tricks than your opponent — first to 7 tricks wins.

How the closed phase works

  • Non-dealer leads to the first trick of Phase 2 (or the winner of the last drawing trick — house rules vary; agree before the game)
  • Standard trick-taking applies: follow suit, play trump or any card if you can’t follow
  • No more drawing — hands are fixed
  • Count tricks as the phase progresses
  • The player who wins 7 or more of the 13 tricks wins the game

Card Rank (Both Phases)

High →→→→→→→→→→→→Low
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Trump cards beat all non-trump cards regardless of rank.

Scoring Variants

Win/loss: Most common — simply track who wins each game.

Points scoring: Count how many of the 13 closed-phase tricks each player wins. The winner scores the difference. Example: winner takes 9 tricks, loser takes 4 → winner scores 9 − 4 = 5 points. First to 7 (or 10) points wins the match.

Rubber: Play best of 3 games for a rubber; first to win 2 games wins the rubber.

Strategy

Drawing Phase Strategy

Fight for the face-up card only when it’s worth it

The key question before each drawing-phase trick: “Is the face-up stock card worth spending a strong card to win?” If the face-up card is a low trump or a high card in a suit you’re weak in, fight for it. If it’s a low off-suit card, let your opponent take it and draw something potentially better from the blind.

Protect your closed-phase hand

Don’t burn your best cards (high trumps, aces) just to win drawing-phase tricks. These are the cards that will win Phase 2. Use medium-strength cards to contest drawing-phase tricks.

Count what’s been taken

Watch which strong cards your opponent wins from the stock. If they’ve taken three trump cards and two aces, they’re building a dominant closed-phase hand — you’ll need to draw aggressively to compensate.

Force your opponent to reveal their hand

In the drawing phase you can see both the face-up prize card and which suit your opponent leads with — this reveals their hand composition. If they lead trumps aggressively, they may be trump-heavy. Use this information when planning Phase 2.

Closed Phase Strategy

Count remaining trumps

From the moment Phase 2 begins, count every trump played. When trumps are exhausted, long suits become winners — plan accordingly.

Lead your winners early

Aces and other guaranteed winners should be led early in Phase 2, before your opponent can void a suit and trump them. Every winner delayed is a risk.

Long suit establishment

If you have a 5-card suit with top honors, the bottom cards may become winners once the suit breaks. Lead the suit multiple times to exhaust the opponent’s holding.

Save a trump for the right moment

One trump held in reserve through mid-game can steal a critical trick from an opponent’s otherwise-winning sequence. Don’t waste trumps on low-value tricks early.

Count the score

At any point in Phase 2, you know how many tricks each player has won. If you’re ahead 6–4 with 3 tricks left, you only need one more — play conservatively. If you’re behind 4–6, you must win all 3 remaining tricks — switch to aggressive play.