The deal. 54 cards — a full deck plus both jokers. Everyone gets 12; six go
face-down to the kitty. Twelve tricks (books) plus the kitty makes
13 books in every hand.
The auction. Starting left of the dealer, each player gets one call: pass, or bid
3–7 as Uptown (high cards win), Downtown (after the ace, low
cards win: A, 2, 3 … K), or No-Trump. A bid promises six plus the bid
books — bid 4 means 10 books. At the same number, No-Trump outranks Uptown and Downtown;
Uptown and Downtown tie, so you must go up a number to beat one with the other.
The kitty. The high bidder names trump (or picks high/low for No-Trump), takes all
six kitty cards, and buries six — and that buried book belongs to the bidding team.
The play. The bidder leads. Follow suit if you can; the jokers are the two biggest
trumps. In No-Trump the jokers are dead cards — they can never win a book and only fall
when you’re out of the led suit.
The score. Make the bid and the bidding team scores every book past six.
Get set and you lose the bid instead. No-Trump doubles it, up or down. Defenders set a bid
by winning 8 − bid books: four books stops a 4-bid, three stops a 5. Taking
all 13 is a Boston. First team to the target wins; fall to minus-target and you lose.