Knockout Whist is a fun, fast-moving trick-taking game thatโs perfect for family nights, classrooms, or travel. It plays like a simpler version of classic Whist, but with an exciting twist: if you fail to win a trick in a round, youโre eliminated! Each round gets shorter, the tension increases, and the final player standing wins.
If youโve never played a trick-taking game before, donโt worry, youโll find the full rules below, written in a clear, beginner-friendly format and a short video overview for how to play!
What You Need to Play
- 2-7 Players
- 1 standard 52 card deck (jokers removed)
- Optional: paper to track who’se knocked out and when a player loses their “dog life. “Dog Life.”
Set Up
- Shuffle the deck thoroughly
- In the first round, deal 7 cards to each player.
- After dealing, the dealer flips over the top card of the deck.
- The suit of that card is the trump suit for the first round.
- the player to the left of the dealer leads the very first trick.
Goal of Knockout Whist
Your goal is simple: Win at least one trick each round to stay alive.
If you fail to win a trick, you’re knocked out. The only exception to this is for the first player knocked out; they get one special chance to return: The Dog Life.
The last player left in the game is the winner.
How to Play Knockout Whist
Leading a Trick
The player to the left of the dealer begins by playing any one card from their. hand. This is called “leading the trick.”
Following Suit
- Every other player MUST follow the same suit if they have a card of that suit in their hand.
- If they don’t have the lead suit, they may play anything they want, including trump.
Winning a Trick
- Normally, the highest card of the lead suit wins the trick.
- HOWEVER, if anyone plays a trump card, the highest trump wins the trick.
- The winner of the trick leads the next trick.
Card Rank: 2 Low, Ace is High.
End of the Round
Play continues until all cards in players’ hands are gone.
Then follow these steps to set up the next round:
- Determine who won the most tricks during the round.
- Any player who did not win a trick is out of the game.
- Gather all of the cards
- Shuffle
- Deal the next round
- Dealing Decreases Each Round
- Each new round uses one fewer card.
- Round 1 = 7 cards
- Round 2 = 6 cards
- Round 3 = 5 cards
- and so on and so forth until the final rounds with only 2 cards, then 1 card.
Choosing Trump in All Future Rounds
Beginning in Round 2, the player who won the most tricks in the previous round chooses which suit will be trump. This is decided after the player has had a chance to look at their hand for the new round.
The “Dog Life” Rule (Your Last Chance Redemption Round)
The first player who fails to win a trick in any round is not immediately eliminated. Instead they get The Dog Life.
In the next round they are dealt one single card instead of the normal number. They may play that card whenever they choose during the round. If that one card wins a trick, they re-enter the game fully in the next round. If their card does not win, they are eliminated permanently from the game.
After the Dog Life is used once, all players who fail to win at least one trick in a round are eliminated immediately. The Dog Life is only given to the very first player eliminated from the game.
Winning Knockout Whist
Play continues round after round with fewer and fewer cards until all but one player has been eliminated.
The last player left in the game is the winner of Knockout Whist.
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