Belgians in Michigan

Appendix 2: Bien (A Card Game)

83 Appendix 2 Bien(ACardGame) T he game consists of four players on two teams with thirty-two cards in four suits: 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A. To determine who deals, any player deals one card face-up to each player, with the high card winning the deal. Each team starts with twelve points. The first team to reach zero wins the game. The dealer deals four cards at a time around the table twice. Each player has eight cards. If there are any mistakes, such as three or five cards misdealt, the deal passes to the opponent to the left. Bidding The player to the left of the dealer has the first bid. Players may bid only once. Bidding starts at 100 or more and can be increased by 10 or more by the next bidder. Bidding is done according to the meld and strength of the playing hand. In order for meld to count, that team must have been the highest bidder and the partner’s meld may also be added on. The first card played is always trump—even if by mistake. When the bidder leads and the trick is taken in, turned face-down, and the second card is played, then meld must be shown. If shown after that, it will not be counted. 84 B ernard A. Cook Meld Value King and queen of trump, 20 points; three cards of the same suit in sequence, 20 points; four-card run, 50 points; five-card run, 100 points; six-card run has the same value as a five-card run. If any of the runs contain the king and queen of trump, add an additional 20 points. Four aces, kings, or queens of trump count 100 points. Four jacks are worth 200 points. (Four 10s, 9s, 8s, or 7s have no value.) One may use a card only once when counting meld. Example: If one had four jacks and the jack, queen, and king, one cannot count the jack as part of the run. Any card that is melded in a meld spread can be counted only once, except the king and queen of trump—they may be used twice. If the king or queen is first played on a trick, you must say “marriage” when it is played in order to count it. Ponder If a player has all eight trump, when it is his turn to bid he may say, “laydown ponder.” This counts as 7 points. If a player can reasonably expect to take all eight tricks, he may say “ponder.” If he is successful, it is worth 6 points. If the bidder loses a trick, he is set and 6 points are added to his score and 6 points are deducted from the opponent’s score. Scoring 100 to 140 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 points 150 to 190 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 points 200 to 240 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 points 250 to 290 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 points 300 to 340 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 points 350 to 390 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 points Ponder (played). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 points Pondor (laydown). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 points If the bidder is set, that amount is added to his team’s score (according to the table above), while the opponents have the same number removed from their score. BELGIANS IN MICHIGAN 85 When one team reaches 0, the game is over and the winners score 12 points. Their opponents’ scores are calculated by subtracting whatever points they still have when the winning team zeros out from 12. The difference is the score. For example, if the game ends with a 0 - 4 count, the winning team is awarded 12 points and the other team is awarded 8 pints. Four games are usually played in tournaments. Playing The highest card is the jack of trump, followed by the nine of trump. Next are the ace, king, queen, and so on. The high nontrump cards are the ace, king, queen, and so on. When trump is played, you must follow suit. important: One does not have to follow suit when another suit is played and may trump it—even if one has a card of that suit in one’s hand. However, one may not under-trump one’s opponent’s trick. When playing a card on a trick that will almost surely be the team’s trick, try to lay on a point card like a ten, to increase the team’s point total when the cards are counted at the...