29 Card Game Rules

29 rules in one minute

• Four players, two teams. Partners sit opposite each other.
• 32 cards, ranked J, 9, A, 10, K, Q, 8, 7 in every suit, worth 28 points in all.
• Bid on your first four cards: how many of the 28 points your team will take (16 to 28).
• The highest bidder picks trump in secret. Nobody else knows it, not even their partner.
• Follow suit if you can. If you can't, you may ask to Show Trump.
• Make your call and your team moves +1; fail and it moves −1. First to +6 wins; a team at −6 loses.

Want to learn by playing? Play 29 free in your browser against bots: the game has a step-by-step tutorial and checks every rule for you.

1. Players and teams

Twenty-Nine is played by four players in two fixed partnerships. You and your partner sit opposite each other, against the players to your left and right (East and West in the game).

In the Bangladesh rules, play goes counter-clockwise: the deal, the bidding and the play pass to the player on your right. Many groups in India play clockwise; the game lets you choose either.

Positions are named from the dealer: P1 is the player after the dealer (they bid first and lead the first trick), P2 is the dealer's partner, P3 is P1's partner, and P4 is the dealer.

2. The cards and their points

29 uses 32 cards: a standard pack with the 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 6s taken out. Each suit has the 7 up to the Ace. The ranking is unusual, and it is the first thing to learn: in every suit, from high to low, the cards go J, 9, A, 10, K, Q, 8, 7.

That makes 7 points in each suit and 28 in the deck. No suit outranks another: only the trump, once it has been shown, beats the other suits.

3. The deal

The dealer shuffles, the cards are cut, and each player gets four cards. The bidding is done on these four. After the trump is chosen, everyone gets four more, so each player holds eight. The deal passes to the next player after every deal.

Zero-point throw-in: in the Bangladesh rules, if P1 or P2 (the two players after the dealer) has no points in their first four cards, only Kings, Queens, 8s and 7s, the deal is thrown in and the next dealer deals again. A deal that is thrown in changes no score.

4. Bidding

A bid is the number of card points your team promises to take in the eight tricks: from 16 to 28. The highest bidder becomes the caller (the declarer), and their bid is the call (the contract).

The Bangladesh duel and "Ditto"

In Bangladesh, the bidding is a duel: two players bid against each other at a time. P1 starts in the senior seat against P2.

• The senior player may say Ditto to equal the other's bid and take it over.
• The other player (the junior) must bid higher, or pass.
• A player who passes is out for this deal. Their partner takes their place, seniority and all, if the partner has not bid yet; otherwise the next player who has not bid yet comes in.
• The dealer may never open: if the first three players all pass, the deal is thrown in.
• The bidding ends when three players have passed. The last to bid, or to say Ditto to the last bid, is the caller.

Other bidding styles

Outside Bangladesh, most players bid in rotation: each player in turn bids higher or passes until three have passed, and if the first three pass, the dealer must bid the minimum. Some groups bid in a single round. The minimum bid also varies: some play from 15. The game's rule settings offer all of these.

5. The hidden trump

The caller now chooses the trump suit in secret, looking only at their first four cards. A face-down card in front of the caller marks it. Nobody else knows the trump, not even the caller's partner. This hidden trump is what makes 29 different from most trick-taking games.

The seventh card

Instead of choosing, the caller may call the seventh card: the seventh card dealt to them (the third of their second four) is laid face down, and its suit is trump. Until the second deal nobody knows it, the caller included. If the caller then holds no scoring trump (J, 9, A or 10) besides that card, the deal is thrown in.

Once all eight cards are dealt, if the caller's two opponents together hold no trump, or only the 7 of trumps, the deal is thrown in too.

6. Double, Redouble and Set

After the trump is chosen, before the second four cards, each opponent of the caller in turn may say Double: the deal is then worth 2 game points instead of 1. After a Double, the caller and then their partner may say Redouble: worth 4. Some groups also allow the doubling side to answer with Set, worth 6 (off by default in the game).

7. Playing the tricks and Show Trump

P1, the player after the dealer, leads the first trick. Play goes round the table, one card each.

• You must follow the suit led if you can. If you can't, you may play any card.
• The highest card of the suit led wins the trick, unless the trump has been shown and the trick holds a trump: then the highest trump wins.
• The winner of each trick leads the next. There are eight tricks.

Show Trump

If you cannot follow suit, you have a choice: play any card, or first ask to Show Trump. The caller then reveals the hidden trump to everyone, and you must play a trump if you have one. The caller can reveal it the same way when they can't follow. The trump is never shown by the player leading a trick.

Two rules people often get wrong:

• Before it is shown, a trump-suit card is an ordinary card. Discarding the J of the (still secret) trump on another suit's lead does not win the trick.
• Trumps count from the trick in which the trump is shown, including cards already played to that trick.

If the trump is never shown by the end of the eighth trick, the deal is thrown in. Knowing when to ask, and when not to, is a big part of 29 strategy.

8. The Pair (King and Queen of trumps)

The Pair, also called the marriage, is the King and Queen of trumps in one hand. It can be shown only after the trump has been shown, while its holder still holds both cards, on their turn, from the trick after the one in which the trump was shown.

• Shown by the caller's team, on a call of 19 or more, it lowers their target by 4, never below 16.
• Shown by the opponents, it raises the caller's target by 4, never above 28.

9. Single hand

After all eight cards are dealt, each player in turn, starting after the dealer, is asked: single hand? The first to say yes plays alone. There are no trumps, the lone player's partner lays their hand face down and sits out, and the lone player leads. They must win all eight tricks: then their team gains 3; the first trick lost ends the deal and the team loses 3. The bid and any Double no longer count.

10. Scoring and winning the match

At the end of the deal, the caller's team counts the card points in the tricks it took.

• With at least its target (the call, as a Pair may have moved it), it gains 1 game point, or the stake if doubled.
• With less, it loses as many.
• The other team's score does not change on a normal deal.

To beat the call, the other team needs 28 minus the target, plus 1: 13 against a call of 16, 11 against 18. The game shows both numbers during play ("Need 11", "They need 18").

The first team to reach +6 wins the match; a team that falls to −6 loses it. On a real table, each team keeps its score with two Sixes from the unused cards: the red Six for 0 and above, the black Six below, with as many pips showing as the score. The game shows them on the 3D table.

Once the trump is shown, the game ends a deal as soon as its result can no longer change, and scores it there and then.

House rules and variants

Twenty-Nine has no governing body, and every পাড়া plays it a little differently. The game has three rule sets: Bangladesh (everything on this page, the default), Standard (the widely documented rules: clockwise, bidding in rotation from 15, asking for trump compulsory, the Pair only after winning a trick), and Custom, where you can change each of these:

• Direction: counter-clockwise or clockwise.
• Minimum and maximum bid, and the last-trick bonus point.
• Bidding: the Bangladesh duel, open rotation, or a single round.
• Trump: a marker card, or one of the caller's own cards face down; the seventh card on or off.
• Show Trump: optional (then you must trump) or compulsory for the first player who can't follow.
• The Pair, Double, Redouble, Set, Single hand (and its points), and the match target.

Glossary: 29 card game words in English and Bangla

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