How to Play Judgement

Judgement (also known as Oh Hell) is a trick-taking game where the hand size changes every round. Bid exactly how many tricks you’ll win — get it right for bonus points, get it wrong and you score nothing.

Quick version: Hand size goes up and back down each round. Bid your exact number of tricks. Hit it = 10 + bid points. Miss it = 0 points.

How It’s Different

Hand sizes change — round 1 has 1 card, round 2 has 2, all the way up, then back down
Exact bids only — you score only if you win exactly your bid. No partial credit
No negative scores — miss your bid? You just get 0
Dealer restriction — the dealer can’t make it easy for everyone

The Basics

4 players, standard 52-card deck
No teams — every player for themselves
Hand size changes every round
Trump is determined by flipping a card from the deck

Card Strength

...

2 (weakest) through Ace (strongest).

Round Structure

The number of cards changes each round in a wave:

Private lobbies (25 rounds):

1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7 → 8 → 9 → 10 → 11 → 12 → 13 → 12 → 11 → ... → 2 → 1

Short game (13 rounds):

1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7 → 6 → 5 → 4 → 3 → 2 → 1

The dealer rotates each round.

How a Round Works

1. Deal and Flip Trump

Everyone gets their cards. Then the next card in the deck is flipped face-up — its suit becomes trump.

Example: 3-card round, trump card flipped

Your hand: A

Trump card: 4

← Spades are trump this round!

Special case: On the 13-card round, all 52 cards are dealt — no card left to flip. That round has no trump.

2. Bidding

Starting left of the dealer, each player bids how many tricks they’ll win (0 to the number of cards dealt).

The dealer’s restriction: The dealer bids last and cannot bid the number that makes total bids equal the tricks available.

Example: 5-card round

Player 1 bids 1

Player 2 bids 2

Player 3 bids 1

Player 4 (dealer) Cannot bid 1 (because 1+2+1+1 = 5 = tricks available)

Why this rule exists: It guarantees that at least one player will miss their bid. Without it, everyone could bid safely and all succeed. The restriction creates tension and strategy.

3. Play Tricks

Number of tricks = number of cards dealt. Each trick:

Leader plays any card (including trump — no “broken” restriction)
Follow suit if you can
Can’t follow? Play anything, including trump
Highest trump wins. No trump played? Highest of led suit wins

4. Scoring

Result	Points
Won exactly your bid	10 + your bid
Won more or fewer	0

Scoring examples:

Bid 3, won 3 13 points (10 + 3)

Bid 0, won 0 10 points (10 + 0) — zero bids are rewarded!

Bid 2, won 3 0 points — close doesn't count

Bid 5, won 1 0 points — no penalty, just 0

No negative scores. You either score or you don’t.

Winning

Scores add up across all rounds. Highest total wins.

Tips for New Players

Small rounds are a coin flip — with 1–2 cards, luck dominates. Don’t stress
Big rounds reward skill — with 7+ cards, you have real control
Bidding zero is powerful — 10 free points, especially in small rounds
Watch total bids — if bids are high, there aren’t enough tricks for everyone
The dealer restriction is your friend (if you’re not the dealer) — the dealer is forced to bid awkwardly
No penalty for missing — the worst case is 0 points, not negative. Don’t be afraid to take risks