400 Game Rules

400 is a trick-taking card game, played in partnership, with a standard deck of 52 playing cards. The object of the game is to be the first team to 41 points. The game is played by 4 people. They are divided into to two teams of 2 players. Team members sit on opposite sides of the table. Example Team 1 will have its players on the North and South side of the table and team 2 will be on the West and East side of the table.

Ranking Of Suit and Cards

Hearts are always trump. Other suits have no value over other suits. Cards are in descending order from Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 2.

Game Play

A player will be randomly allocated as the dealer. Each player is dealt 13 cards each.

After the deal each player is shown there cards and decides how many tricks they will be able to take. The player to the dealer's right starts the bidding and, in turn, each player states how many tricks they expect to win. There is only one round of bidding. The minimum bid for each player is 2, regardless if the player can or cannot take 2 tricks. Also, when a player's point total is 30 - 39, his/her minimum bid becomes three. When a player reaches 40 points, his/her minimum bid becomes 4. When a player reaches 50 points (one can reach 50 and not win, as discussed below), his/her minimum bid becomes 5, and so on. player will be randomly allocated as the dealer. Each player is dealt 13 cards each.

In 400 a hand will be considered void if the total sum of all four bids is under eleven. Should this occur, the deal automatically goes to the player's right and a new hand will begin. This process is repeated until the total amount of bid is equal to, or greater than eleven.

The game is played by hands. Each hand consists of a number of tricks (all hands contain 13 tricks i.e. 13x4=52). The player on the dealer's right makes the opening lead, and players must follow suit, if possible. If a player cannot follow suit, they may play any card. The trick is won by the player who plays the highest trump, or, if no trump was played, by the player who played the highest card in the leading suit. The player that wins the trick leads next. Play continues until none of the players have any cards left.

Although 400 is played in teams, bids are not done in "partnership"; each bid is independent of the partner's bid in a hand. (i.e. if partner 'A' bids four tricks and partner 'B' bids three tricks, bringing the total to seven, 'A' and 'B' are bound by their respective bids. Should partner 'A' take five tricks and partner 'B' take two, 'A' will be credited with their original bid, while 'B' will not.)

The player scores 1 point for each trick bid. Missing a trick results in losing 1 point for each trick bid. In addition, bidding for higher amount of tricks results in a higher value of points, as follows:

It is important to note that missing a bid of 5 tricks will result in losing 10 points, not 5, as per the table above. After each deal the a tally board will display the current tally. If there is a tie, then all players participate in (at least) one more round of play. Once a member of the team reaches or exceeds 41 points, the game is over, provided that there partner's points are positive. If the partner is negative, play must continue until the player is positive.

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