Rules with roots
Learn the table, then take a seat
Clear answers for the moments that stop a card game cold: what counts, what is legal, and which house rule your table is actually using.
First collection
Setback: High, Low, Jack, and Game
Big Mike Games plays four-player partnership Setback with six-card hands and four scoring points. Start with the complete rules, settle the score, or use the calculator during a physical game.
Deal, bid, pitch trump, follow legally, and finish the match.
Scoring guide High, Low, Jack, and GameCard values, made bids, setbacks, ties, and worked examples.
Free table tool Setback scorekeeperCalculate Game, apply the bid, and track a match without an account.
Names and variants Setback vs. PitchUnderstand where the names overlap and where the rules branch.
Second collection
Euchre: bowers, makers, and five quick tricks
Big Mike Games plays the 24-card North American table. Learn the two making rounds, settle what the left bower may legally answer, and check any lead against the ranking.
The deal, both making rounds, going alone, legal play, and scoring.
Scoring guide Points, euchres, and lonersWhy a lone hand that takes four tricks still scores only one.
Card ranking Right bower and left bowerThe full trump order and the suit that shrinks to five cards.
Free table tool Euchre trump chartPick trump and a lead to see exactly which cards are legal.
Third collection
Spades: contracts, nil, and the bag pile
Big Mike Games plays Classic Partnership Spades to 500. Learn why the bid is a promise rather than an auction, what bags really cost, and settle a hand without arguing over the arithmetic.
The deal, one round of bidding, breaking spades, and nil bids.
Scoring guide Contracts, bags, and nilTen per bid trick, one per bag, and each nil settled alone.
The costly rule What are bags?Why ten overtricks earn ten points and then cost a hundred.
Free table tool Spades scorekeeperSettle contracts and nil, and carry the bag count between hands.
Fourth collection
Pinochle: meld, counters, and the double deck
Big Mike Games plays double-deck partnership Pinochle to 500. Learn the auction and the ranking that puts the Ten above the King, then stop counting meld by hand.
The 80-card deck, the auction from 50, meld, and counters.
Meld chart Every meld valueRuns, marriages, Pinochle, and why doubles are not doubled.
Scoring guide Meld, counters, and the bidWhy missing the bid costs the whole bid, not the shortfall.
Free table tool Meld calculatorEnter twenty cards, switch trump, and see every line itemized.
Fifth collection
Bid Whist: the kitty, the direction, and books above six
Big Mike Games plays the twelve-card partnership table with a six-card kitty. Learn why six books are free, what Downtown really reverses, and settle a contract without argument.
The deal, the kitty, one circuit of bidding, and the jokers.
Card ranking Uptown vs DowntownBoth rankings, and why the Ace stays highest in each.
Scoring guide Books above sixWhy defenders never score, and how a match is lost backwards.
Free table tool Bid Whist scorekeeperSettle a contract with the No Trump double and Boston bonus.
Sixth collection
Sheepshead: fourteen trump and a race to 61
Big Mike Games plays the three- and four-handed solo-picker table. Learn why every queen, jack, and diamond is trump, what the bury is really worth, and settle a hand around the table.
The 32-card pack, picking the blind, burying, and the pick.
Trump order All fourteen trump cardsWhy the Queen of clubs cannot follow a club lead.
Scoring guide 61, Schneider, no-trickerThe multipliers, and why the Schneider line is not symmetric.
Free table tool Sheepshead counterTrump chart plus a card-point counter that settles the hand.
Ready to deal?
Learn inside a real hand
The guided Setback hand explains the auction, legal cards, trump, and scoring before continuing into a complete match.