Trump

The top card of the remaining stock names the trump suit. What happens when that card is a special one, and when trump genuinely beats the led suit — less often than you would think.

Trump decides what your hand is actually worth, and it is redrawn every round — the same six cards can be three certain tricks in one round and nothing at all in the next. Below: how the trump card is turned, the three cases where something odd happens, and when trump really does win a trick, which is less often than most people assume.

Turning the trump card

Only part of the deck is dealt — round 3 with four players puts 12 of the 60 cards in hands. The top card of what is left over is turned face up beside the stock. Its suit is trump for this round. That card takes no part in the play; its only job is to name the suit.

Playing plain Oh Hell with a 52-card pack? Identical: deal, turn the next card, that suit is trump. Only the two special cases below disappear, because the cards that cause them are not in the pack.

The three special cases

• A Magician is turned up. The dealer names the trump suit. They may look at their own hand first, but must commit before the first bid is made, including their own. That is a real advantage, and it is why the deal rotates.
• A Jester is turned up. No trump at all this round. The highest card of the led suit simply wins, unless a Magician turns up in the trick.
• The final round. Every one of the 60 cards has been dealt, so there is no card left to turn and no trump. The longest, most unwieldy round of the game is also the only one without trump — which makes it more predictable than it looks.

When trump wins — and when it does not

Any trump beats any card of another suit, the ace included. But:

• Following suit comes first. If you hold the led suit you must play it, and may not trump. Only a player void in the led suit may trump at all. This is the rule that stops trump being as strong as it looks.
• If trump itself is led, the same obligation applies to trump.
• A Magician beats every trump. The first one played wins, whatever follows it.
• A Jester never wins, not even in the trump suit — Magicians and Jesters have no suit whatsoever.

Several trumps in one trick: the highest wins, aces high, twos low.

What to do with trump

Trump is worth less here than it would be in an ordinary trick-taking game, because you are not trying to take as many tricks as possible — you are trying to take exactly the number you bid. A low trump is therefore often the most awkward card in your hand: too good to be sure of losing, too weak to be sure of winning. A player who bid zero gets rid of it as early as they can.

We have measured this rather than asserted it. Over 240,000 dealt hands an off-suit ace or king is worth as much as a high trump, and a low trump is worth under half a trick — the numbers are on the bidding strategy page.

The other way round, the dealer in a round where a Magician was turned up is sitting pretty: they pick the suit their own hand is longest and strongest in, and bid accordingly.

Is this the same in Wizard?

Yes. Turning the top card, the dealer's choice on a Magician and the trumpless final round are the rules of the best-known edition of this family, Wizard by Amigo Spiele — a registered trademark that has nothing to do with us. The full rules: Oh Hell rules. In German: Trumpf.